Preparing for Jesus’ Return with Hospitality

Hospitality . . . it’s far more than being a good host at a dinner party. It’s more than entertaining friends and family. Hospitality is the act of encountering the presence of God in, with, and through others. Find out more about what true biblical hospitality looks like and why it matters that you prioritize it in this episode of Grounded. 

Episode Notes

• “True Hope Stories: Making Room for Hospitality” video.
• You’re Welcome Here: Embracing the Heart of Hospitality Bible study.

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Dannah Gresh: Hey there, when was the last time you opened your home, not because it was your turn to host a holiday gathering, or you saw a really cool party idea on Pinterest (that's me never), or you were celebrating one of your kids’ birthdays, or you just wanted to play games with your friends?

When was the last time you opened your home not for one of those reasons, but because you simply felt the nudge of God's spirit to do it. 

If it's been a while, or if that's never happened, this episode of Grounded is for you. I'm Dannah Gresh.

Erin Davis: And I am Erin Davis. And we tell you every week we're here to give you hope and perspective, we think you need some perspective, we think the Church needs some perspective, on an idea that's not a new idea. 

It's been around for a long time, but it seems to have fallen on hard times lately. I think we could blame the pandemic, which shall not be named, in part. 

But what we're talking about here is true, Biblical hospitality. I think those qualifier words are important because we can sometimes have ideas about hospitality that aren't true or biblical. 

Dannah: And that's why we're having this episode today. But even just the word hospitality might have caused you to panic, and I get that.

Erin: Yeah, there are some people, some women since we're primarily speaking to women, that just feel like that is not my gift and they get hives just at the thought of having somebody over so if that's you before you get nervous, we are going to tell you what this is not. 

This is not about making sure that your home looks like something that Joanna Gaines may have designed. It's not about that at all. 

Dannah: I am so thankful for that because mine would be the Joanna Gaines “before” photograph.

Erin: Well, I think you have a beautiful home, but she's moved on past farmhouse style. Which you live on an actual farm.

Dannah: Yes.

Erin: Mine would be “Joanna was here,” we see some touches, but so were the Davis boys. 

Jason will frequently say to me, “Baby, we can have these kids or we can have nice things.” And we gleefully choose the first option. But it is a trade-off. 

Dannah: Yeah. It is a good trade-off. Hospitality is much bigger than being Pinterest-perfect, thankfully. 

Erin: Amen. 

Dannah: And when you hear the definition, I'll share in just about two minutes. I think it'll make you not only understand that it's not about Pinterest-perfect pictures. 

But this definition will cause you to deeply desire to be a conduit of biblical hospitality this year. Because, listen to me clearly, hospitality is among many things clearly assigned to us in the context of End Times ethics, or preparing the way for Jesus to come again.

Erin: That was me dropping my mic, Dannah.

Dannah: Mic drop. 

Erin: Because that is good stuff. It's actually not about any of the things we make it out to be. And I believe you, and I'm passionate about it, but I'm gonna make sure you're gonna give us biblical evidence, right?

Dannah: Oh, I will. I'll help you see the connection when we get grounded in God's Word in a little bit.

Erin: I knew you would. This is a pared-down episode. It's just gonna be Danna and I talking. Because really, this is a conversation that needs to happen friend-to-friend, it doesn't need to be something that we bring in an expert for. It just needs to be, you know, friend-to-friend talk.

Dannah: Friend-to-friend around the table. This whole program started with a sermon I heard last year and I immediately emailed Erin and I said, “My pastor just knocked the ball out of the park with a challenge from 1 Peter to be hospitable.”

 But my pastor, Jared, was trying to shift our thinking, and help us see the difference between entertainment, a trap, he says some Christians have fallen into, and biblical hospitality. 

And when I put my own hosting through this biblical filter, I realized that I was prone to do the first thing, entertaining, often and to do the latter, hospitality, biblical hospitality infrequently. 

So, seeing the difference, and responding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit has been such a peace-producing game changer for me. And I'm even going to tell you about a test God gave me recently that proved I'm actually learning the difference.

Erin: Oh, I didn't know what you're gonna share this. That's exciting. And this is a passion of Dannah and I and I believe it'll become a passion of yours. 

But I was just recently introduced to T charts, I don't know where these have been in my life, we just put a T on a piece of paper. But one thing is in one category, one thing is in the other. 

Maybe you want to do that, for hospitality, biblical hospitality versus entertainment, because it's going to help your heart if you know the difference. I wonder how the rest of us will do when we put our hosting through this filter that Dannah is going to share with us. 

So, my heart really is on fire about this. I believe this is part of the Great Commission. And it's a part and we're missing out on some tremendous opportunities by not fulfilling it. 

Slow down, Erin, and wait for a minute. Okay. But I'm just excited about it and so I have it on my mind to share three reasons why the Church must return to hospitality; we can't let it go the way of COVID. We've got to fight back to get Christian hospitality in our lives. 

And we want you to know that Portia would have loved to have been a part of this conversation. She's not with us today. But you can stand it in her place. We want to hear from you. You don't even have to throw your shoe, that's Portia-ism. But you can if you want to. 

We just want you to use the chat, use the comments. And we always lean on you to share these episodes. Who do you know, that does this really well, and you want to affirm them that, you know, that maybe needs a new grid for hospitality, hit that share button, text it, you know what to do and then I want you to stay with us for the whole episode. 

We know that some of y'all click out partway through, we get it you’ve got busy lives, but we're gonna give a big announcement at the end of this episode and Dannah, when you sent me the idea for this episode, you didn't know about this, we've been keeping it under wraps. But it's one of those amazing things God does with the Grounded team to show us that He is the one in charge of Grounded. So you're not gonna want to miss it. 

All right, Dannah, define hospitality for us. I'm ready. I know we're going to 1 Peter 4 and I'm going to make my T chart, I’ve got my Paper Mate Flair, and I'm ready to learn from you.

11:26 - Grounded in God's Word (with Dannah)

Dannah: I think everybody could use one of those T charts today. It'd be very helpful to put hospitality on one side and entertainment on the other. 

Okay. Let's define hospitality. Hospitality was and is one of the great virtues of the Bible. It's mentioned a whole lot. The ancient Hebrews believed that each person that came their way was sent by God. 

So, hospitality was in their minds a sacred task. And it could even be said that the person you were serving was God Himself. They kind of had that kind of expectation. 

After all, Abraham had that mindset. And as it turns out, Genesis 18, records, the patriarch was, in fact, hosting God. And when he hosted the three guests. Well, Jesus invoked this virtue in the Christian times when he said, this is recorded in Matthew 10, you know, this, whoever receives you receives Me. 

So, from a biblical point of view, the virtue of hospitality is far more than being a good host at a dinner party. It's not entertaining people. Are you ready for my definition? Leaning in? Hospitality is the act of encountering the presence of God, in, with, and through others.

All right. With that definition in your mind, let's read 1 Peter 4:7-11. Now before I read it, let me give you some context. What I'm about to read is a continuation of Peter's grander point on setting our minds to suffer like Christ mentioned in verse one of chapter four. Now that command was issued to believers in a fallen world surrounded by those who hate them and who hate Jesus. 

Now, I don't have to say this. But does that sound a little bit like our anti-Christian world today? 

Well, then Paul, Peter picks up, Paul writes so much he always is in my brain, Peter picks up within verse 5, turning our attention to the final judgment, a day when the Lord Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead. So, he's combining all of that. And then we get to verse seven, let's start reading the end of all things as at hand. So, there he is, again, bringing up the end times, right and another reference to that, and this sense of urgency here that as we draw closer to the day of Christ's return, hospitality becomes increasingly more important, as you'll see in a moment, okay? 

1 Peter 4:7, 7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 

And here's where we get to hospitality in verse 9, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” 

I'm not even going to preach a sermon without grumbling because it kind of does it itself, doesn't it? And then it goes on, 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Okay, so Peter says that as the day of Christ's return draws near, and I don't know how near it is, I know we're one day closer than we were yesterday. And as that day draws nearer, we must show hospitality. 

Now remember my definition, hospitality is the act of encountering the presence of God, in with and through others. 

So, Peter writes that each of our spiritual gifts should be used as we serve one another when biblical hospitality is happening. That's what he says is like, if you're going to speak, let it be an oracle of God, if you're gonna serve, let it be the strength of God. All right, and he is saying, God has given you gifts, to do those things. 

What gifts? Well, I think it's easy that we could make the shift to our spiritual gifts, sharing biblical spiritual beliefs, sharing biblical spirits filled, oh, I can't say that word today, sharing biblical spirit-filled wisdom, that's one of the gifts of the Spirit, right? Depositing an increase of faith. 

Faith is a spiritual gift, experiencing and expressing the gifts of healing like help, and prayer and faith again, experiencing and expressing or testifying about the gift of miracles. How many times do you sit down at a dinner table and express the way God has miraculously worked in your life? 

Maybe it's sharing a love for and a quest to understand prophecy, this end-time stuff. I mean, this would be a great place to start that conversation with this passage, right? Or could be stirring up spiritual discernment as we talk and share and learn about what's going on in each other's lives. 

Now, right there, I just want to take it. Let's take a full stop right there. Those are just a few of the spiritual gifts we read about in our Bibles. But this list does not sound like your average dinner party, does it? No, not most of them. And if those things aren't present, your dinner party is just average entertaining. Ouch did that crunch your big toe? Because it crunched mine.

Now, I'm not saying that all those things need to be present when we're practicing biblical hospitality. But the thing is, our hearts need to be pointing to Jesus when we invite people over for dinner if we want to call it hospitality in the biblical sense. 

So instead of pulling out our board games, what if we pulled out our Bibles? Now, I gotta say, I'm not opposed to the board game at all. There are plenty of them in the Gresh house, and we love them. If those other things are included, at some point, if you are stirring up faith, if you are talking about the miraculous way Jesus has worked in your life, if you are giving someone some prayer and faith for a journey of healing that's happening in their body. 

I gotta tell you what my pastor preached on this message. He stepped on all the toes on all my feet the day he shared, because right off the bat, I realized I'm an entertainer most of the time, and I'm doing it thinking, I'm practicing biblical hospitality. And I want to be known as a woman who has biblical hospitality as a mark of her life. 

As if that were not enough after he stepped on all my toes. Then my pastor went on to give a kind of a test to help us figure out if we're just entertaining or we're offering biblical entertainment in our homes. And he said, Here's your review. You're going to need that teacher in your mind. One side says entertainment. One side says hospitality. All right? Entertainment is all about me, my house, my things, and we do get pretty Pinterest-perfect obsessed. 

Hospitality is all about others, their needs, and God's ability to provide for them. 

Entertainment is stressful because it's so dependent on me, me, me. Hospitality is peaceful because it's dependent on God's presence. 

Entertainment is usually very Pinterest-perfect and scheduled. Ah, what a nice thing to have it scheduled ahead of time, in advance. Hospitality is usually very messy and inconvenient, often last minute. Can somebody in the back row say amen? 

Entertainment leaves me tired when I'm left to clean up the mess at the end of the night. But hospitality leaves me refreshed and energized because of the presence of God. I understand the importance of the mess that we just made. 

So, I just kind of wonder, how do you do on that test? Are you just entertaining? Or is yours a home, where people are experiencing true, biblical hospitality? Erin.

Erin: Oh, I was listening and working on my T chart and I couldn't quite keep up with it. But I got the big idea. And I super appreciate it. And I've been entertaining.

So, you said in the opening that you are going to share how you have two tests that reveal your learning the difference between entertainment and hospitality. Can you give us those tests? Because if you said them, I missed them.

Dannah: They're just hot on the pavement of life experiences that I've had because I love opening the Word in my home. 

Erin: Me too. 

Dannah: I love testifying about Jesus and glorifying Him. Bob and I actually have an ottoman that we bought just to pray for people. So, this round, cushy ottoman that we send people on we pray for them, we put them in it. We lay hands on them. 

But one area where I really failed the entertainment versus biblical hospitality is that entertainment is Pinterest-perfect and scheduled. But hospitality is messy and inconvenient, and often at the last minute. I am prone to be inflexible. 

I am a very scheduled person. My husband, on the other hand, is prone to be responsive to people's needs. So, I started praying for God to make me like that, to throw out my schedule, when there was an opportunity because I think biblical hospitality is inconvenient. I'm convinced of it. When someone has a need, we rise up and meet it. 

So, these are the two tests recently, we have a friend going through a hard time in his marriage. I came home one night to cook dinner for my daughter and her fiancé who were coming over. Bob was in the living room advising and providing wisdom for this man. And I'm in the kitchen praying for them. And right before my daughter arrived, I sensed God's Spirit having me open my table to this. You know, I wanted a private night with my daughter and her fiancé. Sure, the Lord is saying hey, this guy needs you. And so, when Bob texted Is there room for any type of this friend’s name. I said yes. 

And here's the key Erin, I did it joyfully. 

Somebody throw a shoe. Portia is not here. Somebody's gonna show us you throw a shoe. It was a win. 

And it was the same kind of thing just Monday night. We have a guest in our home who's staying here short term. And so, I was making spaghetti just made just enough for the three of us. And then a coworker called and she was feeling lonely and having a hard night. She's a single woman I was like come on over. And then we had our bus driver out helping Bob in the barn. And I knew I knew when he drove up to help Bob, I gotta stretch this meal of three to five. And I did it. I loved it. I enjoyed it. I didn't have a grumbling heart. Those were two big wins. Because I'm starting to practice biblical hospitality instead of scheduling convenient and picture-perfect entertainment. 

Erin: As a Type A schedule girl myself, I get it and you know what? God can use those personality term temperaments to accomplish a lot. Well, God isn't asking you to have a personality transplant in order to be who He called you to be but a willingness to adjust to change your plans. And to do it joyfully, actually, first Peter did tell us to do it without grumbling. 

Dannah: Without growling. 

Erin: Without grumbling. 

Dannah: Erin, I think you are one of the hostesses with the mostest last year, y'all. The whole Grounded team came out there and we recorded some of your podcast 

The Deep Well Podcast.

Erin: Yeah.

Dannah: And you put out some, some, some feast for us.

Erin: Well, I'm a foodie.

Dannah: Oh, you put out some feast. But you just said you felt a little bit convicted by my pastor’s test that you might be an entertainer, please tell me, because I don't think I'll see that. 

Erin: I actually had to put a sign in my kitchen that said, people over projects, because if I'm not careful, even entertaining, even blessing people can become a project to me. And then it becomes about, you know, just checking the things off of the list. And actually, that doesn't make people feel very comfortable. 

And for years, I've wanted people to actually just pull onto the Davis property, and whether they are aware of it or not, I wanted something in their spirit and their heart to go, “That's better.”

Dannah: It feels different. 

Erin: Yeah, that's the spirit of God that does that. But me being rigid or having standards that have nothing to do with everything to do with their palette, and nothing to do with their heart, I think is where I feel the conviction there. 

Dannah: Well, that goes back to my pastor’s test of that entertainment is all about me, my stuff, my feelings, and biblical hospitality is about others, and their needs, and God's ability to provide them. 

Erin: So yeah, so maybe here's the third test if they leave your home, and they can't remember what you made for dinner, and they can't rattle off how beautiful your table was. But their heart was ministered to, they have fresh enthusiasm. They can, you know, they don't feel as lonely. They can face the crisis in the marriage better than they were before. That's really the goal. And so, it's that not being me-focused, but being others focus. That's where I felt the conviction. So, appreciate that whole message. 

Dannah: Erin, we both wanted to take a stab at getting us grounded on God's word on this topic today because we both have so much in our hearts. So would you take us back to God's Word? Take us to this topic of biblical hospitality from a different angle, the one that God's laid on your heart. 

25:17 - Grounded in God's Word (with Erin)

Erin: Happy to.

It's a doubleheader of sorts. Two teachers here on Grounded. How's this for a headline? 

We do like to read the headlines and occasionally hear, like on occasion here on Grounded, “Whatever Happened to Hospitality?” That's the headline. And I hope you'll catch the tagline underneath it. It says “Even in churches, many believers feel safer ignoring those they don't know.”

I mean, aren't we seeing this on a cultural level, there's no such thing as door to door salesman. There's no such thing as rogue sales calls because people don't put up with it. And we might be grateful for those things. But the idea is to stay at arm's length. I'm not sure it's safe to invite you into my home. And have you ever been the one who shies away from saying “hi” to someone new or someone old? Or maybe anyone at a congregational gathering? You know, at my church, which I love, we actually gave up the part of the sermon or the service where the pastors would say, Turn to your neighbor and say something. 

And I noticed it and I wrote what I hope was a kind email to my pastors and said, “Hey, can we bring that back? Because I don't know how new people can mean anybody if we don't have it. I mean, they're not just going to insert themselves into a conversation in the lobby.” And they haven't. They said what they heard from new people as they didn't really like that part of the service. 

But I think we have to get back to it. Social Anxiety is at an all-time high. And have you noticed? We're not really gathering much anymore. And we think that's a big deal here on Grounded. 

Today, I want to call you, the church, to help the Church. Dannah's word data uses this as a reset because we need a reset in the area of hospitality. I'm going to give us some specific reasons, three reasons, why we need this as an option in the church. Why we need to be hospitable. I'm going to read us John 21: 1-14, I'm going to tell you in advance. It's a long passage, but it's a beautiful story and one of my favorites. 

So, you got to know the context, the resurrection had recently occurred. So, we find the disciples kind of in the haze of all of that in verse one.

21 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

So what we just read is insult to injury, they're hurting. Things are unrolling, unraveling very quickly. Yes, Jesus is alive, but is he coming to establish the Kingdom they don't know. And so they go back to what they know Oh, many of the men in this boat were fishermen by trade, and they can't catch a single fish. I'll pick it up at verse 4.

4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” (of course He knew) They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. I am at verse 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” (That disciple is John, he wrote about himself that way in the book of John) 

9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Well, you probably have heard sermons preached on this, we tend to focus on Peter the interaction with Jesus. And the fact that He gives Peter the opportunity to repent three times as he denied Him three times. But I don't want you to miss that invitation to join them on the shore. I don't want you to miss the charcoal fire that He had prepared. I don't want you to miss that he already had fish cooking. He certainly didn't need the fish that they caught. And I don't want you to miss that He had warm bread ready for them to eat for breakfast. 

Jesus didn't invite anyone into His home in this passage. It's true. Matthew eight tells us that the Son of man had no home to call his own. But it gave them something better. He gave them the real heart of hospitality. He gave them Himself. I will add to Dan his definition of true biblical hospitality this way. Hospitality is the ministry of presence. 

And you know this deep in your soul, you know that people are together sometimes now. And we interact on our phones a fair amount. But presence with each other presents is incredibly rare. 

I first learned this when I was very pregnant with my first child, Eli, I was nine months pregnant, ready to have the second baby and you know, I had Eli and Noble was in my belly. I was nine months pregnant with Nobel. And a woman at my church, who I barely knew, called me one day and said, Hey, Erin, come over in the morning. Leave Eli in his pajamas, you stay in your pajamas, I want to make you breakfast. 

And normally, I wouldn't have said no, I don't spend time with acquaintances who felt uncomfortable to me. And it wasn't scheduled. But I was so desperate and so tired. From a toddler on the outside of my body all the time and a baby on the inside of my body all the time that I thought “Okay, here I come.” 

So, we went. Eli was still in his overnight diaper in his footed pajamas, me still in my pajamas, unkempt. And she welcomed us in and she fed us pancakes, possibly the best pancakes I'd ever had in my life. And I don't think she had a secret recipe she just moved toward me in my point of need. 

And I've never asked her. I've moved away from there. We're not in each other's lives anymore. But I'm just sure that the Spirit put it on Mandy's heart to extend that invitation to me and that brief interaction. We didn't stay all morning but she had toys ready for Eli to play with on the floor. She had pancakes ready for me. I'm sure that God used her to help me get through those final days of pregnancy and deliver Nobel into the world and get through those adjusting days. I mean, it was just pancakes. But Eli's 16 now, and I still think about it. 

So, she really formed my understanding of hospitality. It's reaching toward others. It's a willingness to be inconvenienced, it's giving what you have, which doesn't have to be a lot so that others can be comforted that breakfast was a profound gift. 

I see some big ideas from the passage three ideas, three reasons why we show hospitality. We show hospitality because Jesus did it. He modeled it for us. Now, I'm not big on the Mediterranean diet, I don't need fish for breakfast. But I feel like that warm bread, roasting over the charcoal fire just speaks, speaks to all of us. And Jesus did that for His disciples. 

We also show hospitality to remind each other who Jesus is, did you notice it, the disciples got to the shore, they sat together with that warm breakfast and they reminded each other, oh, it's Jesus. This is who He is. And then Jesus used the opportunity to remind them Himself. 

And we show hospitality as a means to fulfill the Great Commission, I don't want you to take my word for it. One more passage, Acts chapter 2. Now we elevate that church and the book of Acts is perfect. They weren't they were sinners just like us. And some of the ways that Scripture describes them were more descriptive than prescriptive. But a lot of it is also prescriptive. 

So listen to Acts chapter 2:42-47 And they (these are those new believers right after Pentecost.” 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe[a] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 

We know elsewhere from scripture that 1,000s were coming to Christ in these days 1.000s. Because they were loving each other well, because they were being hospitable toward each other. And it wasn't about having the best stuff. In fact, they were selling the best stuff so that they could show hospitality to each other more often. Hospitality puts the goodness of Jesus on display to a lost and hurting world, let me ask you this. How many of you came to Christ, through the practical kindness of a Christian? 

I got invited to go to Pizza Hut by a youth pastor. And he invited my friend, my sister, and I to just go have lunch. And that was the beginning. Within a very short amount of time, she and I both surrendered our lives to Jesus and the rest is history. I'm here today, unapologetically elevating Jesus as the answer we all need because somebody invited me to Pizza Hut. 

I have a friend who came to youth group because somebody promised him there would be brownies there. That was enough to get him there. 

I have another friend who you might know or Rosaria Butterfield, we've had her on Grounded before. And she was invited to lunch with a pastor's family. Now was she a believer? Nope. She was hostile to the gospel. But this pastor just kept inviting her over for lunch, inviting her over for dinner. And just the invitations kept coming in. She kept accepting them because everybody wants to make new friends. Everybody wants a great meal. Everybody wants the comfort of being in someone's home. And so, they kept inviting. And she kept coming until she could see the goodness of God in her own life. 

I know it feels like it should be more complicated than this. But anecdotally, I can tell you it isn't that you can show the beauty of the Gospel by opening your home and you don't have to do it every day. What if you just did it once a week? 

And I can say a lot more the Bible gives us lots of people groups we're supposed to show hospitality to. Yes, the last. Yes, the saints. Yes, Christian workers. Yes, the hurting, you'll have to discern you in the spirit will have to discern who you're going to invite and win. But what I want you to do is throw out the idea that has anything to do with anything other than displaying the goodness of God through your own life. 

One more passage, Matthew 25:21. 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

We could split this two ways. We could say the application is that if you're faithful with a little bit with your little bit of food and a little bit of home that God's going to expand your influence, and that's probably the right application. But this is about Jesus’ welcome welcoming us into His home. This is about the fact that Jesus has hospitality in store for us. He told us when He left I'm going to prepare a place for you. The ministry of presence will be ours. We will be in the presence of Jesus forever. 

So, I don't want you to wait until you have a bigger house or you become a better Enter cooker even until you feel like it, I want you to take the small stuff you make. It might just be a pancake mix and a bottle of syrup. And I want you to commit to using it to serve others in Jesus' name. But I also want you to take such great hope in the fact that Jesus is preparing a place for you. He cannot wait to welcome you into His presence forever. Do you want to be like Jesus today? Go and do likewise. 

Well, what if the Lord wasn't just asking you to invite somebody over? It doesn't even have to be for pizza. It can be for popcorn. What if the Lord wasn't just asking you to invite somebody over? What if He led you, this is all about walking in the Spirit, what if He led you to build a story onto your house? It happened to one woman in Lithuania. I want you to watch this short clip and be encouraged by the power of saying yes to biblical hospitality and I want you to watch the whole thing and stick with us. Because as promised, we've got some exciting good news to share. Let's watch.

39:12 - Video: True Hope Stories: Making Room for Hospitality

Sandra: I work as an English teacher in my hometown in Gianelli. 

Leslie: Sandra lives in Lithuania, and was introduced to Revive Our Hearts by Mehta, a Revive Our Hearts Ambassador.

Sandra: Mehta came into our home and we had a nice morning breakfast together. 

Meta: I had brought some Revive Our Hearts booklets, video timer synced. And I saw the eagerness with which she accepted those materials I was able to understand right away and when I shared with her that we have a free app.

Sandra: I downloaded an app. And which was really great because I started listening to it every morning, and it served well to my son.

Leslie: Soon after she began listening to revive our hearts. Sandra heard Nancy interviewing Rosaria Butterfield about hospitality. Sandra was so impacted by what she heard that she shared what she had learned with her mom and asked her a pretty crazy question.

Sandra: I asked her like, do you mind if we have just another floor added to the house? And I said like no, I don't think this resulted in building up the house and making it larger so that more guests could come and stay. And this just scored our hearts to do this more.

I live in a small town. So, it's very quiet and tranquil there. And I think that's also one of the reasons that people would really like to step out of their business into the quietness and just enjoy fellowship, and prayer together. 

We had missionaries, pastors who we had our neighbors’ friends, from all walks of life. University professors go just to relax and enjoy spending time together from different countries.

Leslie: For Mehta, she has been greatly encouraged to see the way that Sandra has been impacted by the resources of Revive Our Hearts.

Just to hear how that short visit impacted her life. That's been very encouraging. We never know which contacts we make the guy who's going to use

Meta: Revive Our Hearts has been a great encouragement to me personally, to keep going no matter what. And to find true freedom in Christ no matter your circumstances.

41:40 - Resources to Stay Grounded & Closing Goodbyes

Erin: Okay, I hope my invitation is in the mail.

Dannah: I know that takes it all to a whole new level. Hmm. 

Erin: Literally.

Dannah: When God’s Spirit convicts you so much of the importance of biblical hospitality that you remodel your house. 

Erin: Love it, love it. We hope that your hearts have been stirred in a similar way. 

Hey, I promised you a big announcement. Yeah, here it is. Drumroll. 

Today, Revive Our Hearts is releasing a brand new Bible study. It's been a while since we released a Bible study. You've told us that you want more Bible studies from Revive Our Hearts. We've listened. This one's been in production for a while but you're just releasing today and here's the title. You're Welcome Here, Embracing the Heart of Hospitality.

Dannah as we said before you had the idea for this episode. You didn't know that this Bible study was in the works. And I love it when God does that. What do you think? 

Dannah: I’m so excited because, well, first of all, isn't it just when you share something that's on your heart that God's put on your heart and you meet a girlfriend and she like says the same verse that God stirred your heart with them wanting like it's such an encouragement that God is at work, right? 

Erin: Yeah.

Dannah: I believe very strongly that we must awaken our hearts to the task of biblical hospitality. Because it is not only how we share the gospel, but the Word says it as the day draws nearer. We've got to be practicing this so that we can be reminding people of who Jesus is, and pointing them to the glory and his second return like it matters to me so much. So, this feels like the Lord at work. And I hope you'll get a copy of this Bible study because I'm going to be the first to do so.

Erin: You know, this is bigger than Grounded.  This is what God's doing in His Church. And just like He did in Romans, we see a call to hospitality in Romans, just like you did in 1 Peter, where Dannah took us these were times of political and cultural turmoil. And the leaders of the church when they were telling their people what mattered, they'd say, show hospitality show hospitality. It's not a secondary thing. It's not a fluffy doctrine at all. It matters. 

Dannah: I want to tell you something. I think it's getting harder and harder to invite people to church, right? 

Erin: You're right.

Dannah: Because they're not going to come. 

Erin: Just having the church doors open and people finding their way in or are temporarily suspended, at least if not, over.

Dannah: They will come have lemonade on your porch there. 

Erin: Right.

Dannah: They will come have pizza, in the living room, they will come have dinner at your dining room table. This matters. 

Erin: Yeah. And as loneliness is on a steep, steep incline. We're actually set up for success here Church because people want that ministry of presence and connectedness. 

And so, we've loved being able to have this conversation with you. And we'd love for you to share what are you going to do about it? Are you going to invite somebody over how's the Lord going to stir your heart? This can be an ongoing conversation, but please let us know about it. And we would love for you to be among the first to adopt this study in your own home. 

This just begs to be done in groups. And we want to hear about it first here on Grounded and we want you to get a copy, maybe we want you to get 12 copies, or four copies or 18 copies for a neighborhood Bible city. 

So, we also want you to open your home to hungry-hearted women. And we hope that if the beginning of this episode gave you hives, now you understand what it means. And we hope you're excited to do it. 

So, this Bible study, You're Welcome Here is the gift of any amount or Revive Our Hearts this month, which means when you give a gift of any amount to the ministry. 

First of all, you're helping women walk in freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. So, it's exciting being able to partner with us in that. But we will send you a copy of the study at no cost to you. It's our thank you for giving to the ministry. 

And there's other tools that are coming out to supplement the study. You'll be able to find out about all of that at ReviveOurHearts.com

Dannah: Hey Erin, as I'm, as I as we've been talking, and so many memories are stirred up in my heart memories of when you were in youth group right after that youth pastor invited you out for pizza. I met you shortly after that and started going…

Erin: Are you going to tell them about the watermelon football game in the pool?

Dannah: Oh, no. But that would be good, like, Hey, that's a form of hospitality, watermelon, invite the youth group over with the pool, your husband will have to fix the deck afterward. It will be a grand time. That all happened. But that's a perfect place because it was a messy night. That was a messy night. And this is what I want to say. I do think hospitality, true biblical hospitality is messy. As I look back at the memories that you and I share, when we experienced the presence of Jesus Christ together, in what would be described hospitality. I see messiness. 

Erin: I see. I see broken watermelons on the youth group swim night I see right? Green beans in my net, the screen of my door because there was a food fight at another youth group event. And disruption, you have to disrupt maybe your kids bedtime, or day or you know, other forms of messiness

Dannah: We have to be willing to put the pride of what our homes look like to the side. Not that God doesn't love order, and cleanliness, and all of that stuff. But I'm having my daughters and some others over tonight to bake. We're just going to have a girl’s night. My house is a mess. I can think of a million other things that would be productive and task-oriented for me to do tonight. But I want to invite the presence of Jesus into the lives of my daughters, all three of them. And so, my house is messy, and my kitchen is open. And I hope that whatever is keeping you from true biblical hospitality helping people experience the presence of Christ, you will face it, admit it, and just move it to the side.

Erin: Yep, let go of those hospitality hangups. Ladies, that's not about any of those. It's about displaying the goodness of God. So, tell us how you did it. We really want to know what shifts in your life because of this, and let's wake up with hope together next week on Grounded. 

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