Does Church Only Happen Within the Four Walls of a Building?
I had the wonderful privilege of facilitating a Bible Study this past fall with 10 of my neighbors who I now consider my dear friends. What a wonderful, life changing time in God’s Word in my own hood! Before participating in the neighborhood bible study, I had always either attended or led bible studies through our local church with people who attended our church. That was my concept of bible study. Well God changed all that!
When we moved into our neighborhood three years ago, I began to pray for my neighbors with a real burden that I knew was from the Lord. From the very first weeks of moving into our home, I knew God was speaking to me about sharing my life with my neighbors. I wasn’t sure of all the details, but I trusted that God would work those out. I knew all I had to do was listen to His voice and be obedient as I heard Him direct me.
I have developed some wonderful, life-long relationships through this bible study. We are a group of neighbors getting together weekly to study the Word and encourage each other to keep our eyes on Christ even when all our circumstances say otherwise. Some attend church and some do not. Some are married, some are divorced, and some are widowed. Some have very young children, some have school age children, some have kids in college and some have grandchildren! We are quite a diverse group of girls that are falling more in love with Jesus every day. We can’t wait to start the next study and invite more of our neighbors to join us! We studied Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer last fall and I highly recommend it!
Some of my friends had this to say about the last study we did together…
“This was my very first Bible Study and what I discovered was that one of my favorite things in the whole wide world is spending time with other women who love God. It served as a great reminder for me throughout the week to act the way Jesus would want me to and helped me to catch myself before I would do or say something I might later regret…it was AWESOME!” Jennifer
“Sadly my Bible had been collecting dust prior to the Fall Study. I read the Bible every day now. Every day I sit and read and it has become the most relaxing part of my day. Each day I add a tool to my collection that will help me in winning the battle.” Barbara
“Our Tuesday Night Study Group has become my peaceful sanctum from the chaos of everyday life. This will be my fourth study and with each session I have continued to grow in my knowledge / walk and made some good friends along the way!” Delia
We need to shift our paradigms of how can we get people in our church buildings to how can we go to people who are hungry for God. Jesus had church wherever He went. Think about how you can be a vessel that God can use to impact your neighborhood for eternity. God wants us all to get outside the walls of the church and reach out to our neighborhoods.
Posted by Stacey Harris
Thank you for sharing our story. I would like to think we are a grassroots movement…not about a building or a religious judgement. We are a group of people hungry for meaning and purpose as only a true connection with God and his word can give you.
Thank you for sharing. In response to the question, church is as you said about the Lord, it is where we are. I am really excited about what God is doing during this time. Taking the church outside the four walls. God has recently opened up to us the use of the old YMCA, now called the Dream Center. People from the neighborhood walk over for a place to play basketball and hang out with friends. There were 50 last week. We are going to outreach by developing relationships and share the love of Christ. We are also doing a bible study in our home. Crazy Love, by Fransis Chan. It is all about loving the Lord first and loving our neighbor as ourself. May the Lord bless you as you continue to pour Him out to others.
Delia…can’t wait to start our new adventure next week!
JoJo…you are the second person that has mentioned Crazy Love recently! Need to get a copy I think!! How exciting about the Dream Center. Sounds awesome!