House Church as a Culture
As I reflect on the years of pastoral ministry, what I am most grateful for is that House Church has not remained within a single generation but has naturally flowed into the next generation. Looking back to the early days when the first generation was establishing house churches, there were many difficulties. In the harsh reality of sustaining life as immigrants, carving out one’s own life to serve others was not an easy commitment. Yet as our next generation grew up watching their parents quietly endure and persevere through that difficult journey, the house church gradually became a natural way of life for them—a culture. For the first generation, house church meetings are still often understood less as something natural and more as a form of sacrificial commitment. For the next generation, however, the house church is simply part of life and culture. Sharing life in the house church, helping one another in times of difficulty, serving, pursuing the salvation of souls, and living as disciples all come naturally.
For children who once clung playfully to their parents, the house church was a playground where they learned by watching their parents live lives of natural devotion. As they became teenagers and went through the struggles of adolescence, the house church became a place where they could share their identity and wrestle with their questions together. As young adults, rather than being swept away and assimilated into the culture of the world, they became believers who love souls and practice service through the house church. When they marry and enter adulthood, bearing the weight of life and the busyness of raising children, even in the midst of caring for their own lives, they raise children together within the community and learn what kind of family God truly desires.
I imagine these next-generation believers when they reach old age. Having spent their entire lives loving souls within the house church, I believe their lives will bear fruits far richer and more beautiful than we can imagine.
For our next generation, House Church has become not a ministry, but a culture. Faith is not something that is merely taught; it is something that is shown. The seeds sown with tears in the life of immigrants have grown into a forest, and under its shade the next generation is growing and preparing for the future. I earnestly hope and pray that this holy stream of faith will never cease, but will continue to flow.
Word of the week
Faith grows and bears fruit through commitment. At the conclusion of the service, after listening to the message, please take time to write down your commitment regarding how you will live during the coming week, and offer it as an act of rededication.
아랫글
이동주 2025.12.13 21:00
신고
As I reflect on the years of pastoral ministry, what I am most grateful for is that House Church has not remained within a single generation but has naturally flowed into the next generation. Looking back to the early days when the first generation was establishing house churches, there were many difficulties. In the harsh reality of sustaining life as immigrants, carving out one’s own life to serve others was not an easy commitment. Yet as our next generation grew up watching their parents quietly endure and persevere through that difficult journey, the house church gradually became a natural way of life for them—a culture. For the first generation, house church meetings are still often understood less as something natural and more as a form of sacrificial commitment. For the next generation, however, the house church is simply part of life and culture. Sharing life in the house church, helping one another in times of difficulty, serving, pursuing the salvation of souls, and living as disciples all come naturally.
For children who once clung playfully to their parents, the house church was a playground where they learned by watching their parents live lives of natural devotion. As they became teenagers and went through the struggles of adolescence, the house church became a place where they could share their identity and wrestle with their questions together. As young adults, rather than being swept away and assimilated into the culture of the world, they became believers who love souls and practice service through the house church. When they marry and enter adulthood, bearing the weight of life and the busyness of raising children, even in the midst of caring for their own lives, they raise children together within the community and learn what kind of family God truly desires.
I imagine these next-generation believers when they reach old age. Having spent their entire lives loving souls within the house church, I believe their lives will bear fruits far richer and more beautiful than we can imagine.
For our next generation, House Church has become not a ministry, but a culture. Faith is not something that is merely taught; it is something that is shown. The seeds sown with tears in the life of immigrants have grown into a forest, and under its shade the next generation is growing and preparing for the future. I earnestly hope and pray that this holy stream of faith will never cease, but will continue to flow.
Word of the week
Faith grows and bears fruit through commitment. At the conclusion of the service, after listening to the message, please take time to write down your commitment regarding how you will live during the coming week, and offer it as an act of rededication.