We had a Mid Winter Christmas last night. It was an open invitation for the group of house churches and organic believers we are connected with. About 50 people came and it was a great night with a lamb on the spit and some awesome food (see photo's below).
One thing I have noticed in this new (or old) expression of the Kingdom of God is the drop in focus on large get togethers.
In traditional church and Christian thinking, large gatherings are the be all and end all no matter what people say. Numbers are King. In this organic expression of church, people are less desiring or needing of large corporate get togethers. Originally when we started out on this path, we thought we would have a large corporate get together with all the house churches once a month, but we quickly realised that the interest was not there.
As the house churches grew and as we connected with more and more organic believers the smaller the larger corporate gatherings were
People who had become believers within the organic believers or Institutionalised Christians who had crossed over recently and were new the groups had little interest in attending the corporate gatherings so funnily enough the energy in putting on large corporate events may possibly impede the growth outwards as it is mainly enjoyed by those who have been around for a while who like catching up with old friends.
The great thing with last night was that it was so organic. One family organised and planned it all and put most of the effort in so we could have an awesome fun night without any of the groups or families involved having to pour out a lot of energy.
When we stand back and take our hands off, stuff happens!
Last nights food
Carcus of the lamb once we had stripped it clean
