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Stage 3

Establishing a Daily Church

"Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" Acts 2:46-47.

The Church was designed by God to be a daily Church, not a weekly one. This does not mean that we fill up the week with meetings every day. It means Christians having daily contact with one another and reaching out on a daily basis to the world. This results in daily growth, not just weekly growth.

"So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers" Acts 16:5.

Centers of Daily Life

"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ" Acts 5:42.

In order to be a daily church, church life must take place in the centers of daily life. Where does daily life take place?

In the home

"...Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house" 1 Corinthians 16:19 (see also Romans 16:5; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 2).

The quality of church life in general will only be as high as the experience of Christian life in the home.

"You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house" Acts 20:20 (see also 12:12).

In the workplace

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" Colossians 3:23.

Every Christian is full-time in the ministry, wherever he is. In the workplace, believers make daily contact with unbelievers.

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have..." 1 Peter 3:15 (see also 2 Corinthians 5:20).

On the streets

"...Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame'" Luke 14:21.

Wherever people can be found, that is where the Church is called to have an impact. When church life overflows onto the streets, our communities will see the Church in action.

"As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by" Acts 5:15.

In community gathering places

"On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there" Acts 16:13.

Many communities have special gathering places, where community issues are discussed and community life is gossiped about. These are places where the Gospel can be shared.

"So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there" Acts 17:17.

A daily church is not limited by the four walls of a church building. A daily church is not on the outside of daily life, looking in, but operates from within the context of daily life.

Levels of Church Life

The Greek word for Church means "those called out" or "the gathering of called out ones." Notice that the definition of the Church is based on God's call, not man's organization. Jesus said: "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). He has designed His Church to be "the fullness of him who fills everything in every way" (Ephesians 1:22-23).

There are four principal kinds of church gathering:

Church life needs all these levels to function properly. The family is where church life is designed to be experienced on a truly daily basis. The small group - usually between 6 and 20 people - is the place where personal sharing and close fellowship can exist. The small assembly - between 20 and 150 people - is where Body ministry can take place (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). The large assembly - generally over 300 people - is the place where the prophetic voice of the five-fold ministry can be heard (Ephesians 4:11-13).

A Temple of the Holy Spirit

"In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" Ephesians 2:21-22.

The temple of God is no longer physical buildings (Acts 7:48-50) but is a spiritual construction of human lives (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:16). If we are to join with the Lord in the building of His Church, then we must not concentrate on outward, physical structures but on the hearts and lives of the believers. The Temple of God's Spirit is made up of changed lives.

"...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" 1 Peter 2:5.

Church life is meant to be a daily experience. But a church will only become a daily church when the members of the church become daily Christians - each contributing his or her part to the whole. This is why the Church is described as a Body (1 Corinthians 12:18-20; Ephesians 4:16; Colossians 2:19). The Church is an organism, not an organization. Each church becomes an organism as each Christian becomes a daily Christian, interacting with other Christians on a daily basis.

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" Hebrews 3:13.

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