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,"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_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-support-conscientious-objection\/","url_meta":{"origin":95818,"position":0},"title":"Do you support conscientious objection?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you or your church support selective conscientious objection and conscientious objection? Answer: Registering for the draft is a government law that does not violate any teaching of God. \"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities\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":1296,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-boy-girl-relationships-not-advisable-at-a-young-age\/","url_meta":{"origin":95818,"position":1},"title":"Why are boy-girl relationships not advisable at a young age?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why are boy-girl relationships not advisable at a young age Answer: Youth is a time of impatient desires. They want the things available to adults, but adulthood seems so far away. The typical teenage boy enters puberty around the age of 11. 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But I can still recall my shock when I found out that Jim Nabors, who played Gomer, could sing --\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Gomer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":61889,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-book-of-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":95818,"position":4},"title":"The Book of My Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Job 19:23-27 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each week the paper publishes its list of top selling books \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes the books are biographies, fictional stories, or fiction placed in historical settings. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They hope that others will also purchase the books, if for no other reason than curiosity. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many author\u2019s\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":6988,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-passages-that-refer-to-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":95818,"position":5},"title":"Are there passages that refer to THE Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have been studying the Lord's supper issues and one of our main concerns is about a second offering in which only a few partake, for the reasons you listed in your article (not doing it together). 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