Do We Need All This?

[coadie]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

The Apostles regularly went on the sabbath to the Synagogues and preached to the Jews Jesus Christ...when are you guys gonna go do that/?

Spot on
They healed the crippled man on the way into the Synagogue to pray. If I drive to church to pray when there is not a scheduled prayer meeting, half the time someone else is there also.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by coadie

Spot on
They healed the crippled man on the way into the Synagogue to pray. If I drive to church to pray when there is not a scheduled prayer meeting, half the time someone else is there also.

It's a historical fact that after Christianity separated from Judaism the Christians spread like wild fire because they didn't nail themselves down to a specific place of meeting. Throughout the book of Acts and the Epistles, especially after the separation from Judaism, we see the church meeting in homes. The church exploded...just as it is in China and poorer countries where they keep church simple. America and Europe became institutionalized, relegating Christian worship, gathering, and practice to a holy place, on a holy day, led by men of power wearing holy clothing.

So, Coadie, you don't believe that the order of service as presented by Paul in I Corinthians 14 wherein a small group meets and all are given the opportunity to prophesy and interract is a "command from the Lord" as Paul states that it is?

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Aquila

...

Believer’s Bible Commentary, Pgs. 1590-1591

Thoughts???

Yeah. About a ton.

The Believers Bible Commentary is the product of the Plymouth Brethren sect and thus, reflects the views and opinions that are generally associated with that group: Dispensationalism, Fundamentalism and a sometimes rather harsh view of any sort of hierarchy involving mutual accountability.

Also, while the first century Christian movement did lack a lot of it's own structure in its early years, it benefited from the existence of a whole network of communal structures and associations throughout the Mediterranean world - especially the structure of the Jewish community in diaspora.

Then, as the Christian church grew, it planted its own ecclesiastical structures and hierarchies (See Titus 1:5-7 & etc. for example). Believers within these communities weren't just shuttled off to their own "house" or "mini-mission field." They were integrated with the larger community and served under the supervision of elders and bishops. The Greek word episkopos or "bishop" mean literally, an overseer. "epi" means "over" or above and "skopos" means "to see or look."