Abram and Sarai knew the promise of God, but grew impatient with God’s timeline, not seeing how the promise could be fulfilled. They took matters into their own hands to further God’s agenda—and the results were disastrous. In this messy incident, we see the cost of sinful self-reliance and the abundant grace of God.
In his One Assembly, Jonathan Leeman observes a biblical pattern wherein local churches assemble together in one place. He also argues that the word ekklesia means assembly, or a gathered people. On these bases, Leeman concludes that the Bible forbids multiple services and sites. I agree with his observations. When Paul and Barnabas “gathered the church together” in Antioch (Acts 14:27), they brought everyone into one assembly. This is the normal pattern we see in Scripture. A church is a gathered people. I disagree, however, with Leeman’s further claim that the Bible forbids multiple services because his argument relies too...
