Hebrews

Good morning, everybody.

My name is Tom. I'm 1 of the pastors here, and, we are going to, turn our attention now to the word of god. So if you would like to, get Hebrews chapter 12 open in front of you, please. Hebrews 12, if you've got a Bible, and if not, then you can follow along the reading on the screen. We've been working our way through the book of Hebrews.

If you're new to church this morning, And, we've come now into this last chapter chapter 13, and our intention is to slow down just a little bit, because there are lots of very helpful and very practical applications of the theology we've been enjoying. Over the past few months together. So we're gonna work slowly at least through this first part of chapter 13, and, we're mainly gonna be focusing on just verse 2. But for context, and to remind us where we are, we're gonna read from Hebrews 12 verse 18. You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire to darkness, gloom, and storm, to a trumpet blast, or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word would be spoken to them because they could not bear what was commanded.

If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death. The site was so terrifying that Moses said, I am trembling with fear. But you have come to Mount Zion to the city of the living god, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly to the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven You have come to god, the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks.

If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time, his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised once more, I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens. The words once more indicate the removing of what can be shaken that is created things. So that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship god acceptably with reverence and awe for our god is a consuming fire.

Keep on loving 1 another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers. For by so doing, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison and those who are ill treated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed be kept pure.

For god will judge the adulterer and the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because god has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you, and so we say with confidence, the lord is my helper. I will not be afraid what can mere mortals do to me. Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And if you could keep those words, particularly the words of chapter 13 open in front of you. That would, be a help. Now 1 thing that we have encountered in our journey through this book of Hebrews is the eventual return of the lord Jesus Christ. We saw that in chapter 9, where we were told that Christ was sacrificed once to bear away sins, but that he will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Chapter 9 verse 28. He will appear a second time to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him. In chapter 10 verse 25, the church was told to not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. But to continue gathering to encourage 1 another and all the more as we see the day approaching. So as the day, the return of the lord Jesus Christ draws nearer, that is even more of a reason.

To not give up meeting together, but to keep encouraging 1 another in light of that return of Christ. So much of Hebrews has been focused on the present work of Jesus. The fact that he is seated in heaven and that he is interceding for us and that he has given us access to god, but that is not the end of his work. Hebrews tells us that there is another day in his calendar, a day in which he is going to return to bring salvation. And the question for this morning is, when that day arrives, what will be on the lord Jesus' agenda?

What's he going to want to talk about? Now, you'll forgive. I hope a slightly longer cross reference, but to help us answer that, I want to turn to Matthew 25 verses 31 to 40, and the reading will be on the screen. This is a parable about that day which is approaching. When the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.

All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people 1 from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world, For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me.

I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison, and you came to visit me. And then the righteous will answer him, lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you firstly and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

The king will reply truly, I tell you, whatever you did for 1 of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. This is the day that is approaching rapidly. And when the son of man comes in his glory, and he gathers the nations together and he sits in judgment over them. What subject does he bring up? Hospitality.

And you notice it's not these spectacular deeds he's talking about here. It's not the Michelin Star meals that we prepared for people or the feather down pillows that we provided for our guests when they stayed over. Those aren't really the things he's talking about. He seems to want to talk about the ordinary everyday acts of hospitality so ordinary, in fact, that the righteous are surprised they're even being brought up. Lord, When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger?

They don't remember anything remarkable about what they did. Anything remarkable about their hospitality and yet Jesus says whatever you did for 1 of the least of these, you did for me, and I remember it. And so Those forgettable acts of hospitality mattered more than you ever realized. And I think the same note is being struck in Hebrews 13 verse 2. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers.

For by so doing, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. And as we're gonna see a bit later on, that literally happened in the old testament, and some Christians today do tell stories of things like that happening where they're sure that they've met someone or entertained someone and the best explanation for it was that it seemed to be some kind of heavenly helper provided at just the right time. But I'm not sure the main question here is, was that person we had for lunch last week and Angel? But do we realize there is something otherworldly about hospitality? There is something big, big, big about hospitality something which we may forget, Matthew 25, or something which we may not even realize Hebrew 13, but these ordinary things have a way of echoing through the spiritual world.

That's pretty cool, isn't it? Last week, we saw together that acceptable worship in god's sight is defined like this. Keep on loving 1 another as brothers and sisters, verse 1. That is worship. If we're not into that, then we're not into worship.

But do you remember the danger that we looked at? The danger is that we treat verse 1 in the abstract. By which I mean we discuss it, and we work out together what it does mean and what it doesn't mean, and we theologize about it, but we don't actually apply it to the actual people in the church. And so in the end, for all our theologizing, we don't really believe the plane instruction before us to keep on loving 1 another as brothers and sisters. And now to press the point home, he comes into verse 2 to say something like, if love is going to be real, it's gotta be seen.

If this love is really real and in your heart, it will produce a kind of practical way of living. It will work out itself. In your life. Verse 2, do not forget to show hospitality to strangers. For by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without even knowing it.

3 things then for us to consider about hospitality this morning. We're gonna look firstly at the what of hospitality. What is it? We're gonna think secondly of the who? Who's it for?

And then we're gonna think lastly of the why. Why should we do it? The what, the who, and the why of Christian hospitality. So let's begin together with the what, the what of hospitality. What is in view here?

And I think this is a very important question because in a church with different cultures and which is made up of people from different backgrounds, we won't all think the same about hospitality. And that's okay. We'll have different ways of thinking about it. So it's a bit like word association. You know, if I say the word hospitality, you might think Sunday lunch.

Or you might think, no, not Sunday lunch, treating someone to a meal in a restaurant. We, in our culture, are less into having people in. We're more into taking people out. Or you might think hospitality in terms of taking someone to a cafe or inviting them for a picnic or visiting them. Or taking them a meal.

That there will be a whole host of things, which we think of when we hear the word hospitality. And you know, the great thing is that the word used here in verse 2 is wonderfully broad. And wonderfully encompassing. So it's actually a fusion of 2 words. This hospitality to strangers is 1 word which is a fusion of 2 words.

Now we'll come to the second half of it in a minute. But the first half of it is the Greek word phyllos, which is just the word love. And it's the same exact word that has just been used in verse 1. So he says keep on loving phyllos, your brothers and sisters, Number 2, do not forget to show hospitality to strangers. That's Phyllos for the stranger.

So it's the same love word that is being used across both verses. And that's very, very helpful. Because he doesn't say do not forget to cook for strangers, although it may well include that. He doesn't say do not forget to open your home to strangers, although it most certainly includes that. Do not forget to visit.

He doesn't really give much specification at all. He rather uses this broad love word which can encompass all kinds of things depending on what our culture is and what our background is. In other words, hospitality is every way in any way. We might give ourselves to provide a warm welcome. For somebody else.

Now as we're gonna see later on, opening our homes is a big part of that. But the point is if this love word is being used, which it is, it kind of envelops all manner of things that we might think of as hospitality. So that's the the what is. It's basically just love. Love again.

Yeah. Same word from verse 1. Now in verse 2. So that's the shortest of the points. The what of hospitality.

Let's now think together of the who? Who is it for? So love is at the heart of it all, but who is it for? And this is where that other word comes in And I told you just now it was a fusion of 2 words. 1 is Phyllos.

The other 1 is the word Zenos, Greek word Zenos or Genos, depending on how you say it. And from that word, we get the root xenophobia. Same word xenophobia, which simply means the fear or the dislike of those who are strange or unfamiliar to you. That's xenophobia. It's the fear or the dislike of those who are strange or unfamiliar to you.

Yeah? This word is the opposite of that. It's not fear of or dislike for. It's love for. Love Phyllos for those who are strange or unfamiliar to you.

Not phobia of. Filos for love for them. Yeah? And it seems to me that that has a broad application to culture. That Christian people ought to be those who as they have opportunity are willing to extend a kindness across differences.

Christian people are those who look at differences or they look at people who might be strange or unfamiliar to them by background, and they don't see that as an opportunity for fear and dislike. They see the difference as an opportunity to love. They move over the difference. They don't entrench themselves and say fear or dislike. They say philosophy, not phobia.

Yeah? Filos not phobia. Those are the Greek words. So they reach over. Yeah.

A Christian ought to be 1 whose posture To those who are different or unfamiliar to them is where I have opportunity I want Phyllos not phobia, to those who are strange or different to me. But it seems also that there is a particular sharpness to this when it comes to church. You see, the New Testament church experienced a very big joy. And you can see this in almost every letter. It was the bringing together of people who were strange and unfamiliar to each other.

You know, you had Jew and gentile and you had slave and free and you had Vivian and barbarian. The these people who were very strange and unfamiliar to each other were coming together in the church. It was a great joy but with that came a phenomenal challenge. How do we get them to love across differences? How do we purge ourselves of phobia and get plenty of phyllos in the room?

And the answer to that we saw this last week was the gospel, that they are now in Christ not to see each other as those things anymore, mainly, but rather to see themselves as brothers and sisters bought together with a new shared identity in the lord Jesus Christ. You remember if you were here last week, we looked at those 2 lists. We had list a, which was everything Christian people have in common from the book of Hebrews, and then we had list B, which was things in the church, which might cause division. And the point of showing the 2 was to say list A is like Jupiter size, and list B is like grape size. Yeah.

And Jupiter is to crush the grape. That's how we do it. We bring to bear all that we have in common over the things we might be different in. That's how we love 1 another. And so here in the church is a group of people who might look at each other and say, up until now, you and I had nothing in common.

You were strange and unfamiliar to me, but now in Jesus, you are my brother, and that means that my home and my family are now as open to you as they are to my natural people. They are now as open to you as they are to my natural people. The hospitality moves over the differences because of what Christ has done. And so in other words, the church, in the church, differences are not opportunities for fear or dislike, but they are opportunities to show Christian love and hospitality. And there are I mean, as you I'm sure you can guess, and we don't have time for loads of them, but there are some pretty broad and important applications for that.

Yes, to internationals, we're gonna cut we'll come to that in a minute, but also for generations, for different generations in the church. You see, 1 of the things that people often say about kids who have grown up in church is how comfortable they seem around grown ups and how good they are in the company of grown ups. And that's because hospitality across generational differences has always been a fruit of god's spirit in the church. And we wanna keep at that, don't we? Isn't it isn't it really good when those who are a bit older make an effort to speak to the young people in the church.

Even though they might have funny hair, and they might mumble when they speak, speak, and they might smell a bit funny. It's really good, isn't it? When an older person sees a younger person and says there's an opportunity to love over a difference. So I'm gonna go and I'm gonna try to speak to them. I don't know what words they'll use, and I don't know what lingo they speak, but I'm gonna have a go at it because they're a brother or sister in the church, and I might ask them, what have you been learning in Seoul?

That's your youth group, isn't it? What have what have you been learning? That's the sort of thing we can do to move across a difference. And next time we have guess who's coming to lunch, you might sign up for that as an older person. And in the notes, you could write something like please don't send me too many old people.

Please will you send me some younger people because I want an opportunity to be hospitable to people across a difference to me. The same would be true for younger people. You know, instead of gravitating towards your mates after a service, which is the easiest thing to do. Could you go and say hello to someone That is even older than your mom or dad. What a challenge that would be?

So you can go up to them. You can say hello. I do recognize you. I think I've seen you in the church before. How did you first come here?

Or how did you come to know the lord? You could try to love across a generational difference. And if they fall asleep while you're talking to them, or they sort of sneeze on you in a gross way, or they fall over or something. You know, at least you've had a go. You can walk away and say, well, at least I had a go.

Yeah? Because love and hospitality is trying to move over differences because that's what the church is all about. And then what about internationally? I mean, it would be good, wouldn't it to do some kind of audit where we sit down, and we just try to jot down the last 5 or 10 people we hosted from church? And to ask ourselves the question, did any of them come from a different background to me?

And the answer might be yes, in which case great, and the answer might be no. Then you can say to yourself, well, okay. You know, is there something that we could do next time to better reflect Hebrews 13 in our hospitality? Is there something more we could do to try to love across a difference in the church? And again, you might say, well, I don't know any internationals.

I don't know what I don't know any of them, really. I know they're around, but I don't really know them. There's 2 ways of approaching that. Isn't there? You can either say, I don't really know any internationals, and I'm not gonna start now.

That's the ungodly way of thinking about it. Or you could say, I don't really know into any internationals, but I'm fairly sure that that person over there is probably from a different cultural background to who I am. So I'm gonna go and I'm gonna say hello and I'm just gonna say, where are you from? It's great to have you here. You know, how long have you been coming?

And to do something small to begin a hospitable journey, someone who's different to you. Yeah? I remember as a I remember as a teenager. We used to go out for for meals, to restaurants and my family. And and I I just thought my dad was terribly embarrassing when we used to go out because if he thought that the waiter or waitress might be from a different country, as us.

He would sort of bring that up straight away. So he would say, if it was a girl, he would say, hello, love, which in Bristol, you can still get away with just about. I mean, it's on the way out that, but calling the waitress love, you know, it's not so much a London thing, but it was a a Bristol thing. He would say, hello, love. Where, you know, where are you from?

And I used to move my brother, he's like, what's he doing? Like, you know, he's wide. Why's he? It doesn't matter? Why is he asking him that?

You know? But he loves it. I think sort of still does it today, and and I was thinking, though, what is wrong with that? You know, it's it's, of course, if you're asking the waitress where she's from in order to marginalize her, Well, that's wrong. You know, if it's where are you from?

I'm from Romania. Oh, could you send us an English 1, please? That's terrible, but he asked it in order to try to transcend something and to get to know and to welcome her as she welcomed us. So that's a that's a perfectly good question to ask, isn't it? It's not in order to marginalize.

It's because I don't want this unfamiliar thing to stop us. I want to know where you're from so I can begin to be hospitable. That's that's part of caring for 1 another in the church. That's good. That's good.

It's a way of loving 1 another. Across our differences. And then from another angle, those of us who are married really ought to think. How can we be hospitable to those who are single or are unmarried at the moment? Know, it might be that you've got another couple coming over for lunch.

It's great. But is there a single person you could invite who might really appreciate the opportunity to spend an afternoon with a few families? Almost certainly there is, and it's worth thinking about it, isn't it? And doing it? And then single people, it's a good question to ask.

Are are there married people that you might be hospitable to? See, perhaps you're a student or you're a young adult, going to the young adult's lunch, and you're single at the moment. And you might say, look, this is really hard this hospitable, this hospitality thing for me, because all I've got is a microwave and, you know, a rented flat and an IKEA table and a lasagna. And I don't feel there's much that I can do, but that's fine. I mean, Dean will love that.

Yeah? You invite Dean. He'll be over the moon. The drydens will be so happy to come. To that yet?

Or you could say, look, I'm in a stage of life where I just can't have people in my house, and I don't really want to, but maybe if somebody else will host me, I could think of bringing the food. I could bring some food or so I could try to be hospitable even as they host. In other words, there are lots of small and very ordinary things that we can do to try to show Christian love and hospitality to those who might be strange or unfamiliar to us. That's the glory of the church. And of course, I I hope I hope it goes without saying that when we're on the receiving end of hospitality, We aren't to sit in judgment upon it and think about how we would have done it differently if it was us, but we are to be grateful for people who show hospitality to us.

So for instance, if I go to the home of 1 of our Asian brothers and sisters. And, I get served 1 of these. This is a century egg, which I'm told is a delicacy in some far eastern countries. And I think traditionally, this is an egg that was pickled in horse urine for 100 years. Yeah?

If I get served that as I go around, then what am I gonna do? I'm gonna Give that to my kids. Yeah? And I'm gonna go and get a takeaway on the way home. Yeah.

Love across differences. Okay? Greatfulness. We wanna be grateful for hospitality that we've shown. The these are all the questions that come out of verse 2.

Of course, we can go out to the complete stranger, and that's at least part of what the parable of the good samaritan is about, that when we're out and about, we ought to think hospitality over cultural differences. So, yes, for the culture, but if we're not willing to love the stranger to us in the church. Well, that's where we need to start, isn't it? Do not forget to show hospitality across differences. It's very challenging, isn't it?

It's like he's saying, I know you will remember to do it for people like you. I'm just saying don't forget to do it to people who are not like you. Do do not forget the people who are not like you. So that's the who. We've done the what.

We've done the who, and let's come together for the why, the why of hospitality. And I've got 4 reasons under the why, but they won't take too long to go through. The first is because this is very, very important to the lord Jesus. You remember Matthew 25. When the son of man comes in glory, he points to these simple acts as evidence of genuine faith.

The these simple acts of hospitality are evidence of genuine faith, and that alone should make us take this command gladly and seriously. That's the first reason why it matters to Jesus. Secondly, this way of living flows from the gospel. I found 1 quote, or definition of hospitality, which I thought was spot on. Here it is on the screen.

Hospitality is presented, not as an optional courtesy, but as an outflow of regenerate life. Where genuine faith is present, doors open, tables are set, and hearts expand to include the outsider. That is utterly foundational here. These things in Hebrews 13 are outflowings of the gospel. They are not a whole load of things that we now have to do in order to inherit this unshakable kingdom of chapter 12.

These are things which have been given to us in the gospel, and then they flow out of this new and regenerate life. And and what a gospel it is. You think of the word hospitality, in some ways, is the definition of the gospel. The only reason that I am stood up here this morning as a Christian is because Jesus Christ has been hospitable to me. That he has come and he has chosen to live as a stranger in his own world who did not have a home or even a place to lay his head.

He embraced the life of a stranger in order to live and so as to die in order to bring strangers into his banqueting table. That's what the gospel is all about, but Christ on the cross has paid for the sin of a wicked stranger like me. See, by nature, I was a stranger to god. He's holy. I'm not.

He wanted me. I wanted to live in independence of him. We were strangers, and the gospel is Jesus becomes a hospitable stranger to bring me into his family. That's the gospel that Christ has opened his door and set his table and expanded his heart to bring sinners to eat with him. And the point of the quote is that a heart that has been touched by that sort of love will find doors open in their homes, tables are set on their tables, and hearts are expanded.

So this is something that flows from the gospel. That's the second thing. It's so important to Christ. Secondly, it flows from the gospel. Thirdly, it opens us up to a blessing.

That's the third reason this matters because it opens us up to a blessing. Now the reference to Angels in verse 2 is almost certainly a nod to Genesis chapter 18 and Genesis chapter 19. So if you know the story in Genesis 18, Abraham is visited by these 2 angels and by god himself. And before Abraham realizes who they are, not after, so I think it's quite important. Before he realizes who they are, He shows them hospitality.

He wants to give him food, give him a shady place to sit, provide water for them. He's hospitable to his angelic guests. And with that, comes a blessing. Verse 10 of Genesis 18, then 1 of the angels said, I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife will have a son. Or to put it another way in showing hospitality to these angels, Abraham was inviting a blessing into his home.

You see, you think about the definition of an angel We may tend to think of the great magnificent figure, white, and winged, and working its way through the world, but in its simplest form, an angel is just a deliverer of good news. A an angel is a bringer of blessing. When you think about that in Genesis 18, that that's really what's happened. Abraham has opened his home, and the blessing has come in. And brothers and sisters, isn't that often our experience when it comes to hospitality.

You know, we've had someone over for lunch, and we've heard their testimony, which we never heard before. And in hearing, and in opening the home, a blessing has come into us. Or we have somebody over for lunch, and we hear something really difficult that they're going through and it means we can pray for them more intelligently. So I'm able to serve that brother or sister better by praying for them, and that's brought a blessing into my home. Isn't that often your experience?

You've you've you've done something for someone And it has been a bit of a sacrifice, and it's cost you something, but you've left thinking, yeah, the old the old thing is right. It's more blessed to give them receive. As I gave, a blessing came into my home, as I opened my door, a blessing from god rushed in. That's why we should do it because it's important to Christ. It flows from the gospel, and it opens us up to blessing.

I think there is a correlation there. The the less hospitable we are the less happy news we're gonna have to rejoice in in the church. Fourthly, and lastly, in providing hospitality, we provide soul care for each other. We provide soul care for each other. And I say that because of what then happens in Genesis 19.

So there's no time to look at it now, but in Genesis 19, the same 2 angels that Abraham has just hosted go where? They go to sodom. The same 2 angels go to sodom. And when they come to sodom, who provides hospitality for them there? Lot provides hospitality.

He takes them into his home, and in so doing protects them from the vile wickedness of sodom. So in opening up his home, he's provided soul care and protection from the world that would otherwise have come upon them. I think that's very, very significant. And at the time of Hebrews, when this letter was written, something true would be would be similar. So at this time, you often had traveling Christian missionaries and traveling Christian preachers.

And 1 of the things the church was told to do was to be hospitable to these preachers. And 1 of the things the church was told to do was to be hospitable to these preachers. Because the only other option available to them would normally be a local inn or a hotel. And at this particular time, these inns were notorious for violence and immorality. And so if you don't take them in, that's where they're gonna be staying.

And who knows what harm may come upon them because of your lack of hospitality. Do you see? And so taking them in was a way of providing care for their souls. Something really important about that. I remember when I, when I was a student, a first to student, and I, I got converted, out of a pretty unchristian life.

And, looking back, trying to think through this week, what was what was significant there? Well, it was undoubtedly the teaching I received, which brought me to Christ, but it was also all this wrap around hospitality. Which was so significant in becoming a Christian because what that does is you come and you sit and you listen, and that's good. But then somebody invites you for lunch, or they someone invites you out, and you spend more hours with Christian people, And that hospitality kind of takes you out of the world, not in a cultish sense that, you know, it's trying to take you out of the world, but it provides you with Christian exposure which is so helpful for the soul of the person. I'm sure that happens lots and lots and lots.

You know, a Christian couple has a single person into their home. And as the single person sees a Christian marriage, they think Yeah. You know, that's 1 really good reason not to sort of marry a non christian. Because here I've seen a Christian family and a Christian marriage, and I actually thinking about it, I really would love that. I think that's really important.

Yes. You can teach about that. You can teach about that, but there's something about seeing that in the context of hospitality, which cares for the soul of that person in ways we may not realize. Or you might have someone into your house who's very lonely. And the only other option for their mat afternoon or that evening would be to sit and watch stuff on the internet that might track in unharmful, harmful directions.

Yeah? But by providing hospitality, you've pulled them away from loneliness and screen time, and you've given them some something to enjoy for the afternoon. And that has provided a type of soul care, which we may not otherwise have realized. Yeah. That seems to be what's happening in Genesis 19.

Lot shows hospitality, and they're saved from the wickedness of the world. And so here it is. Hospitality. It's love across differences. Filos across differences, not phobia across differences.

Yes, in the world, especially in the church because it's important to Christ, and it flows from the gospel. And it opens us up to a blessing, and who knows how it might protect those who are on the receiving end of it. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers. For by so doing, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Let's be quiet for a moment, and then I'll hand over to Pete.

Father we thank you for the lord Jesus. Thank you. He was so hospitable. Thank you that he was prepared to come from the glory of the love of the father and the spirit to a world that, was going to abuse him and strike him, and yet he came to be hospitable. Came into a strange land.

He came into a sinful land. We think of him as the son of god, eating with people, eating with Levi, and coming to homes and speaking and touching the leper and going to the Samaritan woman and all of those things, and we wanna be like this lord. We want to be like our savior. We want to be people that are hospitable that open ourselves up and open our homes up and open our gifts up and use them for, building up people. Thank you for what we've heard.

Please help us now put it into practice. You tell us to put into practice, and we need to practice this. And so help us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.