[00:00] OPENING What does the New Testament actually describe? Once you strip away the institutional language, the picture is remarkably simple—and remarkably different from a modern audience-style service.[05:00] THE AUDIENCE MODEL Parking lots, rows of seats, and a monologue. Where in the text do we find this? The answer: we don’t. We replaced a family with an audience.[11:00] PARTICIPATION & HOMES Acts 2:42-47 and 1 Cor 14:26. "Each one has." Gatherings were built around shared meals in homes. Architecture shapes function: circles vs. rows.[19:00] CONVERSATION vs MONOLOGUE Interactive truth-testing (1 Cor 14:29). Teaching and admonishing "each other" (Col 3:16). Burden bearing (Gal 6:2) requires relationship, not spectatorship.[24:00] THE CASCADE OF ADDITIONS Word swaps led to structures. Ekklesia (People) → Church (Place) → Building → Program → Professionals → Audience. The translation choice physically reshaped the room.[29:00] BMI IN PRACTICE Ernst shares how the BMI Sunday Study (Conversation) and Friday Seminar (Burden-bearing) look in real life. It’s not easy, but it’s what the text describes.[34:00] THE FINAL QUESTION Does your experience match the text? If not, is the gap something you've ever questioned? Homework: Read Acts 2 and 1 Cor 14 and notice the difference.
BMI AUDIO VOL. 1 / EP. 6 FAMILY vs AUDIENCE
00:00 / 33:00
STANDBY / CUE LIFTED
EKKLESIA (ἐκκλησία)
The called-out assembly. In the NT, this always refers to people, never to a dedicated building.
OIKODOME (οἰκοδομή)
Building up / edification. The goal of the gathering. It is a communal responsibility, not a solo performance.
THE CASCADE
The logical progression where word-swaps (like "church") create physical requirements (like buildings) which mandate roles (like professionals).
ACTS 2:42-47
The earliest description of the assembly: teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayers, centered in homes.
