Being the Church at home

Josh Reading
May 20
4 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

The common image of church among people includes a building with seating arrangements alongside songs and sermons which conclude with communal coffee time. The Church stands as an essential component of Christian life yet extends beyond regular weekly gatherings. Church fundamentally involves people embodying Jesus' life in all their environments which includes their homes.

The early Church understood this well. Followers of Jesus spent their daily lives practising their faith around kitchen tables, within family routines and through personal devotion, despite their larger group gatherings for teaching and support. The same remains true for us today.

The Church has a dual mission of assembling together and spreading into the world. We gather to receive strength but practise our faith during everyday moments where life occurs. The home serves as an essential stage for faith rather than merely a background setting.

A Little Church in the Home

John Chrysostom, an early Church Father, taught us to transform our homes into little churches, because this simple yet meaningful advice carries deep spiritual significance. The Church becomes a living reality daily when homes contain love, prayer, Scripture, and spiritual encouragement beyond the constraints of time and space.

In Deuteronomy 6:6–7 (NIV), the people of Israel received the divine instruction from God to etch these commandments into their children's hearts. Discuss these teachings during your home activities and while walking by day and night through all daily movements. These practices were intentionally created to become an integral part of daily existence.

Discipleship training happens when families engage in faith conversations and practise prayer and worship together. This doesn’t require a theology degree. It simply requires willingness.

Faith That Lasts Begins at Home

The wider Church as a community of believers holds significant importance.

The Bible calls on us to meet together, to offer mutual support and to share our lives with others. Hebrews 10:24–25 (NIV) teaches us to motivate each other towards love and good deeds while maintaining regular gatherings without withdrawing from encouragement. The context for spiritual gifts to be utilised stands where believers receive correction and encouragement and where their mission finds strength.

Faith that exists solely in public displays without private cultivation tends to diminish over time. The faith which stands the test of time integrates prayer during meals with forgiveness after conflicts while committing to trust God in daily life choices.

Jesus frequently withdrew to quiet places for prayer. Luke 5:16 (NIV) indicates that our spiritual connection with God fuels our public work in ministry and mission. Public displays of faith risk losing their depth when they lack personal devotion.

Church at Home in Every Season

Each home functions as a "little church" no matter if you're single, parenting children, cohabiting with others or moving through retirement. Our homes demonstrate the same truth that the Church consists of flawed individuals who stay united through God's grace.

Pray before meals. Share with others how God is working through your life. Read Scripture together. Bless each other. Make room in your life for joyful laughter and honest discourse alongside repentance and happiness. Spiritual maturity develops through these everyday experiences.

In Colossians 3:16 (NIV), Paul urges the Church to enable Christ's message to live among them through teaching and spiritual songs while these practices benefit church communities and translate well into home life.

Life Communities: Being the Church in Everyday Life

At Divergent Church Canberra and Queanbeyan, we deeply value the beautiful tension of being both a gathering of people and a scattered presence in the world. We come together to worship and receive the Word, but we also believe that our faith needs to breathe in everyday life. That’s where Life Communities come in.

Throughout the week, our church community meets in smaller Life Communities, sharing life together in homes, cafes, parks, and workplaces across the city. These expressions of Church aren’t just events. They are families on mission—people who follow Jesus together through the highs and lows of ordinary life.

These communities practise the rhythms of the early Church: eating together, praying, showing hospitality, encouraging one another, and reaching out to those around them. Acts 2:46–47 (NIV) shows us that the first followers of Jesus met daily in homes,

shared meals with joy and sincerity, and saw God continually drawing new people into His family.

Through Life Communities, the Church becomes something we live every day—not just something we attend once a week. They offer space for deeper relationships, real discipleship, and everyday mission.

The Church Gathered and Scattered

We need both. The Church met together in large gatherings while it lived out its faith in homes and neighbourhoods. These two expressions are not at odds—they fuel one another. The gathered Church equips us. The home-based Church sustains us. The scattered Church lives on mission.

Living faith at home brings integrity to everything else. It’s the place where it becomes durable, authentic and transformative. Kids catch their parents praying. Flatmates pray over hard days. Friends share what they’re learning from Scripture over lunch. Married couples stumble forward in grace together. This is where real faith is shaped and sharpened.