Resources on the Practice of Hospitality
The Desire of Hospitality
-to be a safe person who offers others the grace, shelter and presence of Jesus
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sharing your home, food, resources, car and all that you call your own so that another might experience the reality of God’s welcoming heart.
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reaching out to and receiving the stranger or the enemy with the hope that he or she might be transformed into a friend.
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loving, not entertaining, the guest.
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welcoming others into your clique, group, club, life.
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spontaneously inviting people for meals.
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reaching out beyond your nuclear family to include others.
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hosting exchange students.
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keeping company with Jesus; offering his welcoming heart to others.
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displaying God’s welcoming heart to the world (children, foreign students, neighbors, teachers, colleagues).
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living the truth that all you have belongs to God.
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providing safe places for people in an unsafe world.
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loving people rather than impressing them.
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developing conversational skills that put others at ease.
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opening your home to others.
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expressing your love for God through celebrating and honoring others.
Food & Faith
Overview of Hospitality
The world seems to become more dangerous every day. People feel vulnerable in their own homes and on guard in the presence of others. Many environments are competitive, hostile, and unsafe. Safe places and safe people are few and far between. True welcome and nurture seem a long-lost dream. Because we have been welcomed into the love of Christ and received as dearly loved children, we can offer the world a place of safety and healing. We can incarnate the welcoming heart of God for the world. God welcomes strangers, inviting them to share his home and get to know his family. During World War II an entire French village risked their lives to welcome and shelter Jews. When pastor Andrew Trocmé was asked why the village responded the way they did, he replied, “I could not bear to be separated from Jesus.” That is hospitality at its core – offering the welcome of Jesus to any and all.
The Gospel Comes With A House Key
Secular Comparisons
Entertainment
- seeks to impress
- obsesses over what went wrong
- focuses on self-perception
- expectation of reciprocation
- status-seeking
Biblical Hospitality
- seeks to bless
- savors what was shared
- focuses on the needs of others
- no expectation of reciprocation
- servanthood seeking
Spiritual Exercises
Remember
Pray
Be Spontaneous
Invite Help
Angel In Disguise
Leftovers Welcomed
Ice Breakers
Family Team
Small Space?
Can't Cook?
Bread & Wine
Books on Hospitality
The Gospel Comes With A House Key
Rosaria Butterfield
Butterfield shares her life testimony about how radically ordinary hospitality from a local pastor allowed her to see the real Jesus and come to faith in Him.
A Meal With Jesus
Tim Chester
This book shows how the table – a central part of Jesus’ earthly ministry – is a perfect vehicle for building community.
Bread & Wine
Shauna Niequist
Food & Faith
Normal Wirzba
Open Heart Open Home
Karen Mains
A Meal With Jesus
Podcasts on Hospitality
The Art of Practicing Hospitality
Simply Joyful Podcast
Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition
Thrive With Asbury Seminary
Christian Hospitality
Anabaptist Perspectives
Open Heart Open Home
Videos on Hospitality
The Gospel Comes With A House Key
Blog Articles on Hospitality
10 Things You Should Know About Christian Hospitality
by Rosaria Butterfield
How to Engage in Biblical Hospitality
by Elizabeth Berry
Christian Hospitality
by Kenneth Berding
Bread & Wine
Reflection Questions
Matt Garcia
Author
Matt is an apprentice of Jesus, a husband to Jesika, and a father to three children. He and his family lead a house church in San Antonio, TX. Connect with him on instagram @apprenticeofjesus.