Another example of homes being used by believers for gathering places for fellowship and prayer was in Acts 12 where the Apostle Peter, upon his miraculous deliverance from prison “went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying (Acts 12:12, NIV).”  He knew right where to go when he realized he wasn’t dreaming, to the house where a prayer meeting was being held.

Once again, in Acts 16 Paul and his companions were miraculously delivered from their prison bondage; and the Philippian jailor asked what he had to do to be saved. Paul’s response was that he had to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and he would be saved – he and his household. Paul then spoke the Word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. He and his whole family were then baptized. The jailor set a meal before them and was filled with joy because he and his whole family came to believe.

While in Rome, according to Acts 28:30-31, the Apostle Paul rented his own house, stayed there for two years, and welcomed all who came to see him; boldly and without hindrance preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Four different people are mentioned in scripture as further evidence of the centrality of meeting in homes by the Church. In Paul’s Epistle to the Romans he wrote: “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house (Romans 16:3-5, NIV).” And in 1 Corinthians 16:19 he again says about this couple: “The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. In Romans 16:23 Paul writes of the hospitality of Gaius which he and the whole church there enjoy. In his letter to the church in Colossae he sends greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, to Nympha, and to the church in her house (Colossians 4:15, NIV). And, finally, in Philemon 2 Paul addresses his letter to Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus and to the church that meets in your home.

In Romans 12:13 Paul exhorts his readers to pursue the ‘love of strangers’; and in his epistles to Timothy makes the ‘love of strangers’ (hospitality) a qualification for an overseer in the church (1 Timothy 3:12; Titus 1:8). As intense persecution arose against Christians, many having their homes and belongings confiscated by the state, practicing hospitality became even more significant. In spite of the suffering that the believers in the book of Hebrews were experiencing, the author exhorts them not to ‘forget’ to entertain (filocenias) or “love strangers” (Hebrews 13:2). Hebrews 13:2-3 is very similar to the passage in Matthew 25:35-36, including the exhortation to visit those in prison; perhaps even implying the disciples who were suffering in prison were doing so because of their proclamation of the Gospel message. Included here is an additional caveat that some people, while practicing hospitality, had entertained angels; recalling Abraham and his three visitors in Genesis 18 (Morris, Leon, Hebrews, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 1988). There is a strong implication in this that a positive relationship exists between the potential entertainment of angels and the divine benefits of this behavior (hospitality) for the host.

Peter also admonishes his readers, some again suffering for the cause of Christ, to be hospitable to one another; but to do it without grumbling (1 Peter 4:9). The attitude in the exercise of hospitality is important to Peter. Because hospitality is mandated by God it can potentially be done out of legalistic obligation; with an accompanying complaining, negative attitude, rather than doing it out of love for God and love for others. In the preceding verse Peter exhorted his readers to love each other deeply (1Peter 4:8); it was out of love that hospitality was to be extended.

 It is on this Biblical basis that the Christian definition of ‘a church’ rests. This definition recognizes ‘The Church’ to be comprised of all those individual people who have professed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. These individuals are spoken of metaphorically as the body of Christ, the house of God, the family of God, and the flock of God and often met in the temple, in the synagogues, or in homes for fellowship, worship, to break bread together, or to receive instruction in the faith. Wherever a group of believers, large or small, met together to engage in these activities ‘The Church’ was gathered; and as such, the smaller part of the whole became ‘a church’. It is on this basis that we consider all those servicemen and women who come to our home to fellowship, worship, eat, and study, or receive instruction, as members of the church that meets in our house.

Those who are given care and oversight of a portion of the body of Christ, or the flock of God, be they many or few, by the Holy Spirit, are considered ‘overseers’ and ‘shepherds’. We consider all those who choose to fellowship with us as having been brought to us by the Holy Spirit and placed under our spiritual care and oversight. Yvonne and I consider ourselves to have been appointed by the Holy Spirit as shepherds of these young military men and women for as long as they choose to be associated with us. At this time in our society there is great fluidity and freedom of choice where an individual receives his or her spiritual nurture. Pastors really have very little direct control over where people go to worship or what they read or listen to or watch when it comes to spiritual input. As such we do not require exclusive adherence to our fellowship.

Additionally, it is on the basis of the previously discussed Biblical concept of hospitality that we believe we are mandated by Jesus Christ to function as a surrogate ‘family’ for servicemen and women stationed in the Virginia Beach area. We open our home for ‘the Church’ to meet in our house. Our home is not the church, but when the individuals who choose to meet with us here gather together we are ‘a church’, a small portion of the whole Church, the body of Jesus Christ.