Biblical Hospitality (Part 3)

THEME: Hospitality is an essential Christian virtue that is both commanded and commended throughout Scripture. Sadly, however, hospitality is something many Christians don’t entirely understand or routinely practice. Understanding and practicing biblical hospitality has the potential to radically transform our church and our community. It is one of the most effective means to build closer relationships with people in our church and one of the most effective tools to build bridges to people in our community for the sake of the gospel. Consequently, we all need to develop a heart for and a habit of showing hospitality to people we know and don’t know; to believers and unbelievers alike. This subject can be broken into TWO PARTS:

1. THE BIBLICAL EXPLANATION OF HOSPITALITY

     A. HOSPITALITY DEFINED

     B. HOSPITALITY DEMONSTRATED

2. THE PRACTICAL EXECUTION OF HOSPITALITY

     A. HINDRANCES TO HOSPITALITY

     B. HINTS FOR HOSPITALITY

          1. HOSPITALITY IN THE CHURCH

          2. HOSPITALITY FOR FELLOWSHIP

          3. HOSPITALITY FOR EVANGELISM   

APPLICATION QUESTIONS

James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” These questions are designed to help you apply today’s message to your life. We encourage you to thoughtfully answer these questions and discuss your answers with others. For more information about joining a Grow Group that uses these questions as the basis for weekly discussion, prayer, and accountability, please call the church office at (936) 582-1977.

1. Explain in your own words how the Bible is the story of God’s hospitality. As a recipient of God’s hospitality, how are you exhibiting and extending His hospitality to others?
2. What excuses do you make for not reaching out and inviting others into your home and your life?
3. Read Luke 7:36-47 and 10:30-37. Contrast the hospitality Simon the Pharisee failed to show Jesus and the hospitality the Good Samaritan showed to the needy man he came across on a journey.
4. Of the five hindrances to hospitality mentioned in the message, which do you struggle with most (i.e. overcomplicating it, idolizing your home, selfishness, being too busy, not living on mission)?
5. As God’s representative here on earth, when it comes to hospitality, what are people around you learning about God by observing your life (i.e. cold and distant vs. warm, loving, and gracious)?
6. How does hospitality have the potential to radically change our church and our community? What are some practical steps you can take to develop a heart for and a habit of showing hospitality?
7. Thank God for making you a part of His hospitable people. Ask Him to forgive you for failing to accurately represent Him to the world by failing to show hospitality to others. Ask Him to remove those things that hinder you from putting His hospitality on display to others.

“The entire Bible is a story about God’s hospitality….The Bible begins with God making a home for humanity to dwell with Him in a garden and the Bible ends with God making a home for believers to dwell with Him in a city….God…is a gracious host, constantly welcoming in wayward sinners who deserve His wrath—a people whose only hope is that He would show them undeserved hospitality. If ever there has been a stranger in need, someone completely excluded and hopeless, fully dependent on the grace of another—that is us. We were out in the cold, victims of our own folly…. And all through history, God opens the door, rescues us, and welcomes us back into relationship through sheer, inexplicable grace….Any time we practice hospitality we follow in the steps of our lavishly hospitable God. Here’s the potentially scary part: because of our role in representing God to the world, when we don’t walk in hospitality, we do not tell the truth about God. When we are cold, separated, and distant from those around us, we communicate that God is cold, separated, and distant. When we are warm, loving, and gracious, we put the gospel on display. This type of hospitality, which testifies to the character of our God, has always been the hallmark of God’s people….We find ourselves in a long line of people whom God is using to put His hospitality on display.”

Dustin Willis and Brandon Clements, The Simplest Way To Change The World: Biblical Hospitality As A Way Of Life