Hospitality III – Practical Hospitality

Clint Ware: Hospitality III – Practical Hospitality

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I. What Should Hospitality Look Like Today?

  A) What people expect from hospitable people:

  - they would be nice , welcoming, caring “smiling” 

- they would make an effort to talk to me beyond just saying “hello” and shaking my hand (firmly)

- they would make eye contact with me and be genuinely interested in me

- they would make it a point to include me

  B) The motive behind the hospitality is important

- most of the time people are nice when they want something

- worldly motive vs. churchy motive vs. Kingdom motive

  C) Kingdom Minded Hospitality

- Because God loves them …we will love them.

and has charged us with being:

an authentic representation of Himself, 

an authentic representation of Jesus

an authentic representation of  the Gospel (I Peter 4:8-10)  

II. How can we best do it?

  A) Be nice (for Jesus)

  B) Talk to strangers (for Jesus)

  C) Give it some thought (make a plan) (for Jesus)

- if you don’t make a plan you won’t 

~ How can I be more hospitable in my day to day life? (for Jesus)

~ How can I use my home to be hospitable? (for Jesus)

~ How can my family become more hospitable? (for Jesus)

  D) Focus on the people not you performance. (for Jesus)

III. Helpful How-to’s on Hospitality

  A) Facts about strangers or visitors (especially in church)

- they naturally feel uncertain and insecure

- they don’t know what happens next

- they are searching for something

- they usually decide whether they will come back within 10 minutes

  B) Put yourself in their shoes (what are they thinking?)

- will anyone like me here?

- is anyone here interested in knowing me

- “is this Jesus thing for real”

Hospitality II: Hospitality, Jesus, and the Church

Clint Ware: Hospitality - Part 2 Jesus and the Church

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Hospitality II: Hospitality, Jesus, and the Church

I. Welcoming Friends vs. Welcoming Strangers

~ has the word welcome been worn out?

~ in Greek ~ philoxenia - Hospitality brother + stranger 

(to treat the stranger as a brother or family)

~ ancient world viewed hospitality differently (they felt an obligation )

~ American cultural understanding  has also changed

- less and less personal and personable

- less and less hospitable and welcoming

~ God commanded it of His people because it is an expression of His character(Duet 10:17-19)  

II. Jesus and Hospitality

~ *New Testament Greek verb translated “showing hospitality” 

  - to show hospitality - xenodocheo  xeno - stranger  + docheo -  banquet 

(to set a banquet for a stranger) 

~ Jesus taught that showing hospitality would be one of the main evidences that we    

  knew Him. Matthew 25 :33-40

~ Jesus’ example - a contrast to the Pharisees and religious leaders

Pharasees - shunned or rejected the children, woman, poor, sick, unclean, vs. unrighteous, 

if you didn’t keep the mosaic law correctly (in their eyes)… 

Jesus - who did he spend his time with, welcome, and  seek out? children , women, poor, sick, unclean, unrighteous,  sinners, (Mark 2:16-17 )

III. The Early Church  and Hospitality 

~ foundation teaching ( Rom 12:13-18)

~ based on an authentic representation of Jesus  II Cor5:18-20

- If we say we are a Christian, then we represent Jesus

- When people look at us, they expect to see a people who 

- are holy like Jesus… loving like Jesus …hospitable like Jesus

IV. How Will We Respond?

~ What will we do in light of what we see here?

~ Will we take up the mantel of hospitality in the name of Jesus Christ?

~ Will we seek out more and more ways to integrate what the Bible says? 

Hospitality I - The Hunt

Clint Ware: Hospitality - Part 1 The Hunt

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Hospitality Part I: The Hunt

Lets play a little Jeopardy!

Once regarded as a virtue ,widely believed to be a mutual obligation of all people 

to help one another,  especially the stranger

What is Hospitality?

The Hunt for Hospitality in History

1st Century Mediterranean  Understanding (the way everybody grew up)

- a community responsibility

- the honor of you community was at steak when travelers came 

GREEK (main language of the day)  the word for hospitality

 philoxenia brother + stranger -- to treat the stranger as a brother or family

Our cultural understanding 80 years ago?

Someone new moved into the area?

Everyone knew their neighbors (a since of community)

When friends or family came to town, everyone spent the night

Today  (lets look at the trends of our culture)

- full service restaurants - down 

- Fast food  restaurants - up 

- social evening with the neighbors - down 

- having friends over to play cards - down 

- Having friend over for dinner - down 

Life has become less and less personal over time

Face to face - over the phone - email - text messages 

- our culture almost seems to push into an individualistic mindset

- we don’t even mind the fact the nobody knows their neighbors

- free time + me time

TV - just me and my TV 

(how many of us feel like we know the characters on our favorite shows better than we know most of the people in our life?)

Online - a poor substitute for community since you don’t have to be you 

IS THIS A PROBLEM?

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? - 

WHERE DOES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOSPITALITY COME FROM? 

OUR CULTURE

Lets look to some other possible sources of understanding

Jewish understanding  

TURN TO

Genesis 18:1  The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.  2  Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.  3  He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.  4  Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.  5  Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way--now that you have come to your servant."  "Very well," they answered, "do as you say."  6  So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread."  7  Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.  8  He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.  

God commanded this of his people no less 24 times

Deuteronomy 10:17  For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.  18  He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.  19  And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. 

Hospitality as an expression of  His character

Next week we will explore how Jesus taught and modeled Ho0spitality and how that was incorporated into the early church Then we will look at the practice aspects of hospitality for us today and how we might incorporate what God says into our lives

Fish Tank Church

Clint Ware: Fish Tank Church

Fish Tank Church mp3

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The Connection 7/6/08
Fish Tank Church? Bro. Clint Ware

I. Why would fish like to live in a fish tank?
- closed environment
- active
- fish feel safe and comfortable
- changes tend to be small and gradual
- population only changes occasionally
- must be kept up and feed

II. Why would someone want to go to a Fish Tank Church?
- closed environment
- active
- fish feel safe and comfortable
- changes tend to be small and gradual
- population only changes occasionally
- must be kept up and feed

PROBLEM: Jesus said that we are to GO! (Matt 28:19-20)

III. What makes up the walls to the Fish Tank Church?
Wall 1- activities
- in the church, at the church, for the church
Wall 2- fear
- of rejection
- of change
- people who are different that us
» thinking
» skin color
» socio-economic level
Wall 3- lack of motivation …laziness
Wall 4- lack of love
- we have been given the power and ability (II Peter 1:3)
- Jesus says Love one another (other believers) (John 13:35)
- and the lost (Matt 5: 43-48)

IV. Nemo and the Lost
- looking for “dad”
- unfamiliar surroundings
- run into invisible barriers
- those inside care a lot about strange things
- require those who come in to be clean (decontaminated)
- insiders are unfamiliar with outside world (big blue)

Questions to Consider
1. How long have you been living in a box?
2. Has it done something to you?
3. Do you have a longing to GO?