Catacomb Resident Blog

No Church House

19 February 2023

I've stated a preference for worship outdoors. That assumes the natural conditions don't throw up too many distractions. You'll have to decide what you can tolerate for worship. The next best thing is house church. Of course, the term "house church" implies just about any facility that is amenable for such use. It could be any place large enough to accommodate the people involved. The next step up in formality is a New Testament synagogue. That's more like a community center with space large enough to engage in rather formal worship. Study up on what Jewish synagogue worship looks like, because that's what the Apostles did with only limited modifications. Women and children in the back, men and apprentice-aged boys down front. The speaker sits, standing only when all stand.

The moment you invest in equipment and furnishings that have only one use -- for worship -- you have a temple. Such a place requires you follow certain broad ritual requirements under the Code. It becomes a single use facility that is sacred, holy unto the Lord. It is separated for His use only. It is not that we are once again bound under Moses, but that you must look at the Old Testament to get a clue what it says about worship under the Code of Noah.

While burnt offerings are forbidden in Christ, if you need an altar to present offerings that are used for sacred purposes, it has to be uncut stones, just as you find them in nature. No wood, metal, plastic or anything worked by human hands; it has to be stones. Nothing but sand around you, with no rocks at all? Either haul them in by human power or no altar.

That's just the beginning. It's quite a chore just studying and discerning all the requirements. You have to go through a bunch of rituals to sanctify the site, and you could make the case that only tents are proper. Worse, the place has to be guarded so that it is not defiled. Everyone coming inside the sacred boundaries must be ritually purified and full Covenant members. It's not an auditorium; it's a sanctuary. You really can't do it unless you have a large covenant clan that can occupy and hold land. Otherwise, you cannot maintain the minimum standards.

Thus, genuine Covenant worship is by necessity informal until you have a large enough covenant body to do formal worship properly. Don't ever expect to see a valid covenant church facility without drastic social and political changes. Get used to the idea of informal or highly simplified worship using whatever location lends itself to the purpose.


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