WE WILL PRACTISE HOSPITALITY AND GENEROSITY
LEARNING AND CARING
How is Jesus Our Example of Christian Hospitality
1)Notices
2)Call to Worship: Psalm 19:1-2:7-11;
1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.
7 The Lord reigns for ever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
8 He rules the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.
9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.
3) STF113 O Worship The King
4) Prayers of Praise, Thanksgiving, Adoration and Confession and Lords Prayer.
Eternal God, you call us to this time and place, to still our minds and gather our thoughts, to see the immensity and generosity of your giving to us.
You are the giver of life in all its fullness; the giver of gifts beyond compare; the giver of more than we can imagine or comprehend.
We come into your presence now, grateful for your hospitality and for the love you so freely lavish upon us.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit we adore you; for you are light in our darkness and calm in our turmoil; you are the wealth in our poverty; the meaning in our being.
For all of this and for so much more, we thank, worship and praise you Lord.
As we think back over the past week we confess that we have sometimes failed to live as you have called us to do. We come to you in sorrow for our selfishness, in regret for our greed, in despair over our blindness and deafness to the needs of those around us.
With penitent hearts we seek your forgiveness and your blessing to make us more generous, more giving, more able to see and more willing to listen.
Thankyou Lord God for your Grace in generously forgiving those who truly repent. Please lift the burdens from our hearts, the blindness from our eyes and set us free to be the people you all us to be.
In Jesus Name Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil,
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
5)) Matthew 25:35-40. Generosity
35 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, 36 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.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
6) STF 82: How great thou art
7) Acts 2:40-46. Fellowship and Hospitality
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
8) Prayers For Others
9) Bless the Lord o my soul (10,0000 reasons)
10).2Corinthians 9:6-14; Generosity Encouraged
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”[a]
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
11). Offering and Prayer as song is played. Give thanks with a grateful heart.
12). Introduction: Showing Hospitality and Generosity - You in your small corner and I in mine.
When it comes to Showing Hospitality and Generosity, we may think that we don’t have much to offer. However, our Bible readings today reveal that we all do, in fact, have something to offer. You don’t need to be a homeowner or incredibly materially wealthy to offer the kind of Christian Hospitality and Generosity that Jesus intends that his friends and followers show. In fact Jesus Christ, (who never owned a home of his own), offers us a model of how to do this well.
13) Sermon: Jesus modelled how to be hospitable and generous.
Let’s have a look at how Jesus led and showed the way in generous and hospitable living.
Firstly Jesus was:
Intentionally hospitable
Luke19:1-10; You may remember that on one occasion Jesus was travelling through Jericho, speaking to the crowds that thronged the road, when he spotted a man up a Sycamore tree, craning his neck to watch his progress through the town. This man was well known in Jericho as he was the chief tax collector of the area, very wealthy and immensely disliked because of his dishonesty. His name was Zacchaeus and we learn from Luke’s gospel that he was up the tree because he was a short man and he wanted to see who Jesus was.
Jesus could have walked by but he didn’t and instead called out to Zacchaeus saying that he wanted to talk to him. Much to the crowd's indignation Jesus went into Zacchaeus’s home and ate and talked with him. The end result, Zacchaeus turned over a new leaf and gave four times what he had stolen back to the individuals concerned.
Jesus was not only intentional in his hospitality and generosity, he was also
Compassionate in his approach to need
John 6:1-14: Jesus had crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee along with his disciples found that thousands of people
had followed him there. He went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples and saw the great crowd coming toward him. Realising that they were tired and hungry Jesus' heart went out to this crowd. And the rest, as they say, is history. A boy with five loaves and two fishes offered his food to Jesus and in Jesus' hands 5,000 people were fed.
Jesus in his generosity and compassionate was both intentional and compassionate.
He was also
Humble: Jesus took on tasks that only the lowliest servant did. Do you remember how in John 13:1-17, Jesus washed his disciples feet. He set them an example and in case any were in doubt said, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Jesus was intentional, compassionate and humble in the way he showed generosity and hospitality.
He was also
Thankful: In Luke 24: 13-24 Two friends walked in sorrow from Jerusalem to their home in Emmaus. They had seen Jesus crucified and thought everything was over. A stranger joined them and gave them a Bible study, ending up in their home about to share a meal. The stranger took the bread and lifted it to give God thanks for his provision of food. As he did so, the two fiends recognised him as Jesus, alive once again.
Jesus reminds us to be thankful as we offer hospitality and generosity.
Jesus was intentional, compassionate, humble and thankful in the way he showed generosity and hospitality.
He was also:
Prepared:
John 21:1-14; After a long night of fishing, the disciples had caught nothing. A stranger on the beach shouted for them to throw their nets over the other side of the boat. They did and got the biggest catch of their careers. They recognised the figure on the shore as Jesus and headed back to the beach with their catch. When they arrived, they found that a fire had already been lit and was all ready for their fish.
Jesus then was intentional, compassionate, humble, thankful and well prepared in the way he showed generosity and hospitality.
Finally Jesus was also
Generous:
Luke 22:7-20; Just before his trial and crucifixion, Jesus arranged a room for a final meal with his friends. We know it as the Last Supper. It was not just a meal to satisfy immediate hunger, but was one given to his friends that would satisfy them forever. It represented how Jesus was to give his all, not just to his immediate friends but for the whole world. His body was broken for me and you, his blood was shed shed for me and for you.
Jesus then modelled both hospitality and generosity for us to emulate. He was intentional, compassionate, humble, thankful, well prepared and generous in the way he showed generosity and hospitality.
If that is all too much to remember then perhaps this shortened thought will help.
Jesus Took notice, he Took heart, and Took action. He asks us to do the same. We too have his light to shine and to share. Here is “The voices of hope children’s choir” to help us as we go from here to love and serve the Lord. Amen.
14). 1)This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
2)Hide it under a bushel, no, I’m gonna let it shine.
3)Don’t let anybody blow it up, I’m gonna let it shine.
4)Shine my light across the land, I’m gonna let it shine.
15) Prayer
16) STF59: Shine Jesus Shine
16) Benediction