SeniorSeeker
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Thursday July 19
[size=x-large]Home Churches[/size]
Read Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; and Philemon 1, 2. What do all these texts have in common?
In the Roman world there were two main types of residences. There was the domus, a large, single-family home built around a courtyard, typical of the wealthy. Such a home could provide a meeting place for 30-100 people. The other type of residence was the insula, with shops and workplaces on the ground floor facing the street and apartments (flats) on the floors above. This was the primary urban housing of the working classes. One of these apartments or workplaces could normally accommodate only smaller churches.
The domus, and many of the insula, would house an extended family-including two or three generations, employees of the family business, visitors, and even slaves. If the head of household could be converted, it could have a great impact on everyone else living there.
The ideal location for an urban house church would be near the city center. The shops and workplaces connected to the house would foster contact with artisans, trades-people, shoppers, and manual laborers looking for work. This was the setting in which much of Paul
[size=x-large]Home Churches[/size]
Read Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; and Philemon 1, 2. What do all these texts have in common?
In the Roman world there were two main types of residences. There was the domus, a large, single-family home built around a courtyard, typical of the wealthy. Such a home could provide a meeting place for 30-100 people. The other type of residence was the insula, with shops and workplaces on the ground floor facing the street and apartments (flats) on the floors above. This was the primary urban housing of the working classes. One of these apartments or workplaces could normally accommodate only smaller churches.
The domus, and many of the insula, would house an extended family-including two or three generations, employees of the family business, visitors, and even slaves. If the head of household could be converted, it could have a great impact on everyone else living there.
The ideal location for an urban house church would be near the city center. The shops and workplaces connected to the house would foster contact with artisans, trades-people, shoppers, and manual laborers looking for work. This was the setting in which much of Paul