"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them"
-Jesus (Matthew 18:20)

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
(Hebrews 10:24-25)

Gathered In His Name
Simple Church, Simply Everywhere

The purpose of Gathered In His Name is to encourage all believers to embrace the truth that Jesus is present in every gathering, large or small, and therefore to seek out and meet with other Christians often for prayer, worship, meals, ministry, and outreach.

When there is a gathering of at least two people who call on Jesus, there is a church. The church is not a building, or a place, or an event that happens at a special time. The church is not a thing, the church is people! When Jesus said that he would be present in a gathering as small as two believers it was a revolutionary concept. The Jewish tradition was that there had to be at least ten adult male Jews in a village before a synagogue could form. Jesus is giving us the permission to form fellowships any time and any place two or three of his followers gather.

The Greek word translated as "church" in the New Testament is ekklesia, meaning "called out from". Jesus is calling people who would follow him and become part of his ekklesia, his called out ones. It is interesting that this same word translated as "church" when talking about believers is also translated as "assembly" when referring to a crowd of people. The word "church" simply means a called-out group of believers gathered together in Jesus' name - no more, no less! Please read Church Is Not In The Bible for further study.

The early church didn't have any buildings for nearly three hundred years. In fact one of the major teachings in the first century church was that God didn't dwell in temples or buildings. Throughout the New Testament the early church met in homes, in the town square, and in the marketplace (John 4:21-24, Acts 7:48-50 & Acts 17:22-29).

Church happens when two friends have lunch together at school and talk about Jesus. Church is in a cafe as a few gather to read the Bible while sipping coffee. Church is at the bus stop when a person prays for someone with a heavy burden while they wait for the bus together. The church is wherever and whenever people gather in Jesus' name. Please read Getting Started for further study.

Not only did Jesus say that he would be present in our gatherings, Jesus also declared that he had "all authority in heaven and earth" and that he would be with us "always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20). This is a powerful truth, this same Jesus who healed the blind and raised the dead is alive today and with us even in our smallest of gatherings!