The Gospel in Radical Hospitality

In my second experience ever teaching the Bible publicly, I was given the privilege of teaching on the unenviable topic of hospitality. God graciously blew all of my preconceived notions of hospitality out of the water as I studied His Word. Hospitality is never removed from brotherly love, and brotherly love is motivated and empowered by God's love for us best shown in the cross. I discovered the God's love towards us was the ultimate show of hospitality: To invite an enemy, not only into the house, but into His family adopting us as His children (Gal 3:23-4:6) at great cost to Him so that we could enjoy Him forever. Rather than being a burden, hospitality becomes a response to the gospel imitating and revealing God's love toward us in the Gospel.

I would be honored if you would listen to the mp3 recording of the message. As you listen it may be helpful to know the context. The message was given at East Valley Bible Church Tempe at a BUILD (Becoming United In Leadership Disciplines: one of the first levels of leadership development, identification, and training at my church) class. BUILD is focussed around 6 disciplines. We begin with the first 3:

• D1: Shepherding your heart
• D2: Shepherding your home
• D3: Shepherding your ministry

This message was given focussing on D2 but seeking to show the continuity between the three disciplines. Understanding these labels will help you understand what I am referring to when I mention them. Use the following links to download the resources:

• The recording (mp3 13.8mb)
• The handout (pdf 62kb)
• The homework (pdf 64kb)

In order to supplement your study, I recommend you purchase the following books related to the topic in order of descending priority:

1. Cross-Centered Life (Mahaney)
2. Hospitality Commands (Strauch)
3. Agape Leadership (Strauch)
4. Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (Piper)
5. Face to Face (Wilkins)
   

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