The Power of Hospitality

Good evening everyone, it was good to see the specs this evening, good friends. One thing they didn't tell you was that their son Zach graduated from the Coast Guard Academy and is now a young officer in the Coast Guard serving our country that way and saw they sent pictures of him, he had some young fellow, the young lady by his side, and so there was more to tell than they had time. If you are new to Christ covenant, I want to welcome you to our church this evening while Mike Ross or senior pastor is on sabbatical as some of the other pastors and I are preaching a series of sermons on Sunday evenings that began last week titled Let Love of the Brethren Continue. The title of the series is taken from the first verse of Hebrews chapter 13. Last week Andrew Holbrook started us off laying a foundation for the sermons that you will hear this summer during the evenings. If you didn't hear Andrew's sermon, I want to encourage you to go to our website and listen to it for it's a compelling overview. Andrew made the case last week that our circumstances in 21st century American Christianity bear an amazing resemblance to the circumstances of 1st century Christians in Rome and because of that the scriptures originally written to those 1st century believers in Rome are especially relevant to us as we seek to be effective ambassadors for Christ in our own generation. Andrew's 13 concludes a long epistle exalting the supremacy of Christ in every imaginable way. And it's out of this remarkable doctrinal exaltation of Jesus Christ in chapters 1 through 12 that this last chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews issues a series of exhortations and encouragement that have to do with loving God and loving others well and it's these exotations that will be studying together over the summer months. Our church's mission statement includes four core commitments that set our leadership priorities and focus each year. These four are worship God, grow in community, love others and serve the world. These are four very simple statements but we believe these four commitments are God's will for each of his disciples to move him or her towards spiritual maturity. So on a recurring basis every four years we repeat our emphasis on each theme. We try to align our sermon series and other ministry commitments with the theme for that year. Last year our theme was worship God and so we used our year to consider and align our worship experience with the Bible as Pastor Ross preached an extended series on this biblical worship if you remember. This year in 2013 our theme is Grow in Community. In case you don't remember four years ago when growing in community was last our theme we had an extended sermon series we titled Generations in Community. That year we discovered that the biblical pattern seems to be a worshiping community consisting of all seasons and ages from the youngest to the oldest not segregated from one another which appears to be the direction of worship in American churches today and out of that we made a principled commitment to a single morning service as the family of God where all ages are together. That is proven to have been a good decision. As we attempt to cultivate an understanding of the church as the family of God. This year we had chosen to use these Sunday evenings this summer to preach in Sunday Tale from Hebrews 13 which is a rich passage describing and calling each of us to meaningful community in the family of God. Tonight my task is to speak to you from Hebrews 13 verses 1 and 2 the service title the Power of Hospitality. I'm just coming off a rich experience of hospitality through my daughter's wedding that I mentioned this morning. Jessica and Chad were married last week at Baden Lake in the evening actually we had family driving and flying in from all over the places far away as Pennsylvania and Texas and we had the benefit of being able to rent two very large homes for each of our families to stay for two nights. I think that experience a week ago illustrated for me the power of hospitality to encourage and unify people. I have a step sister that I'd not had a relationship with in over 20 years whom we invited to Jessica's wedding. She and her husband actually came and out of those two days eating together and talking and celebrating Chad's and Jessica's happy occasion we've begun a brand new and hopeful chapter and our lives together as a brother and a sister. My son Jonathan my oldest son recently moved to Bowling Green Kentucky to begin his legal career and he met a young lady for Nashville with whom he's become quite smitten I might say. Her name is Christian. Jonathan brought Christian to the wedding to meet his family and everyone he loves. I was a bit concerned that she would be overwhelmed by the number of people in all the confusion but over the two days and nights with us she Christian fit right in and left last Sunday night feeling right at home with us Jonathan's family and much closer to Jonathan than she was before the wedding. So while Pat and I were focused primarily on the logistics of the wedding perhaps the headlines beyond the fact that Chad and Jessica are now husband and wife was that the Lord gave our extended family and friends a very ripe time of hospitality that everyone who was there will remember for some time and which in some instances it seems will have life altering benefits and lessons. Now let me change the subject for a moment by asking a question. What do you think Christ covenant is known for in our city. If you said it's excellent pulpit ministry you'd be right. One of the things our church is known for in the city is the preaching that issues forth from this pulpit. We're known for excellent Christian school covenant day school. We're known for our campus outreach ministry that has campus ministries on at least a half dozen university campuses in the region and a sponsor campus ministries in South Africa and Lynchburg Virginia and Washington DC. And we're known for our renowned sports ministry soar. It has been one of the largest in the country. I call these our signature ministries. Most churches are known for some things they do really well and these are ours perhaps there's some others but churches are also known for their weaknesses and one of ours historically has been termed unfriendliness or in the context of our sermon tonight a lack of hospitality. That's troubled me over the years. I found myself defending our church and when I visited other churches on vacation I paid particular attention to whether I've been noticed and welcomed frankly I'm disappointed more often than not and it seems that hospitality is a challenge for most churches not just ours it's formidable. There are reasons why we developed a reputation for not being particularly hospitable. We're Presbyterian after all we're not Baptists. Presbyterians are known for their salinity as the frozen chosen more than for their smiles and welcoming. In addition we're a fairly large church and it's very challenge to be culturally hospitable when you're so large. Our facilities make hospitality a challenge. We have buildings separated over a large campus and rather than give them memorable names we call them A and B and C. It took us at least 10 years to get agreement to use the lobbies of our beautiful sanctuary for hospitality where we were free to have refreshments like coffee and donuts on Sunday mornings or other fellowship events. We have very few large classroom space. We have no significant fellowship hall or kitchen facilities that cooperate with hospitality in a church that's our size and frankly hospitality has not always been on our radar as it should have been even if facilities were not the challenge that they are and finally we have very many priorities and programs nearly all good ones but that ultimately compete with one another for our limited margins of time and space and finances. I want to give us some credit though for doing our best to overcome some of these obstacles. We try our hardest to make our facilities in our campus work for us. The spring lunch on the grounds in April if you remember was a nearly perfect day. If you were around me that day you heard me say that a dozen times this is a perfect day. A thousand people or so enjoyed a delightful hospitable day of fellowship celebrating our debt pay off and other important things the Lord has done for us. We recently completed a major addition to our Wilcox building doubling the space and adding an impressive kitchen so that we can accommodate twice as many people for meals and fellowship events. Each Thanksgiving we put our thousand people at our high school gym for our Thanksgiving feast and while it's very hard work without the help of kitchen facilities and a fellowship hall I know it's deemed a wonderful and hospitable fellowship experience by all in attendance. It's been around six years since we brought Mary Joe Culver under our staff as welcome and connecting ministry coordinator. Mary Joe has a very important responsibility. I told her when we hired her that I wanted her to be the conscience of hospitality for our leadership and our church and with her help and the help of her capable teams as I'll tell you later we have done a great deal to improve our reputation as being a hospitable church. But with all of that said I think our problem with hospitality is less a programmatic one or due to facilities limitations. Rather I think our problem is primarily a theological one and if I'm right our opportunities to become known as a hospitable church as much as we're known for a pulpit ministry or for our excellent school are profound. And so I'd like to read our text tonight with that in mind we're looking at Hebrews chapter 13 verses one and two. We read there let brotherly love continue do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares you pray with me father we have much to learn about this thing we call hospitality and as I trust we'll see this evening we derive our practice from our theology and I pray you help us understand that and appropriate these truths in Jesus name. Amen. You know there was a time when theology was known as the Queen of Sciences in the Universities of Europe. That ceased to be true a long time ago as the Enlightenment and rationalism and scientific theories like evolution began to dominate in the West theology has fallen on hard times and yet for a long time I've maintained that once theology our understanding of God affects everything for better or worse our theology is the lens through which we gaze upon our circumstances and our world we interpret life through our theology we make choices every day that are driven by our theology or expose our theology how we think about politics and our families our finances our work our relationships our church the creation morality death even our recreation is ultimately informed by our theology this is also true for our understanding of and commitment to hospitality because hospitality is ultimately a theological matter and it's rooted in this theological truth we have an hospitable God the author of our text issues the command let love of the brethren continue do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers its scripture gods commands are always rooted in who he is his being and his character and in who we are in him it is very typical that the New Testament epistles will begin not with the commands of God but truths about God and his people theologians call this the indicative what is and out of those indicative in scripture proceed imperatives God's ethical commands his expectations of his people Ephesians is a good example in the first three chapters the Apostle Paul is disclosing the awesome mysteries of a sovereign God and the salvation of men who were his self declared hostile enemies unwilling and incapable of saving themselves and only after declaring those eternal truths about God and man does he then in chapters four through six move from the indicative what is to the imperative how men are to live in light of what is true about God and man writer Hebrews has spent the better part of 12 chapters detailing what is true about Jesus Christ he emphasizes the supreme majesty of our Lord and Savior in every realm in reading those chapters one receives a thorough understanding of all Christ is done to fulfill the Old Testament types and shadows of the gospel and to secure forever our eternal redemption it's interesting to me that the first imperatives the writer of Hebrews issues not found in chapter 13 we can actually go back to chapter 12 verse 28 and it has to do with our worship and light of Christ's supremacy and greatness this should be the immediate response of people saved from their sins by a great benevolent hospitable king we read therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence in all for our God as a consuming fire but right on the heels of this command to worship God rightly and well we receive these commands let brotherly love continue do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers why why we should ask why is love of the brethren and hospitality to strangers a priority to the Lord why does it show up so soon in these imperatives for us because God's hospitality always has redemptive ends God's hospitality is an occasion to bring his redemptive grace and blessing to others we receive some insight into this from the writers next statement for thereby we have some have entertained angels unawares he writes commentators agree that the writer Hebrews here is referring to Abraham's hospitality extended to three visitors in Genesis 18 verses 1 to 15 would you turn with their with me for a moment and allow me to read a portion of that Genesis 18 beginning in verse 1 and the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of memory as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold three men were standing in front of him when he saw them he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said oh lord if I have found favor in your sight do not pass by your servant little little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree while I bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves and after that you may pass on sit you come to your servant so they said do you set an Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said quick three says of fine flower need it and make cakes an Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf tinder and good and gave it to a young man who prepared it quickly then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and he said it before them and he stood by them under the tree while they ate Abraham didn't know these three men who they were but he quickly arranged for their comfort by washing their feet and inviting the rest while he and Sarah hasten to prepare a good meal for them complete with bread fine meat and milk the scripture seemed to indicate that Abraham doted on his three guests even though he didn't know why they were there or where they were headed they were truly strangers to him as it turns out Abraham's visitors would none other than Yahweh himself the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ and two of his angels now think with me who was actually the hospital bull party here was it Abraham or the Lord I would argue that it was both Abraham clearly exercised hospitality strangers but the Lord was exercising hospitality as well by choosing to visit Abraham and Sarah he sought out Abraham and blessed him with his presence and a promise to bless Abraham and Sarah with a child in their old age who was the benefactor and who was the beneficiary in Abraham's hospitality Abraham certainly thought in the beginning that he was the primary benefactor bringing refreshment to his three guests but as it turned out Abraham and Sarah were the chief beneficiaries of this encounter out of a simple commitment to welcome strangers it seems the story of God's initiative to redeem a people for himself begins what if Abraham had not been hospitable to the strangers we don't have to speculate about that but I think you see my point and it is perhaps the point of our text in Hebrews our efforts at hospitality often cooperate with God's providential and redemptive purposes to bless others whether we know it or not and the biblical record of God's hospitality is extensive those same angels visited Lot in Genesis 19 and angel also visited Gideon in Judges 6 to appoint him as a judge to save Israel from the bondage of the Midianites an angel visited Manoa the Baron Wife of Zora to bless them with the announcement of her conception with Samson himself a judge who rescued Israel from the Philistines we could spend a great deal of time tonight illustrating the innumerable ways of hospitality that our God is exercised with his people he dwelt with Israel powerfully in the cloud and fire as he accompanied them to the promised land he dwelt in the tabernacle and later in the temple his hospitality is clearly in view in the eronic blessing may the Lord bless you and keep you may the Lord lift up his face upon you and be gracious to you may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his peace the psalmist consistently counted upon the hospitality of God's presence it was his consistent objective Psalm 27 is just one example David says there one thing I've asked from the Lord that will I seek after that I made dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life the gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple for he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble he will conceal me under the cover of his tent he will lift me high upon a rock you have said seek my face my heart says to you your face Lord do I seek hide not your face for me turn not your servant away in anger oh you have been my help cast me not off forsake me not oh God of my salvation for my father and my mother have forsaken me but the Lord will take me in perhaps the pinnacle of expression of God's hospitable ways is however is recorded for us in John chapter 1 beginning in verse 9 the true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world he was in the world and the world was made through him and yet the world did not know him he came to his own and his own people did not receive him but to all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood nor the will of the flesh nor the will of man but of God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as the only son from the father full of grace and truth Jesus dwelt more accurately pitched his tent among men God welcomed men to himself and took great pains to do so up to and including his death on the cross on earth Christ lived among us he labored among us he made compelling invitations to all men how attractive is this one from Matthew 11 come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon me upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble and heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light and Christ remained hospitable even after his death resurrection and ascension by sending his holy spirit to dwell in his people and with his church his hospitality is reflected meaningfully in the sacrament of the Lord's supper I think this quote from theologian Reinhard Cutter is helpful in appreciating the length and breadth and height and depth of God's love expressed in his innumerable hospitable ways Dr. Cutter writes in the proclamation of the word the truth of God's hospitality in Christ is announced and promised in the celebration of the Lord's supper the hospitality of this truth is concretely remembered and tangibly received God's own truth grants itself and nacks its own hospitality whenever the gospel is proclaimed and the Lord's supper celebrated they point to each other

God is a hospitable God and out of his hospitality to fallen men he calls us to imitate his hospitality that's the reason why hospitality is the expectation of church officers we read in 1 Timothy 3 too therefore an overseer must be above reproach the husband of one wife sober minded self-controlled respectable hospitable able to teach and Titus 1 for an overseer as God steward must be above reproach he must not be arrogant or quick tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain but hospitable lover of good self-controlled bright holy and disciplined and it's because God is hospitable that all his people are called to hospitality not only in our text the night but by Peter in 1 Peter 4 9 and by Paul in Romans 12 13 we read in Peter above all keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins show hospitality to one another without grumbling Paul says in Romans 12 rejoice in hope be patient in tribulation be constant in prayer contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality if God were not hospitable his command to officers and the church to be hospitable would be arbitrary it'd be hypocritical but because he himself is hospitable it's called to us to imitate him is all the more compelling to be in hospitable or even indifferent about hospitality is on some level a dismissal of God's own hospitable spirit that he wants to see exhibited in each of us friends in a fallen world in his hospitable world a hospitable person an hospitable family an hospitable church is a is valuable beyond measure such a person such a family such a church is God's able ambassador and this is first and foremost a theological matter I hope you're convinced that God is hospitable toward men and that it's his desire that we imitate him as his hospitable ambassadors and if you are convinced of that then we should talk about the practice of hospitality the Jews and the early church valued and practiced hospitality there wasn't much of a hospitality industry in those times and what ends existed were not always particularly safe and so the early church opened its homes in fact the spread of the church rested in significant measure on the hospitality of God's people with their homes during Jesus ministry we read in Luke 9 verse 1 he called the 12 together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal and he said to them take nothing for your journey no staff nor bag nor bread nor money and do not have two tunics and whatever house you enter stay there and from there to part in Acts chapter 2 in the earliest days of the church out of the gate we read in Acts 2 verse 46 and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes they received their food with glad and generous hearts praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved in Acts 20-20 we read it this morning the Apostle Paul recounts how he planted the Ephesian church by preaching publicly and teaching from house to house and so it seems there were corporate in the temple and private house to house expressions of hospitality going on in those times to further the cause of the gospel what is hospitality practiced on a private and public basis look like in our time in our homes in our church hospitality is both personal and corporate it's first personal your commitment to hospitality as an individual and as a family will influence the hospitality of your home and ultimately of our church hospitality is sacrificial it costs us time and resources it can be risky that's why hospitality must issue from a heart of gratitude if it's to be effective the Apostle Peter knew this and so in verse Peter for nine he writes show hospitality to one another without grumbling grumbling is the face of an ungrateful heart and it's a relationship killer grumbling is the death note the hospitality what are some barriers or threats to effective hospitality first there are cultural barriers these are barriers that are imposed by the culture in which we live the hospitality industry thrives in our nation doesn't it is liberated us from dependence on others hospitality because we can now get on the internet and secure lodging in restaurants anywhere for a price that we can afford and so the hospitality industry thrives perhaps perhaps to the detriment of biblical hospitality but it's funny most missionaries I know don't have the means to stay in motels and hotels and eat in restaurants they hope they look back to the first century church model and they hope that God's people will open their homes to them whether on furlough or attending a mission's conference a number of our staff enjoy the hospitality some of you who allow us to stay in your homes at the beach or in the mountains and we thank you for that hospitable initiative other aspects of the culture rub off on us as we work against hospitality the independent spirit of the the commitment to privacy and private ownership that marks Americans is both a blessing and a bane if our theology is not keeping us honest with these cultural values then hospitality will suffer along with the cultural barriers they're also personal barriers that keep us from practicing hospitality in ways that please the Lord and further his kingdom objectives what are some of these we for one are an affluent people by and large and our affluence in our affluence would climb to be selfish with their time and our homes our homes have become our castles places primarily for our own respite and enjoyment rather than resources to be stewarded for the Lord's purposes our affluence plays tricks on us you think that the more we have the more hospitable we be but that's not always the case our flesh tells us that our time and the things that we have or for our use first and foremost we forget that God has given us whatever we possess and expects us to be generous and ready to share whether that's our time our homes or other things that we have that with which we might bless others it is a counter intuitive reality that the folks who seem to have the least are often the most hospitable in generous my mother-in-law is 96 her husband died over 50 years ago when Pat was seven she raised the remaining five of her eight children as an elementary school cook she moved into a little two bedroom house when her husband died she still lives in that house yet I don't know of a more hospitable person than my mother-in-law Americans can be both workaholics and committed to our pleasure one reason I enjoy going to Europe is that they don't seem to have the preoccupation that Americans do with work they seem to make time for relationships when work and pleasure become an end in themselves or too important for us they reduce our margins of time and rest needed for hospitality hospitality can be inefficient and inconvenient and that's because it's primarily relational and does it can be a bit messy if you're a task-minded person as I am then hospitality can be a little more difficult for you two other personal barriers to hospitality are fear of being known and are desire to look good our homes say a lot about us and to the extent that we're committed to looking good rather than real we will be less hospitable and finally I would mention again that we are not natively grateful people gratitude is a gift to the spirit and it must be cultivated every day in gratitude is a sin it stands in the way of hospitality my wife pat is instituted a new discipline in her life she explicitly thanks the Lord for his difficult providences they come her way so that she does not become an ungrateful grumbling person so given that these are real barriers or threats to hospitality how do we cultivate hospitality in our personal and family lives and in our church what are some practical ideas that will help us make hospitality more of a priority first let me speak to you as individuals if you're not a hospitable person as a son or daughter of God you should be concerned think about all that we've said this evening about the theology of hospitality and the barriers to hospitality and be curious and honest enough to examine yourself ask others if you're hospitable in their assessment and if not ask them why you need to know to be a hospitable person will require you to be grateful but it'll also require you to be more spontaneous and to be open to interruptions hospitality cannot always be planned Abraham and Sarah weren't looking for three visitors on that day in Genesis 18 and God's providence he allows interruptions in our day that will test our willingness to be hospitable Ken Boah who spoke at our men's retreat often says that the most important appointment we will have in a given day is probably not in our smart devices calendar and it takes a heart of hospitality to welcome such intrusions and interruptions hospitality can also be cultivated in our hearts if we ask the Lord to show us how to bless others that can take the form of personal notes or visits some months ago I decided that I would build home visits into my calendar to see a number of our folks that are ill or homebound my list is growing it's growing because I like Abraham in Genesis 18 thought it I was the benefactor in those visits only discover every single time that I in fact was the beneficiary that has increased my desire to do more home visits how can our families practice hospitality in ways that bless others without neglecting our other obligations I may pay for this later what would you allow me to brag on my wife I don't do that often publicly this is Pat Lawrence's realm she has a big heart for hospitality and exercises it routinely in our home and in our neighborhood these are just some ideas that might wet your appetite and imagination we routinely have folks in for meals it's often spontaneous after a morning service sometimes it's just around our dining room table sometimes it's a lot more but we're always expectant asking God's spirit to range new friendships and other opportunities out of those times for those who visit our home we have some really good stories hospitality usually involves food in the Bible and in our home food is typically the common denominator and I should say that Pat cares less than I do that our home is immaculate because it never is we have five kids she's told me a dozen times burning people don't care that much about her home looks they just want to be loved and she's been right every time on holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving in July 4th we usually have a large gathering at her home we invite a number of our family and friends but we also include others some from the church some of our neighbors some we don't even know we think about those who may not have a place to be like singles and single parents families and distress college students widows and widowers the elderly those with disabilities Jesus puts a high value on such people you know and so should we if you're not convinced of that read Matthew 25 verses 31 to 36 in Luke 14 verses 12 to 14 we've been told many times in these occasions that these occasions have been a great deal to these folks and has been a good model for our children when Pat learns that someone has moved into our neighborhood or that someone is sick she'll drop by with brownies or chicken in a bag of salad that she's picked up from Harris teeter to welcome our new neighbors or to encourage those who are ill when we moved into our neighborhood and then he'll 12 years ago she gathered up all her children together while I was at work I'm glad I was at work and she knocked on 45 doors of our neighbors introducing our family and gifting them all with a box of Andy Andy Smiths I'm telling you she's a hospitality fool

Pat is also facilitated block partings and Christmas drop-ins at our home over the years it's amazing to me that our neighbors gladly come to our home for such things it gives us countless opportunities to bring Christ to them these are just ideas our goal of course is to be ambassadors for Christ through hospitality by creating opportunities for God to exercise his redemptive ways I know that some of you have your own stories some of you house missionaries many of you have adopted children some of you are foster parents all of these are acts of hospitality that please the Lord and bring blessing to people made in his image but where would you start if practicing hospitality isn't something with which your family is familiar or comfortable here's a suggestion Sunday the Lord's day is a great place to begin if we're practicing the Sabbath it becomes a wonderful occasion for hospitality I know that the Rosses Mike and Jane use the first Sunday of each month communion Sundays when we share a spiritual meal with Christ and with one another to later share a physical meal with folks in their home try that build something like that into your family schedule start small and watch God bless you as you welcome others finally how can we get better at hospitality as a congregation I want to encourage you I want to tell you some of the things that we've been doing to make hospitality a priority for new folks as well as for those of you that have been here for some years earlier I mentioned that I asked Mary Jo Culver interstaffled to be our conscience with respect to hospitality in our church he's taken me seriously through Mary Jo's efforts and her teams working with visitors we have put greeters at the entrance stores and all lobbies we have a very friendly information desk they actually escort visitors to Sunday school if that would be helpful Mary Jo is instituted follow-up with visitors who complete guest cards we have a guest corner in the main lobby to welcome folks after services we have quarterly guest dinners and discovery class dinners those in the discovery class meet all our senior staff members one person one new person recently said that she had never been in a church where their pastoral staff were so accessible that encouraged me Mary Jo has an assimilation team to follow up with all new members to see if they're getting connected we have quarterly community Sundays to introduce new members in our Sunday school classes our pastors and our officers are trying to be more intentionally hospitable through Sunday school and worship many of us will mingle with you before the morning service starts to greet you and see how you're doing the pastors station ourselves all around the sanctuary after the morning services to greet you and to be accessible to you our hope is always that the Lord will use our willing initiatives of hospitality to arrange for meaningful conversations with you that are beneficial to your soul I'm rarely disappointed in addition to our church-wide events like Thanksgiving feast in the spring lunch many of our ministry commitments are hospitable by their very nature because they are attempts to welcome and care for people such ministries as his abilities our adoption support ministry we called hand chosen the Kindle Ministry church on the street where we feed the homeless the visitation of shut-ins and those in the hospital our prison ministry those working with unplanned pregnancies our women's and small group ministries and so many others I could mention all provide excellent life signs that Christ covenant is a hospitable church of course we never finally arrive we have opportunities each lords day morning and evening to welcome our guests and one another more effectively will you help us with this hospitality is contagious when gods people strive to imitate their hospitable God I anticipate the day when Christ covenant will be able to say that we are known in the community for hospitality that hospitality has become one of our signature ministries but it won't be accomplished through programs unless those programs are the overflow of hearts of gratitude to a hospitable God who has gone out of his way and at great cost to himself to exhibit his hospitality for us time and time again then we'll welcome others into our lives and our families and our worshiping community Christine Paul concludes her book living into community cultivating practices it sustain us it's a book that was read for the pastor's book club just recently she concludes her book with this we are not called to create ideal families communities or congregations building faithful communities of truth and hospitality however is at the heart of our grateful response to the one who's become flesh and lived among us full of grace and truth in the end it is as simple and as complicated as loving those whom God has set beside us today may the Lord grant us large hearts for hospitality that will allow him to further his redemptive objectives in our lives and in the lives of those we have yet to meet amen father I am compelled by being reminded of the many acts of hospitality you've initiated toward your people toward men who despised you at some point but were wooed and won by your kind hospitable ways would you now please make us more like you in this regard in Jesus' name amen