1. CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD
“To...all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place.” 1 Corinthians 1:2
Calling on the Lord’s name is a sign of the believers in Christ.
2. SINGING AND PRAISING
“Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:19
A normal meeting life should be one that is overflowing with singing and praising.
3. PRAYING AND SUPPLICATING
“And they were continuing steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of the bread and the prayers.” Acts 2:42
Prayer is our cooperation with the Lord in the heavens to execute God’s New Testament economy on earth.
4. TEACHING THE BIBLE
“They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily.” Acts 17:11
The purpose of teaching the Bible in the meetings is that all may come to know the truth and receive the life supply.
5. EXERCISING THE GIFTS
“And having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them accordingly.” Romans 12:6
Every believer has God-given gifts. Every one should enjoy the Lord’s grace and function for the building of the church.
In all the activities in the meetings, Christ should be the center. He is the living Spirit. When we meet together, we should exercise our heart and our spirit and open our mouths to enjoy Him.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” 1 Corinthians 12:27
The church is the Body of Christ, and the meetings are a manifestation of the function of this Body. Since every believer is a member of the Body of Christ, he should learn to participate and function in the church meetings.
1. EXHIBITING AND SHARING CHRIST WITH OTHERS
“Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” 1 Corinthians 14:26
Before coming to the meetings, we should have some experiences of the Lord, some enjoyment from His Word, or some words received from the Lord through our fellowshipping with Him in prayer. We should bring all these to the meetings to share with others that they may receive the benefit, and the Lord may get the glory and be satisfied.
This is like the feast of tabernacles celebrated by the ancient Israelites. They brought the rich produce, the harvest of their labor on the good land, to the feast to offer to God. There they enjoyed fellowship with the Lord and with one another.
2. PROPHESYING
“Desire earnestly...that you may prophesy.” 1 Corinthians 14:1
To prophesy is to speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord. It is also to minister Christ to others.
“For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all be encouraged. And the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.” 1 Corinthians 14:31-32
We are not like the prophets in the Old Testament who had to wait for the Spirit of Jehovah to fall upon them before they could prophesy. Today the Lord has become the Spirit, and this Spirit has been mingled with our spirit. Not only so, this spirit is also subject to us. Hence, we do not have to wait for the Spirit to fall upon us. Rather, we should just exercise our spirit to practice speaking the word of God in the meetings.
3. LEARNING TO COORDINATE
“Teaching and admonishing one another.” Colossians 3:16
To speak in the meetings, we must learn to follow the spirit of the meeting, to coordinate with one another, and to strengthen one another.
Now you see the importance of the meetings and understand what a proper meeting life is and how to function in the meetings.
From now on you need to have a proper daily life, that is, to walk according to the spirit. In addition, you should attend a few church meetings regularly, and exercise to function in the meetings.
In this way you will surely live a proper Christian life and church life.
We would like to know:
Are you presently attending a home meeting?
Which kind of meeting do you like the best?