The first church of Jerusalem was a place of houses, not halls; people, not procedures. How do you see your home? As a sanctuary? A place where you can relax, unwind, and leave the cares of the world behind? If your answer is ‘yes’ to questions like this, you are at least half-way to making your home a church! From the beginning of the first church, people met in homes, and as the church grew, so did the number of these little churches (Acts 2:46; Romans 16:5). Every believer’s home was a house of God. Given the rate of growth implied in Acts, we can imagine that there were a great many of these! With this remarkable growth came the rise of local leaders, sometimes referred to as elders (Greek: presbuteroi). These local shepherds or rabbis provided pastoral care, teaching, and oversight within their house gatherings. Their appointment (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5) was based on spiritual maturity and character, rather than status or wealth. They were not paid for their ministry but were employed like everyone else.