You don’t need a big house to practice Gospel-centered hospitality; you just need a big heart. You need a heart set free by grace. Tim Chester says in his excellent book A Meal with Jesus “Involvement with people, especially the marginalized, begins with a profound grasp of God’s grace.”
And you need some basic biblical instruction on how to befriend people, the way Jesus Christ has befriended sinners like us. In January, we are going to spend five weeks in the Gospel of Luke examining this theme of hospitality, asking the Lord to help us learn and apply this important aspect Christian discipleship.
At IDC, we like to give the month of January to an aspect of our PEACE Plan. This year, we’ve selected the “E” for “Evangelize the World.” Hospitality is a practical way to reach out to our neighbors – both locally and globally. (It’s also a practical way to accomplish other parts of the PEACE Plan). We want to be a church that does hospitality well because we care about people who need Jesus.
So here are a few challenges for you, as you take this sermon series seriously:
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1. As a Growth Group, plan some hospitality events – chili-cook offs; board game night; host a block party; host a Super Bowl party; visit those in need; host internationals; or consider your context and make a plan, as “ordinary people doing ordinary things with Gospel intentionality.” (Timmis)
2. As a Believer, get out of your routine and challenge yourself to show counter-cultural, Jesus-like hospitality. You may do this with your whole family, or your roommates. Invite your neighbors over; befriend that kid down the street who is functionally fatherless; go on a walk, to a restaurant, or some other public place and talk to people; coach a team and have them over to your house; get to know people in the school system and treat them to lunch or a snack; etc.
Below is the schedule for our study.
Jan 5 Luke 5:27-32 (Nate)
Jan 12 Luke 7:36-8:3 (Tony)
Jan 19 Luke 14:1-24 (Tony)
Jan 26 Luke 22:7-23 (Duce)
Feb 2 Luke 24:13-49 (Tony)