This Is Us :Belong.

ME:

There was this tv show that I use to watch called Hoarders. Its a show about people who have accumulated so much stuff in their home that they can’t even walk in it. The worst thing though is that they having been living this way for so long that they don’t see anything wrong with it. They are numb and this has just become the norm of there every day life. To those inside the house, every thing seems fine. But, to the outsiders, to the visitors and guests it isn’t fine. They can see something is drastically wrong here.

There was this tv show that I use to watch called Hoarders. Its a show about people who have accumulated so much stuff in their home that they can’t even walk in it. The worst thing though is that they having been living this way for so long that they don’t see anything wrong with it. They are numb and this has just become the norm of there every day life. To those inside the house, every thing seems fine. But, to the outsiders, to the visitors and guests it isn’t fine. They can see something is drastically wrong here.

Sadly, this is how a lot of churches operate today. To those who have been coming for years and years everything seems fine. But to the outsiders, the guests, and the visitors something is drastically wrong here. That’s why we see a lot of 1st time visitors never become 2nd time visitors.

How do we become a church that people can feel like they belong to? The Bible has many verses on hospitality. One example is how Paul wrote to the church at Rome and to Timothy and Titus about this matter. He said in “Pursue Hospitality”.

GOD:

We have here another example in which Paul himself was showed hospitality...

(NIV)

1 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. 7 There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. 8 His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. 9 When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. 10 They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

Hospitality is to be unusual

(NIV)

2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.

Hospitality to be done without complaining

(NIV)

9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Hospitality is to be shown to the stranger

(NIV)

2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Hospitality is a picture of Salvation

(NIV)

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

The Warning against inhospitality

(NIV)

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

(NIV)

2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.