Hospitality A Neglected Essential | New Years Worship Service

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We're some of the perfect men 🎵 🎵 Who suffered bled and died 🎵 🎵

With the love of a sovereign God 🎵 🎵 Whose greatness we'll be sure 🎵 🎵

To crucify your son 🎵 🎵 And rejoice around your throne 🎵 🎵

And all... 🎵 🎵 ...is

in you 🎵 Send Your Son for us

I plan a vast cause

That I might come to call The glory of The glory of The cross

Was there revealed That sets the guilty free That justifies ungodly men

And calls the filthy clean A righteousness that proves to all

That justice has been met And holy wrath is satisfied

For unatoning death The glory of the

That You would send Your Son for us

I gladly count my life as lost

That I might come to call The glory of The glory of The cross

What mercy now has been prepared For those who would believe

A love incomprehensible Our minds could not conceive

A mercy that forgives my sin That makes me like Your Son Because of what

You've done And oh, the glory of The cross

That You would send Your Son for us

I gladly count my life as lost

That I might come to call The glory of The glory of The cross

And oh, the glory of The cross

That You would send Your Son for us

I gladly count my life as lost

That I might come to call The glory of The glory of Should nothing

A third step No legacy Survive Unless the

Lord does Raise a house In vain As builders strive

Do you know Tomorrow's game?

Tell me What is your life? A mist that vanishes at dawn

A voice A glory we do praise

Our King A glory we do praise

His rule and reign We'll ever sing

A glory we do praise His will be done

His kingdom come On earth as it is above Who is himself

Our daily bread Raise him The Lord will satisfy

The thirsty without price

Will take a cup of kindness yet A glory we do praise

A glory we do praise Our King A glory we do praise

His rule and reign We'll ever sing

A glory we do praise

Upon the day The great I Am The faithful and the true

The Lamb who was for sinners slain

Is making all things new Behold our

God shall live with us And be our steadfast light

Then we shall hear His people glee

A glory we do praise A glory we do praise

Our King A glory we do praise

His rule and reign We'll ever sing

A glory we do praise A glory we do praise

Our King A glory we do praise

His rule and reign We'll ever sing

A glory we do praise

Would you please be seated? I just have one announcement about a meeting coming up on January 22nd, and that is for all of the parents and graduates of our seniors.

This is not just for seniors who are homeschooled. This is for all seniors in our congregation for the graduation service coming up in May.

So that's January 22nd. You'll meet after the service and that is for parents and graduates.

You both need to be at that meeting if you would like to participate in the graduation service in May.

Turn your Bibles, please, to Psalm 34. Psalm 34.

The introduction to the psalms says, A psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech who drove him away and he departed.

Psalm 34 beginning at verse 1. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul will make its boast in the Lord. The humble will hear it and rejoice. Oh, magnify the

Lord with me and exalt, let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

They looked to him and were radiant and their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried and the

Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Oh, fear the

Lord you his saints for to those who fear him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they who seek the

Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. Come you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the

Lord. Who is the man who desires life and loves length of days that he may see good?

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the

Lord is against evildoers to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry and the

Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken.

Evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of his servants and none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Will you stand with me as we pray? Let's bow our heads.

Our gracious God, we look over this past year and we are in awe of the many blessings that you have poured out upon us, your people.

It is by your grace that you have lavished upon us so many earthly blessings, so many freedoms, so many material blessings, so many spiritual blessings and we could never even number them, let alone recite them.

We look back upon a year in which you have been gracious to us in allowing us to meet here weekly, to gather together in this freedom that we enjoy.

We are grateful for a year filled with your provision, your goodness, that you have kept us in your grace, that you have maintained us in health and in fellowship and unity with one another.

We thank you for the blessing of our salvation, that it is in that grace that we stand and you preserve us in our salvation and keep those who are yours.

We thank you for that. Thank you for the atonement of Jesus Christ, which has purchased our redemption and made us his so that we may anticipate with full confidence the glory that is to come in eternity with you and that we may enjoy the fellowship that we do in your

Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of this body and our love for one another, our service to one another. And we pray that by your grace you would continue that, continue to bless us in that way and pour out your grace upon us.

We look forward to this year ahead knowing and trusting that you will work in us and accomplish your every good pleasure, accomplish all of your will and do all that pleases you.

And we pray that in this coming year we may see the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for that is our desire to be with you where you are and to see your glory and to be glorified with you.

So we pray that you would accomplish these things for the glory of Christ, our Lord, in whose name we pray. And all God's people said,

Amen. There is a

Redeemer Jesus, God's own

Son Precious Lamb of God Messiah, oh

Jesus, my Redeemer Name above all names

Precious Lamb of God Messiah, oh

For sinners slain Thank you, oh my

Father For giving us your

Son And lead your spirit till The work on earth is done

When I stand in glory I will see his face

There I'll serve my King forever In that holy place

Thank you, oh my Father For giving us your

Son And lead your spirit till The work on earth is done

Thank you, oh my Father For giving us your

Son And lead your spirit till The work on earth is done

Oh Lord, Treasure of my longing soul

My God, like you There is no other

True delight Is found in you alone

Your grace, a well Too deep to fathom

Your love exceeds The heavens reach

Your truth, a fount Of perfect wisdom

Our highest good And mild in need

Strong defender of my soul

To fight the cruel deceiver And my shield

Against his hateful darts My song when enemies surround me

My hope when tides of sorrow rise

My joy when trials are abounding

Your faithfulness, my refuge in the night

Oh Lord, gracious Savior Of my ruined life

My guilt and cross laid on your shoulders In my place, you suffered, bled, and died

You rose, the grave and death are conquered You broke my bonds of sin and shame

You rose, the grave and death are conquered

You broke my bonds of sin and shame

Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer

May all my days bring glory to your name

May all my days bring glory to your name

Please be seated. Well, it is a delight to be back up here with you this morning and I just wanted to begin by thanking you all and expressing the deep gratitude that I and my family have for your concern and prayer for us over the last few months as we've had some health struggles but we are doing much better and very grateful for that.

So let's pray as we open the word together. Our Father, we arrive at this most significant of time in the corporate worship of the body of Christ when we, your people, gather in this place and we open the word of God together that we might hear from you.

We pray, our Father, that your Spirit would apply the word that He would help us to understand the word that we might be people who do not merely hear but do the word of God.

Our Father, as we begin a new year together it is our desire and our ambition to live in obedience to you.

We pray in Christ's name. Amen. It is my desire to speak to you this morning about the ministry, the

Christian ministry of hospitality and I've entitled this morning's message

Hospitality, A Neglected Essential. Hospitality, A Neglected Essential.

It is January 1st. We are together here on this first Sunday in January and January is an interesting month and January 1st in particular makes it interesting because this is typically the time when we make resolutions of self -reformation probably the most common of which is that we're going to get in shape and lose a few pounds in this coming year.

That is undoubtedly the most often made resolution and the one most often broken by February.

The month January is actually named after the Roman god Janus. It comes from the

Roman god Janus and the Roman god Janus was portrayed in a most interesting way. He was portrayed as having two faces and the reason he was portrayed as having two faces was that he was thought to be able to look both into the future and the past simultaneously and that kind of plays into how we see the month of January.

We tend to auld lang syne, look back as to what has gone and look forward to losing a few pounds in what comes before us.

So in keeping with that notion of looking backward and forward I want to set the stage for our study this morning in the scriptures by taking a quick look backwards at hospitality in the

Christian church. So Christian histories are replete with statements about the loving display of Christian hospitality in the early centuries of the church.

A lack of buildings in which to meet in the early centuries made Christianity a home -based movement.

A movement that was often dependent upon itinerant that is traveling teachers and preachers and these teachers and preachers were dependent upon the hospitality of the local congregations that they traveled to in order to minister the word of God and so they being dependent received their material support and provision including food and shelter instant amongst the home -based churches, the home churches that they visited throughout the

Roman Empire. Alexander Strock in his excellent little book entitled

The Hospitality Commands writes the following, The first Christians viewed themselves as part of a worldwide brotherhood that transcended all national, racial and social boundaries.

They knew they were a persecuted minority in an intensely hostile world.

Their very survival depended on active participation in the family of brothers and sisters.

Hospitality therefore became one of the most significant practical expressions of this worldwide family of brothers and sisters and thus became one of the birthmarks of primitive

Christianity. Now, as the centuries progressed,

Christianity became eventually the established religion of the Empire in the 4th century.

And when that happened its pilgrim status was forgotten and with it the practice of hospitality waned.

We find how much it had waned when we get to the 16th century, that's the 1500s, when

John Calvin is mourning the demise of ancient hospitality and he said, and I quote,

This office of humanity has nearly ceased to be properly observed among men.

For the ancient hospitality celebrated in history is unknown to us and inns now supply the place of accommodations for strangers.

That's enough looking backwards, let's look forwards. The word hospitality or hospitable, that Greek word is actually comprised of two

Greek words put together. The first word philos means loving, the second word xenos or xenos, depending on how you want to pronounce it, means a stranger or a guest.

So the word hospitality or hospitable conveys the idea of a love of strangers or a love of guests, that's what the word means.

So what I've got for you this morning is five sermons crammed into one. So we're going to have to bail our hay and we're not going to be able to explore all that I would love to explore with you with regard to this topic.

But here's the outline for you, it's very simple. I have five statements, five statements.

Five statements that help shape our understanding and practice of hospitality.

Five statements that help shape our understanding and practice of hospitality.

Okay, number one, first statement. Hospitality is a command, not a gift.

Hospitality is a command, not a gift. The spiritual gifts are delineated in three places,

I have trouble with that, three places in the New Testament. The gift lists. They are found in Romans 12, they are found in 1

Corinthians 12, and they are found in 1 Peter 4.

Those are the classic gift lists of the New Testament. That's where you go to find the spiritual gifts listed.

We're not going to go there this morning, we're not going to take the time to do that. You can check me, go on your own and check there.

If you go to the gift lists and look at them, you will not find hospitality listed.

It is not there. It is not there. And the reason it's not there is because it is not a gift. Hospitality is not a spiritual gift.

Hospitality is instead a command. It is a command. So open your

Bibles. I will demonstrate this to you quickly in Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 and verse 13.

Romans chapter 12 and verse 13. Romans 12, 13.

Contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Now, this word practicing, it is a present active participle.

We'll just tell you that. In the Greek, it's a present active participle. What does that mean? It means it's conveying the idea of an active, ongoing action.

It could be translated, in fact, if you're using a New American Standard and it's a study

Bible with margin notes, you'll find it down there, the idea of pursuing hospitality.

I would translate it actively pursuing hospitality. I think that captures the present active participle that is translated here in practicing hospitality.

Now, that's not a command. A participle is not a command. But I'm saying it is a command. And the reason

I'm telling you that it is a command is because actually to find the command for this passage, the controlling verb of the passage is found in chapter 12, verse 2.

So we have to go back there to chapter 2. This is the command that then controls everything that rolls out under that, of which actively pursuing hospitality is but one illustration.

So here you go. In verse 2, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed, there's your controlling verb, and it is a command, by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Good and acceptable and perfect, right? Be transformed. There is your controlling verb, your command verb, present middle imperative, that sets up the rest of chapter 12.

In other words, how does the transformation show itself, Paul? And he lists them out.

And all the way to verse 13, the active pursuit of hospitality is the implementation of the command to be transformed in your thinking and proving the will of God, that which is good and perfect.

Okay? So, the command is in verse 2, the specific illustration or activity of that command occurs here in verse 13.

All right. We're going to have to keep moving. Sorry. We can spend more time there, but we're not going to. We're going next to Hebrews chapter 13.

All right? And that's just the way it's going to have to be. Sorry. Hebrews 13. And I don't feel bad about preaching this, because by the time

Jim gets to this, he'll have forgotten everything I've said, particularly because he prayed that the

Lord would return this year. All right.

Hebrews chapter 13, verse 2. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Okay, Jim can unsort that for you. But what I'm interested in is the do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, present middle imperative.

It's a command. And if I can say it this way, we can only neglect that which is our duty.

That which is our duty is what we can neglect. And we are not to neglect it, the writer says.

Keep going to the right. 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter 4, verse 9.

1 Peter 4, and verse 9.

Be hospitable to one another without complaint. Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

That is not a command. That is not an imperative. All right. But there is an imperative in the passage that controls this, and it occurs in verse 7.

The end of all things is near, therefore be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

The be of sound judgment, or the English Standard Version translates it be self -controlled, that is an aorist active imperative.

There's your imperative. There's your command that controls the passage, or this section of it at least. So, in verse 9, be hospitable to one another.

The command comes out of verse 7. It is the result of a sound judgment, a sober spirit.

Notice also, by the way, just while we're here, to one another without complaint.

One another speaks of the local body of Christ. So, the command for hospitality, the extension of oneself to strangers and guests certainly speaks of those outside of the local body, but it also speaks to those inside the local body, the one another's.

So, hospitality is to be extended not only to those who are complete strangers, but also to others within the local body, that's us.

The command is to us, to extend hospitality to one another.

One another. Alright, turn left, and go to 1

Timothy 5. 1 Timothy 5.

Verses 9 and 10. 1 Timothy 5, verses 9 and 10.

This is Paul's words to Timothy here. Timothy is in Ephesus. Paul is instructing

Timothy how to put the church in order, basically, until he returns. And he is addressing the issue of the care of widows.

And so, verse 9, a widow is to be put on the list. I'm of the opinion the list had to do with a benevolent's role to care for the widows.

So, a widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old, having been the wife of one man, a one -woman man, or a one -man woman, sorry.

Get that right, one -man woman. Here's the point. Having a reputation for good works, and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, put her on the list, verse 9, there is your command, present, middle imperative, put her on the list, provided she meets the qualifications.

One of the qualifications here, verse 10, has shown hospitality to strangers, has loved strangers who are strangers, more literally.

So, another command. Connected to hospitality.

Give you one more, same book. Chapter 3 and verse 2.

Chapter 3, verse 2. An overseer, then, must be above reproach.

Umbrella statement. And now explain. The husband of one wife, a one -woman man, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine, a prognatious, gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money, et cetera.

Interesting, not a command here. Present active indicative. Day. It is necessary.

It's often referred to as the divine necessity. In order for one to be above reproach, these things must be true of him.

And then they're delineated. Hospitable is one of the requirements for an elder.

Now, here's the interesting thing. I want you to notice that the responsibility in this passage for hospitality falls on whom?

It falls on the man, not on the wife. It falls on the man, not on his wife.

What this means is that hospitality is the responsibility of male leadership within his home.

It is a measure of what it means to be mature in the Christian faith.

In other words, that a man must shepherd his wife to a place to extend hospitality.

He must shepherd his children to a place to understand, value, love, and practice hospitality so that this vital and essential character of Christian conduct reveals itself.

Here in 1 Timothy 3, the qualifications that are listed here, the men are qualified or disqualified for leadership in God's church based upon what's within their control.

Hospitality is within his control. If I can put a fine point on this, men, it is our responsibility.

Hospitality, the hospitable nature of our home, is ours, not our wives.

She is called to aid and assist us, but it is our responsibility.

Hospitality is a command, not a gift. That was number one statement. Number two statement, hospitality is a call to love others.

It is a call to love others. The New Testament exhortations to practice hospitality occur in the context of brotherly love.

I'm going to turn you right back to the passages we looked at earlier. Let's go back to Romans 12. We're going to move a little near the context to the statement about actively pursuing hospitality in verse 13.

I want you to look at verse 9. Verse 9, let love be without hypocrisy.

Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Love is the first fruit of a transformed mind.

Love is the first fruit of a transformed mind. Then that love begins to display itself in having devoted to one another, preference to one another, not lagging behind in diligence, serving the

Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, meaning generous, and practicing hospitality.

It flows out of the transformed mind. The transformed mind first reveals itself in love.

That shouldn't be too hard to understand, right? Because God is love. And those who are being transformed into the image of his

Son are being transformed from one who was turned in on themselves to one who is now outwardly focused, expressing the very love of God that he has shed in them.

Go back to Hebrews, Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13, right?

We looked at verse 2. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. Look at verse 1. Let love of the brethren continue.

Let love of the brethren continue. In other words, that is the overriding plot. How do we let love of the brethren continue?

Do not neglect to show hospitality. That's how. That's how. Hospitality is the answer to the appeal to let the love of the brethren continue.

1 Peter 4. We found the command in verse 7, but look at verse 8.

Notice again the close context with love. Above all, keep fervent in your, what?

Love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

Okay? Keep fervent, ekkenes, persistent effort, resolve, straining.

The picture is like an Olympic athlete in training, pursuing to the fullest extent what their body is capable of.

Okay? We're to strain at this. Now, this kind of love that we're being called to is a costly love.

It is a costly love. In other words, the biblical expression of hospitality will cost us something.

At very minimum, it will increase our food budget. Okay? But believe me, that's the least costly part of it all.

But it is costly. It's time -consuming. Probably the most valuable resource we have, right?

Our limited time. It is time -consuming. It is fatiguing.

It is fatiguing. And it is privacy -denying.

Privacy -denying. I just want to go home and kick back. But the active pursuit of those who are strangers to us in an expression of hospitality will be costly, time -consuming, fatiguing, and privacy -denying.

Therefore, there is a need to resist the temptation to complain about it, to complain about its costliness, that it's burdensome, that it's occasionally irritating.

And so, look at verse 9. Be hospitable to one another, notice, without complaint.

Geguzmos. I love that word. All right? It sounds like complaint. Geguzmos. Geguzmos. It means murmuring, grumbling, complaining.

Okay? We are to be hospitable to one another. Now it's talking about within here. Without complaining about each other.

Because you know what? Some of us are kind of irritating, off -putting, energy -sucking, and on and on it goes.

And I'm sorry that I'm like that. I'm better than I was.

You should have seen me 40 years ago. Hospitality is gospel -driven, not works -produced.

This is not a call to a works effort. This is the fruit and outflow of the gospel.

Romans 5 .5, Paul writes, The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the

Holy Spirit who was given us. It is not our love to God, but God's love to us through the

Holy Spirit that captivates and controls our hearts, changes our orientation, turns us from being bent inward on ourselves to turning and moving outward to others, just like God had toward us when he sent his own son into this world to die for our sin.

Hospitality is a command, not a gift. Second, a call to love others. Third, hospitality is a centerpiece of Christian community.

Hospitality, third, is a centerpiece of Christian community.

It goes like this. We have been placed into one body by baptism, spirit baptism, right?

Jesus is the baptizer, the spirit is the medium in which we are baptized, and thus we share the common life of the spirit.

It's a reality that is on display every time we partake of the

Lord's table. The classic text, 1

Corinthians 12, verse 13. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, we were all made to drink of one spirit.

Therefore, the church is a family. We are the family of God.

In fact, brother, sister, brethren, those expressions are used 250 times in the

New Testament in reference to the believers. We are the brethren.

We are brothers in Christ. We are sisters in Christ. Why is it used so much?

Because it communicates the reality of who we are in Christ. We have become a family.

And when a church begins to truly understand the profound theological truth of our brotherhood in the spirit, then we cannot help but overflow in love to one another.

It's natural. It's unnatural to the unredeemed, but it is natural to the redeemed.

And love is, back up, let me say that, hospitality is, that's the word

I'm looking for, hospitality is a centerpiece of that kind of love, of that kind of familial, family love.

Let me demonstrate it to you in 3 John. So I'll turn you to 3 John. Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers.

And they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

They went out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support such men so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.

Now, I want you to notice there in verse 8, the word support, and again, if you have margin notes, look at your margin note, and you will see that a better, a more literal rendering would be to receive such men as guests, to receive such men as guests.

And so if we were to read it that way, we'd say, therefore, we ought to receive such men as guests so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.

In other words, receive them into our homes, right? These are traveling itinerant preachers.

Receive them into our home. Provide for them. Send them out with what they need to continue their ministry.

Don't let them rely on the Gentiles to fund it. People of God fund it. Receive them as guests.

Now, that idea is even more strongly conveyed, actually, in the New International Version, the

NIV. They actually go so far, and it has to do with translation theory and formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence and all of that sort of thing, but they render it, show hospitality to such men.

They go right there and pin it down, okay? And that is what's being talked about, okay?

Show hospitality to such men. Why? So that we may be fellow workers, or more literally prove ourselves to be fellow workers with the truth.

So, hospitality is a command, not a gift. Hospitality is a call to love others.

Hospitality is a centerpiece of Christian community. Number four, hospitality is a characteristic in which to grow.

Hospitality is a characteristic in which to grow. Like every other aspect of the

Christian life, we are called to a spirit -empowered striving to grow in obedience to the

Word of God, which results in progress toward the image of Christ. That is the Christian life.

Another way to say that is that we are practicing hospitality as a growth in sanctification.

Said another way, none of us have arrived. None of us are yet perfectly in the image of Christ.

We are all in progress, and we are all at different places in that progress, and sometimes in different places with regard to various Christian character attributes in the pursuit of Christ.

In other words, in some places, we are remarkably and demonstrably more like Christ than we were when we were first saved, and in other areas, eh.

It's a process. It's a growth process for all of us. Nobody has arrived. It's part of the growth in sanctification, the practice of hospitality.

Now, this is probably a good place to say this, so let me say it. Hospitality is more than inviting people into your home for a meal.

Okay, let me say it again. Hospitality is more than inviting people into your home for a meal, but it is not less than this.

It is not less than this. It is more than this. It is not less than this.

In other words, you cannot be genuinely hospitable unless you open your home to other people.

I have had the privilege of doing many weddings through the years and love the opportunity to stand before a young couple and kind of launch them with last words.

And one of those last words that I always work in to launch them with is this.

It is not the size of your home, but the size of your heart that will determine how generous you are in this vitally important ministry.

It is not the size of your home. It is the size of your heart. In other words, young people starting out,

I know, your small apartment, don't have much, sitting on milk crates, eating off of trays. Okay, I understand that.

But that is not a governing factor. The governing factor is the size of your heart towards strangers and guests.

That will determine how hospitable one shows himself to be. Okay, so that's great to know that because that is liberating.

That is incredibly liberating. In other words, there is nobody here, nobody here who cannot, praise the

Lord, fulfill God's command to us. Isn't that wonderful?

Can we rejoice in that? Amen? We bet. Because hospitality is the outworking of the transformed life,

I've said there are some who have made greater progress than others, but that's okay. Nobody's mastered it.

Everybody's working at it. Nobody should be content in their progress.

We should all be leaning in, striving after, seeking the Spirit's help in excelling still more.

Think of Paul's words to the Thessalonians, right? Excel still more in this soul -satisfying endeavor.

Now, if you are just starting out, let me suggest to you some practical tips, practical tips on how to begin a ministry of hospitality through your home.

Some of this is old hat to you, folks. Others, it may be new ideas. So here they are.

First off, make a list of the people you want to invite home to your, to your home after church.

Make a list. Who would I like to invite into my home after church so that we might begin to grow in fellowship together and I might be able to minister, perhaps, to them and certainly them to me.

So make a list. Second, clean the house and prepare the meal on Saturday.

Saturday. Put the meal in the freezer, if necessary. Okay? You could even cook in advance a series of meals and freeze them and have them.

Bang. Collect and file inexpensive recipes, ladies.

Men, remember, you are ultimately responsible for this, but your wife called to be your helpmate. Right? Come alongside.

So collect and file some inexpensive recipes. Four, purchase a guest book. Purchase a guest book and begin to make a record of those who, in God's grace, have come through your door and into your home.

It is incredibly encouraging to look back. I wish we had begun at the very beginning, and we didn't.

We began more than 20 years ago, and the book is a delight to look through. Sometimes we're going, do you know who those people were?

No, I don't know either. But we've had tons of missionaries come through our home through the years.

Very encouraging. So, suggestion. Now, these aren't commands, by the way, right? These are not commands, but I think

I have the Lord's spirit. These are suggestions. Five, be interested in people's lives and plan some questions that will draw them out.

The little pre -thought, pick up some questions that cannot be answered with a grunt so that you can begin to draw people out.

Because you know what? Everybody likes to talk about themselves. Everybody likes to talk about themselves. Just find the key.

All right? So think ahead of time about that. Six, possibilities for us.

Those of us who have been entrusted by the Lord with a larger piece of real estate, more responsibility comes with it.

So think about setting aside a prophet's room. A prophet's room. A place for traveling missionaries where they could stay when they're in the area or perhaps a needy college student who can't get home for Thanksgiving, something like that.

Okay? Think about a prophet's room. Seven, remember that you are not there to entertain.

This is not entertaining. When your mindset is, I'm here for entertainment, I'm going to entertain these guests, then there's a whole baggage of stuff that goes with that, okay?

And most of it has nothing to do with hospitality. So you're not there to entertain. You are there to invite your guests to participate in your family.

Bring them into the family. And the family themes, the family conversations.

Invite them in. Build relationships. All right.

That was fourth. Fifth. Fifth, and finally. Fifth and finally, hospitality is a container by which we carry the gospel.

Hospitality is a container by which we carry the gospel.

Hospitality displays and reflects the character of God. It reaches out to unwanted, needy people who cannot reciprocate.

Listen to Jesus' words in Luke 14, verses 12 through 14. And he also went on to say to the one who had invited him, when you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors.

Otherwise, they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

That is a very convicting statement by Christ. It flips things on its head.

Hospitality opens your life to your friends, neighbors, and co -workers and provides for them a glimpse into what it means to live as a

Christian. Many people have no contact with real and legitimate

Christianity. They do not know. They have certain characterizations of it that have been formed by media, but real, genuine

Christians, they don't know. And so when you invite them into your home, you are inviting them into the most intimate of atmospheres in which they can now begin to look and see what does it mean to live as a

Christian. And they watch. Believe me, they watch. Sharing a meal together is a very intimate experience and it provides a natural place for serious conversation about eternal things.

Eating together is a very intimate activity designed that way by God. And so when you break bread with somebody, you have entered into a very intimate and special time and place.

And it's very natural to be able to transition to talk about eternity in light of that.

Taking a needy person into your home. Now we're kind of up in the ante here. Remember I told you it was costly and all of those things?

So taking a needy person into your home tangibly demonstrates real care and concern for them as a person rather than merely an evangelistic project.

You're now showing care and concern for them as one made in the image of God. A person.

It is hospitality, by the way, that stands behind the history of the church's early involvement in care for the poor and the needy.

In fact, springing up by the time of the 4th century was the early founding of hospitals and hospices.

Same root word. Hospitals, hospices. Same root word.

By the Christian church, and it showed a practical way of practicing the principle of hospitality and how it was applied in the form of Christian charity.

The invalids and weary travelers and so forth. So you can see how it's woven together. All right, let's do this.

We're going to celebrate the Lord's Table together. The Lord's Table is a marvelous illustration of hospitality.

Marvelous illustration. We who were once strangers and aliens, separated from God by and in our sin and iniquity,

Christ has now invited to eat, to dine together with him in intimate fellowship, table fellowship, in the coming

Messiah's kingdom. You understand that? We who were once separate have been invited in to eat together with Christ in his coming kingdom.

We join together regularly to remember this promise and proclaim its certainty to one another as a means of grace to rekindle within our souls our passion for Christ.

I love taking communion with you. All right, the

Lord does invite us to his table, and he has paid the price for our sin. So this is an invitation that is costly, certainly to God, as he sent his son, the

Lord Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life and then to die a death in our stead. So it is our

God who has paid the price that we might have fellowship with him and that we might enjoy communion with him. And he is the spiritual host at these meals.

As we gather together, he is here spiritually present with us. He is communing with us. And he invites us to the table, but he warns us before we come that we must examine ourselves, and that means that we confess our sin, that we turn from that sin, and that we are open with the

Lord in our own hearts and our own minds before we partake of the Lord's table. So that is the warning that he gives, that we not partake in an unworthy manner.

The other way that we can do that is if we are unbelievers. So if you are here today and you have never trusted Christ for salvation, if you have never turned from your sin and understood what it means to be born again, to come to God in repentance and faith,

I would ask you, beg you, command you on the basis of Scripture to do that today, to turn to Christ from your sin.

And if you are not a believer and you are not interested in the things of God and you are not turning from your sin, then

I beg of you not to partake of the Lord's table because that is eating and drinking judgment to yourself. That is the warning of Scripture.

Because you're making a proclamation that you have a part in this, that you are part of this family, that this meal has been paid for on your behalf, and in fact, it has not.

It doesn't belong to you. This is for the people of God. So, unbelievers, just let the cup and the bread pass from before you.

Believers, let us confess our sin together, and then we'll partake together. So I ask the ushers to come forward at this time, stand up here with me, and then we'll have a couple moments of silent prayer.

All right, let's bow our heads. Our Father, we have been made aware, again, of ways in which we fall short of what you have commanded us to do.

And we are unable in ourselves, and unable unless by your grace, to obey what your word says.

So we acknowledge our failure. We acknowledge our sin. We confess that to you. We have no right, we have no merit in ourselves to stand before you and to receive your grace and to receive your blessings, and certainly not to sit at a table and to enjoy fellowship with you.

We thank you that by your grace and by your Son that you have made a way, that you have provided salvation for us, taking away our sin and giving us the righteousness that we need to stand before you.

We thank you for that forgiveness, and we thank you for the righteousness that you provide in your Son through his perfect life.

We thank you for the atonement that has been made, that has paid fully for the sin of all who will ever believe.

It was all laid upon Christ, and that price was paid that we might have fellowship and communion with you, and we thank you for it.

Thank you for inviting us to your table. Thank you for bringing us into your family and calling us sons and daughters and making us brethren with one another.

So we pray that now as a result of our time and our fellowship here today, that you would shed your love abroad in our hearts and give us grace that we may extend that to one another, to the stranger, and obey you in every good thing.

We love you, and we thank you for your sacrifice. In Christ's name, amen. The last thing that our

Lord did on the night before his death was to host a meal, and he took the bread, and when he had broke it, he said, Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, after supper he took the cup and said,

This is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Let's pray.

Our Father, what a delight to be able to partake of this memorial meal together.

How grateful we are for the gift of eternal life that was secured for us through the costly gift of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father, what love has been displayed to us in Christ, and how your

Spirit applies that truth to our heart and causes us to be able to begin to love as Christ loved.

And Father, as we partake of this memorial meal together, we are continually reminded of such sacrifice for us that we cannot help but continue to deepen in our love for Christ.

Our Father, as we go forth into this week to come with the bumps and bruises of life, may you use this meal together to remind us of how much you do love us, and how committed you are to finishing that which you have begun, conforming us to the image of your

Son, in whose name we pray. Amen. Will you please stand?

Lose all their guilty stains

Lose all their guilty stains When sinners plunge beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains The dying may rejoice to see

That fountain in his day And there may

I, though vile as he, Wash all my sins away

Wash all my sins away Wash all my sins away

And there may I, though vile as he,

Wash all my sins away When in this poor listening slavery come

I, silent in the grave Then in a sweeter song

I'll sing thy power to save I'll sing thy power to save I'll sing thy power to save Then in a nobler, sweeter song

I'll sing thy power to save Have a great week.