Hospitality

Sermon Notes from this morning's Celebration Service...

Today, we are going to focus on one word that can change the face of the church!
HOSPITALITY

1 Peter 4:7 – 5:11

I’ve been sharing from David Mains little book for the church entitled: When the troops are tired throughout this series…
He has some wonderful thoughts on Hospitality…

Christian Hospitality has such great value in the church YET people hesitate to get involved in this kind of outreach for a lot of reasons, or I might call them excuses…
Most of them relate to a basic misunderstanding of the key difference between entertaining and hospitality…

Reason #1 Our home just isn’t ready for entertaining.

That’s fine, because you’re not entertaining, you’re offering hospitality. Hospitality can be given at a picnic table, on a coffee table, at a restaurant, or next to a ladder and half-empty cans of paint.

It is important to define what I mean when I say Hospitality…
Webster says: Cordial and generous reception of or disposition toward guests…
Ofcourse Christian Hospitality is so much more…
Think about the word for a minute…
Take off the ity and you have hospital:
An institution that provides care and treatment for the sick or the injured…
but Webster says more:
A charitable institution, such as an orphanage or repair shop or a hospice for travelers or pilgrims…

Now this could preach…
The church should be a spiritual hospital, a repair shop for the sinner…
Webster also defines HOSPITABLE: disposed to treat guests with warmth and generosity, having an open mind, receptive, favorable to growth and development…
That’s interesting…
Have you ever been to a church that has the US FOUR AND NO MORE attitude…
It’s good to have circles of friends, people we gravitate to easily within the church, but that circle must never be closed, it must have an open gate…
There’s always room for more at Rogue River Assembly Of God!

Let’s get back to those excuses for not being hospitable…
Reason #2 I’m no good at making small talk

If you’re awkward at telling jokes, horrible at remembering interesting stories, and evasive of small talk at parties, you can still offer life-changing, energizing hospitality to others.
In fact, you may be better at it than the “life of the party” types.

Arm yourself with a few good questions, then sit back and listen…
Yes I said it, arm yourself with questions...
If you have a hard time making friends, practice...

Reason #3: Nobody at church is in our age bracket or life circumstances.

Christian hospitality isn’t just about collecting new friends or meeting people with common interests.
It’s not really about you at all, although I think you’ll be amazed at how delightful it is to grow closer to someone in a different passage of life, from a foreign part of the world, or from a family entirely dissimilar to yours…

Reason #4: I’m inexperienced. I don’t know how to handle having company!

First of all, not everybody can be Martha Stewart, so just relax and be yourself!
Another idea, is to find a mentor, invite a more experienced host to walk you through the steps.
The truth is, we make things more complicated and difficult than they need to be, start small, keep it simple…

So, this is everybody’s assignment this week
Actually it’s everybody’s assignment every week
Find somebody to love
Look for a new friend, call an old friend
Open your home, open your heart
Practice Christian hospitality
Most importantly, invite your pastor over for filet mignon and mashed potatoes…jk