While the word church normally means a building, some of the earliest Christians did meet in a building...
Act 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
However, Jesus said He was the Temple...Jesus knew the church wasn't a physical building but a spiritual building...As we know, our church is spiritual, it's not physical...
It may be wrong to call our spiritual church a spiritual building but what I find interesting is that a bit of bible study is required to figure out that the word church references something spiritual and not a physical building...Yet, at the same time, we go to a physical building when we go to church...
Catholics and others don't spend much time in the scriptures so to them, a church is a physical building only...
For me I’ll follow Jesus and not some drunkard German monk,
who by the way always said the Christian Church was in Rome and who by the way always believed in the REAL PRESENCE during Eucharist. And who, by the way NEVER MEANT for more Christian faiths to be started, only reforms to be made in the REAL CHURCH, which is the Catholic Church. Finally, when you have been exposed to the truth of the Christian faith, and you still deny it and snub your nose at God’s Pilgrim CHurch on earth, you will surely have to answer to the Lord when your time on earth is over. God bless everyone, but especially God bless the heretics, who are still after 2,000 years too blind to see the truth. Forgive them father for they know not what they do.
However, sometimes they met by the riverside.
Acts 16:11-15 11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
Or in houses.
Romans 16:5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.
1 Corinthians 16:19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.
Colossians 4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.
Philemon 1:1-3 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And look at how house churches are disparaged these days.