Lord’s Table
For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst. -Matt 18:20
Since the church is the assembly called out by God from the world, it should meet continually for the spiritual living and blessing. As water is to the fish, and air to the birds, so are the meetings to the Christians. When we meet in the name of the Lord (Matthew 18:20 For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.), we enjoy His presence in a special way, His presence will bring us grace, peace, life supply and all kinds of blessings (Luke 24:33-36 And they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and those with them assembled together, saying, The Lord really has been raised and has appeared to Simon. And they related the things that occurred on the road, and how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. And as they were speaking these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, Peace to you.).
Meeting breakdown
Every Sunday, the Lord’s Day, the church gathers for the meeting. The first session from 10:00 am to 11:00 am is the Lord’s table or the Lord’s supper meeting (1 Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink the Lord’s cup and the demons’ cup; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the demons’ table.; 11:20 When therefore you come together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper;). The second session from 11:00 to 12:00 noon is an open meeting called the prophesying meeting (1 Corinthians 14:23a If therefore the whole church comes together in one place…, 24…if all prophesy and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is examined by all;,31 For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.), in which all are free to speak what they received and enjoyed from the Word the previous week for the building up of the church. Afterwards we enjoy a meal together prepared by members of the church.
Prayer meeting
We believe that prayer is an integral part of both the personal and corporate Christian life. Each week on Tuesday evening at 7:30 pm we come together in one accord to pray (Acts 1:14) and intercede for our local situation as well as the Lord’s interests and move throughout the world (1 Tim 2:1).
Home meetings
Not abandoning our own assembling together, as the custom with some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more as you see the day drawing near. -Heb 10:25
A life that flocks together
Hebrews 10:25 exhorts us to not abandon the assembling of ourselves together. Because our Christian life is like the sheep’s life, requiring that we flock together and live a meeting life. In a very real practical sense, on the one hand, we meet together in a certain location on Sunday; on the other hand, we meet from house to house on other days (Acts 2:46And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart,), that is, we gather together continually in homes.
Meeting one another’s need
The gatherings in smaller groups in homes are very helpful for our mutual cherishing and nourishing. As believers in Christ, we need to be cherished with Christ’s tender love and care outwardly that we may have soothing, comfortable rest inwardly; and be nourished by being fed with the living word of Christ to receive grace and life supply for our daily needs. We have found that the best way to experience Christ’s practical cherishing and nourishing is through Bible study and fellowship with one another in a small group setting. When we gather together, we sing, pray, and read the Bible and fellowship. These gatherings are full of mutuality, and each person is free to participate and share his or her daily experience and enjoyment of Christ to supply others, or his or her burdens, questions, and problems so that we can pray for each other and experience the supply of the Body in a very practical way.
Home meeting content
In our home meetings, we emphasize very much the enjoyment of Christ as life in the Spirit through the Word for our daily living, so we not only study together the interpreted Bible, the Recovery Version Bible with footnotes, but also read and fellowship concerning crucial spiritual books. We receive from these books tremendous light to understand the Bible and life to enrich our daily living. Each time after the meeting, we were full and rejoicing in our hearts, praising the Lord!
Meeting in your home
We have children, college students, married couples, families, friends, and neighbors attend our meetings. Occasionally we invite unbelieving friends to our home for meals and share with them Christ as our life. If you would like to join us in one of our home meetings, or if you would like to invite a few of us to visit you in your home, please contact us.
Meetings for college aged
There are a number of UVA students who fellowship and worship with us during the week. There is a club on campus called Christian Students at UVA. We support many of their activities and the families in the church open their homes for various club functions and gatherings. One gathering that we support is Christian Students’ Truth Pursuit Meeting. It is a weekly meeting involving dinner, singing and some ministry from the Word. These meetings are typically on Wednesday nights.
In addition, the club has other regular gatherings. For their activities, please check out their facebook page: www.facebook.com/Christianstudentsatuva
Young people
We have activities throughout the year for young people (Jr and Sr high)
Bible study meetings: after the Sunday Lord’s Table Meeting
Home meetings: weekly informal gatherings with dinner, singing, Bible fellowship, prayer and activities
Conference retreats: with young people throughout the Midatlantic are
Summer Bible study classes: with young people, covering God’s full salvation, the Triune God and the person and work of Christ, the divine Spirit and the human spirit, Life, the Church, and the Bible
Other: BBQs, hiking, sports, and other activities
Children
We care for the children during the Sunday morning meeting, so that the parents can attend the meeting. For the babies and toddlers, we provide babysitting service in a loving environment so the parents can enjoy the adult meetings.