by Edwin Crozier<\/p>\n
Once Paul starts listing names, we tend to read on autopilot, no longer paying attention. We might even quit reading altogether. After all, he’s done with the gospel-y stuff, right? There’s nothing to learn from a list of names.<\/p>\n
However, these people are examples for us. Often good. Sometimes bad. If we do not read carefully, we might skip over great examples. Examples like Nympha. Unlike the other names we’ve read this week, Nympha isn’t found anywhere else in the Bible. This is the only mention. But what a mention.<\/p>\n
Nympha was host to a church. She allowed a congregation to meet in her home. Think about that. What a commitment. Every Lord’s day-and probably on other days-she opened her private residence to a group of people to worship God. I don’t know how many people assembled with that congregation. I don’t know the backgrounds of the people. How many children came with them? How long would they stay? What kind of mess did they make? But Nympha was the hostess.<\/p>\n
That means when they brought unbelievers to the assembly, strangers, Nympha allowed them in. In that day and age, if a persecution were to break out, it would likely begin at her house. Still, she hosted them.<\/p>\n
This is hospitality. Her home was a place of worship.<\/p>\n
Many of us will likely breathe a sigh of relief because our congregation has an allocated place of worship. A building. A storefront. But let’s not stop considering the application so quickly. Maybe the church doesn’t have to meet in our home during its Lord’s day worship and official meeting times for worship and classes, but does that mean we can’t allow our homes to be places of worship, just as Nympha did?<\/p>\n
Obviously, we need to be worshiping in our homes as families or even as singles. But I’m thinking about how Mary, John Mark’s mother, used her home in Acts 12. To my knowledge, that prayer time wasn’t a congregational worship meeting. But Mary brought folks into her home to worship. We can do the same. Singings, studies, and prayer times. These are all things we can do in our homes.<\/p>\n
In Jerusalem, when the first church began, they met as a church at the temple, but they also regularly gathered from house to house. Part of their time in each other’s homes was spent praising God (Acts 2:46-47).<\/p>\n
Of course, using our home to serve the Lord doesn’t necessarily mean having a group worship time. Perhaps we can simply have some folks over for a meal. Maybe we can allow traveling Christians a place to stay. Perhaps we can host a game night or a ladies’ tea. Maybe we can host a group of teens just to hang out and spend time together. Whatever we do, we can see our home is not merely a place to hole up and find refuge from the world. It’s a tool we can use to serve the Lord.<\/p>\n
Nympha used her home to serve the Lord. How can we use our homes to do the same?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Edwin Crozier Once Paul starts listing names, we tend to read on autopilot, no longer paying attention. We might even quit reading altogether. After all, he’s done with the gospel-y stuff, right? There’s nothing to learn from a list of names. However, these people are examples for us. Often good. Sometimes bad. If we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[574],"class_list":["post-95818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-service"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55431,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/names-names-names-ezra-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":95818,"position":0},"title":"Names Names Names (Ezra 2)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jarrod M. Jacobs Interspersed in the Bible are lists of names. Sometimes, these are genealogies of certain families (Genesis 5, 10, etc.). Often, these genealogies focus on Judah's descendants leading to Christ (Ruth 4; Matthew 1; Luke 3). At other times, these names teach us about faith (Hebrews 11;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12940,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-prison-letters\/","url_meta":{"origin":95818,"position":1},"title":"The Prison Letters","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Colossians 4:7-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Near the end of Paul\u2019s third journey, he visited churches to gather funds to relieve the famine stricken brethren in Judea. - I Corinthians 16:1-9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Several of the churches sent representatives to travel with Paul - II Corinthians 8:16-24 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Several of these men are named in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38640,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/people-paul-knew\/","url_meta":{"origin":95818,"position":2},"title":"People Paul Knew","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 16:1-15 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Certain sections of the Bible are difficult to read, such as the genealogies with all the unfamiliar names \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The beginning of Romans 16 is similar, even though it is a list of personal greetings to people Paul knew in Rome \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Too often\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59090,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-you-are-traveling-somewhere-where-there-is-no-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":95818,"position":3},"title":"What if you are traveling somewhere where there is no church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I wanted to say thank you for the way the website is set up. This has been great to look at a topic from many points of view using the question and answers. My question is regarding attending services when you are away from the local church you're\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66857,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-one-congregation-withdraw-from-another-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":95818,"position":4},"title":"Can one congregation withdraw from another congregation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a church withdraw from Christians who are not members of the local congregation? 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mark those who cause division and hindrances -\u00a0Romans 16:17 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Philippians 3:17\u00a0- Mark those who are good examples 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Galatians 5:15\u00a0- Don't bite and devour each other. C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Can a church withdraw from another church? Hey Brother Hamilton!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44697,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/names-for-gods-people\/","url_meta":{"origin":95818,"position":5},"title":"Names for God’s People","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 62:1-5 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Names hold a particular significance in the Bible \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When a child is born in this country, parents agonize on picking out just the right name. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Often the name is selected because it has a nice \u201cring\u201d to it \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Because a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}