This coming week, we’re beginning Parish Groups. One of the central reasons for Parish Groups is this table. And this year, we’re focusing on this particular theme. In a sense, every Sunday we meet as one large Parish Group. We sing together, pray together, study Scripture together, and eat together. Jesus invites us to His house, He shares hospitality with us, He shares His life with us. And when Jesus shares His life with people, they are changed. They become different people than they were before. When you trust in Jesus as your Savior, you receive a new life, new loves, new passions, even new gifts. One element of that new life that Jesus gives is the desire to share it. The new life that Jesus gives isn’t static. It has no shelf life. If you have no desire to share it, you don’t have it. You’re just going through the motions. You’re a liar, a hypocrite, a Pharisee. But maybe you’re just nervous to share it, scared, unsure, afraid of doing it badly. Well, here’s a suggestion: pay attention to the way that God welcomes you, and then ask God to give you that same kind of love, grace, and welcome for your neighbors, the strangers, and the hurting around you. How does Jesus welcome us? He gives us an invitation and calls us into His presence. He forgives our messes, overlooks our awkwardness, talks to us attentively, listens to us respond (God is a good conversationalist), and finally He invites us to His table to eat with us and then sends us out with His blessing. That’s what you receive in hospitality every week. And that’s the sort of hospitality, the sort of table fellowship that we want to continue to grow up into. Practice this every day with your family, with one another, welcoming one another with joy and love and forgiveness, and then look for opportunities to share it with others. This table is God’s hospitality to you: eat, drink and rejoice. You are welcome because of Jesus.
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