You can have access to food and still be malnourished. It sounds odd but proof came when I watched a documentary a guy made who only ate McDonalds food every day for 30 days. He gained 24 pounds and his liver started to shut down. His doctor told him he would die if he were to continue.
In the same we we can have access to food and still be malnourished we can also have access to people and still be relationally malnourished. There is a difference between being in a crowd and being in community.
We’re created in the image of God who has community is rooted in his very nature – Father Son & Spirit. The Doctrine of the Trinity reveals God is a community of love, communication, affection and respect.
A great friendship is a friendship that has true community. A great marriage is a marriage with true community. A great family is a family with true community. A great church is a church family with true community. The absence of community creates deficiency and dysfunction.
Sunday, September 8th, we are hosting a Discovering Destiny Reception for all new families and for families not truly involved. This will take place between services in the upstairs of our Worship Center. In this reception we will point to a five week meeting starting Wednesday, Sept 11th, designed to help people find community within our church family that is a great fit for them.
We live in a world that is over-committed & under-connected. We must beware of the barrenness of a busy life.
Once I read a magazine article that spoke of the three most favorite phrases people love to hear: I love you, you’re forgiven and let’s eat. This is the essence of profound ministry. For God so loves us that He sent Jesus to forgive us and says if we open our hearts he will come in an sup with us and us with him = let’s eat with God as friends!!!
This is not only God’s avenue of developing a deeper relationship with us but it is his example for us to follow with others.
The table was in the Holy Place in the Temple of the Lord communicating the sacred value of that which might seem so common.
The best portion of your life will be the seemingly insignificant moments spent smiling with people who matter to you the most.
We live in a day where people live isolated and lonely lives. True Christianity introduces Jesus as the relational answer to this painful deficiency that exists in the lives of so many people. God has entrusted friends to your care who need to meet Jesus and introducing them to God’s family right here at Destiny is a great starting point to a deeper conversation about the love of Jesus.
Preaching serves the purpose of empowering the church (the people) to answer the call of God to do the work of the ministry in our every day lives!
Three phrases people love the most: I love you! You’re forgiven! Let’s eat! These phrases are all about relationship. Everybody needs love, forgiveness and connection to be healthy. Interestingly this is discovered first in Christ. John 3 and Revelation 3 communicate how God loved the world (I love you) that he gave his only Son (You’re forgiven) and Jesus stands at the door of our hearts knocking and if we open the door he comes in to eat with us and us with him (Let’s eat). We were created in the image of God who is a community within himself as The Trinity. God created us with a design of community giving us a deep sense of desire for community.
Jesus came and bypassed all order of religion that neglected relationship. Suddenly he’s having meals with sinners. The Last Supper is a famous meal Jesus had with his disciples. Obviously this was very common for Jesus to eat with his friends. After Jesus rose from the grave one of the first things he did was ate a meal with his friends. It is interesting that in the very beginning we see a meal that was eaten without God ruining everything. Then in the concluding chapters of the book of Revelation we find another meal, The Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Jesus is all about inviting the world to the Table of the Lord where we all become friends with God. Only through Jesus does the altar give access to the table.
Mal 1:7 "{You} are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled You?' In that you say, 'The table of the LORD is to be despised.' NAS
Notice how the altar and the table are eternally connected. The sacrifices on the altar are unacceptable when the table is defiled. The sacrifice on the altar is only pleasing if the table is in proper order. If you’re disconnected from fellowship with God your offering is not acceptable. The table of the Lord also involves His family. Jesus said in Matt 5:23-24 Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. NIV
Obviously we all need to make room for relationships as our highest priority! Expressing our love, our forgiveness and our time to connect over a meal all produce a demonstration of hospitality we find clearly revealed in Christ as our ultimate example. Jesus invited us to his table so we would invite others to our table.
Rom 12:9-13 Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them...get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner (NLT)
We live in a day where people live isolated and lonely lives. True Christianity introduces Jesus as the relational answer to this painful deficiency that exists in the lives of so many people. The pursuit of great influence in big platforms can cause us to miss the power of meaningful impact on personal levels.
God loved the world in big ways but it wasn’t until He embraced humanity in his smallest posture of intimate existence that the world could forever be changed. We tend to express grand statements of big love in the songs we sing and the sermons we celebrate. It’s not until we take a small posture of intimate connection with people on a personal level that lives will be changed. People ministering to people on a personal level will truly change the world.
Don’t underestimate or underuse the power of the kitchen table! My wife and I had our first date over a meal. Coming together for a meal has become a sacred place of common connection in our marriage and now for our family. The transforming power of hospitality has a profound influence on our children as we prepare food together, set the table together, have a meal with conversation on every level of life and then clean up together. Sometimes the conversation is deep and meaningful. Sometimes the conversation is light and humorous. Always the place of the table is a safe place where everybody can be themselves and we get to know each other through the seasons of life. It shouldn’t surprise us to discover that countries with strong food cultures typically have a strong family culture.
The Bible describes how Jesus prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Perhaps the idea behind this is to sit with us and connect with us according to His ways protecting us from wrong ways of thinking represented as our enemies. Studies show that the more often families eat together the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, be depressed & consider suicide.[1]Also they are more likely to do well in school, delay having sex, eat their veggies, learn big words and know which fork to use. It’s this regularly shared meal, not holiday feasts, that anchors the family. Some nights it is a fast paced eat and run experience when everybody at the table is thinking about other places they truly need to be. However the pattern of the table produces something profound in our lives and sometimes provides a lingering experience where everybody gets caught up in the conversation and no one feels stupid, shy or ashamed as conversation erupts. This is where you get a glimpse of the power of a family at the table.
Purposing inconvenience for the sake of relationship is community.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Sacrificially invest in someone’s life this week to demonstrate God’s love to them.
DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR COMMUNITY GROUP LEADERS
Click here for a downloadable pdf file of this guide.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. What are some ways others have ministered to you on a personal level over the years?
2. What are some ways you have ministered to people on a personal level?
Understanding personal ministry is vitally important to our expressing God’s love effectively.
Three phrases people love the most: I love you! You’re forgiven! Let’s eat! These phrases are all about relationship. Everybody needs love, forgiveness and connection to be healthy. Interestingly this is discovered first in Christ. John 3 and Revelation 3 communicate how God loved the world (I love you) that he gave his only Son (You’re forgiven) and Jesus stands at the door of our hearts knocking and if we open the door he comes in to eat with us and us with him (Let’s eat). We were created in the image of God who is a community within himself as The Trinity. God created us with a design of community giving us a deep sense of desire for community.
Jesus is all about inviting the world to the Table of the Lord where we all become friends with God. Only through Jesus does the altar give access to the table.
Mal 1:7 “{You} are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is to be despised.’ NAS
Notice how the altar and the table are eternally connected. The table was in the Holy Place in the Temple of the Lord communicating the sacred value of that which might seem so common. It would serve us well to remember that Jesus was so common that it caused many to miss the sacred, powerful and profound revelation He was carrying for the world. Perhaps we’ve been having conversations with our world through a bullhorn that need to be happening around a coffee table. If we’re not careful we can easily revert to a bullhorn agenda even while sitting at the coffee table.
We live in a day where people live isolated and lonely lives. True Christianity introduces Jesus as the relational answer to this painful deficiency that exists in the lives of so many people. The pursuit of great influence in big platforms can cause us to miss the power of meaningful impact on personal levels.
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
3. What are some other examples of how true disciples invest themselves in the lives of others in an intimate and intentional way?
Rom 12:9-13 Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them...get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner (NLT)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
4. On a scale of 1-10, where would you rate yourself in Hospitality - welcoming people into your life, into your home to sit together at your table and treating them in a gracious way expressing love through friendship? What can you begin to do to improve your score by at least one point?
5. Is eating together at the table a common practice in your home? If so how have you accomplished this? If not what needs to happen so you can accomplish this?
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Sacrificially invest in someone’s life this week to demonstrate God’s love to them.