The Local Church

The Church Life is the Family Life

I am 22 years old. I grew up in a small Irish-Catholic town, Dedham, near Boston, Massachusetts. I was born after my parents began meeting with the local church in Newton, Massachusetts. My experience in the local church can be characterized by the term “family life.” Growing up I went to home meetings with my parents and other families who met with the local churches in Boston and Newton. I even went gospel preaching with them. These experiences nurtured me early on to have a heart that seeks after the Lord Jesus Christ so I can gain Him to give Him to all the seeking, needy, and suffering people in the world. The Lord Jesus Christ is my parents' life and only goal and they raised me to follow their living.

The other brothers and sisters in the local churches have always been like a second family to me. They helped my parents with finances, food, clothing, jobs, and even a home and a car. My family was very cherished by the other families in the local churches in the Boston area. We also cherished other believers in Christ in our home by providing meals and home meetings. There were 44 other kids in my small neighborhood whose families met with the local church. Having so many brothers and sisters made my life happy. We helped each other grow humanly, and the parents helped us learn how to contact God in our human spirit (John 4:24).

Moving away from the local church in the Boston area was not difficult because when I came to college in Berkeley, California, a very similar local church family life was thriving. This is what kept me loving the Lord Jesus Christ. While at Berkeley, I went through a major identity crisis because I wasn't running competitively. Cross-country had consumed me before college. I got burnt out in high school and began to explore new avenues of sport, leisure, and even my religious faith, while trying to balance such exploration with difficult educational demands. I became totally preoccupied with exercising, studying, working, jobs, and spending time with friends. While the Lord was falling by the wayside of my new California-girl life, the families in the local churches fed me, nourished me with food and the Word of God, and took care of my needs. The family life in the local churches in Berkeley and Boston are the reason why I am a pursuer of the Lord Jesus Christ today.

While presently reading the ministry of Witness Lee on the way to live a Christian life, I realize that the life and way described by him is the life and way of the brothers and sisters who raised me to possess the joy and genuineness of a Christ-filled life. Through these families and through the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, I am learning to exercise my spirit, so I can live a personal and a family life that ministers Christ to all people. This family life that cherishes and nourishes all kinds of peoples is the proper church life and is found throughout many of the local churches that I have visited throughout the United States and Canada. I am always at home in the local churches even when not in my hometown of Dedham.

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