Lavish Hospitality 10

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I grew up in a small Primitive Baptist Church in a small town in central Florida.  I accepted Christ early and started participating as a member in my church.  We did feet washing.  I remember washing feet and having my feet washed.  I remember kneeling and  getting the towel wet.

Now, we don’t do feet washing in the churches I’ve been a part of, but I will tell you some of the most meaningful Lord Suppers.

In Louisville, I went to a church where the Lord’s Supper was practiced every week, tied wholly into the sermon each week (the Gospel), and we actually broke bread (tore off pieces from one loaf) and could dip the bread either into the wine or the juice (in goblets).  The community of believers served each other each week.  Here some meaningful aspects:

  1.  Believers serving believers.  Community with the Lord’s Supper.  First with Christ because He gave himself for us, then we other believers who have put their faith in Jesus too.
  2. Tearing off the bread.  The body of Jesus was a real body. He was bloody.  He had thorns on his head.  The little wafer that I’ve mostly had in life isn’t as much of a replication of it.  But, there is something about tearing off the bread that is more symbolic of what happened on the cross 2000 years ago.
  3. Wine.  (If you have personal reflections on alcoholic intake, I’m not saying you should go partake with wine at the Lord’s Supper.  Where there is freedom, there is love).  I’m not a dry red wine fan.  But, when taking the Lord’s Supper, and you are drinking sweet grape juice, it again misses the symbolic mark for me.  When I dip the torn bread in a cup of bitter wine, the wine hits my tongue and almost makes me wince…it highlights the bitter nature of the cross.

And this table, the Lord’s table, reminds me most of a time when I can sit at the table with Him in Heaven, my feet covered with brilliant fine linens, no one seeing my faithlessness, my rebellion, but all seeing the love and beauty of Christ.

Quote from John Frame, Systematic Theology, found in Habits of Grace by David Mathis.

Lavish Hospitality 6

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One aspect of mothering is that it is life-giving.  And as women, I think we are naturally life-givers.  Maybe not all of us have biological children, but we are all made in the image of God, and being image bearers as females, I think we are life-givers.

You can be life-givers as a wife, mom, foster mom, adoptive mom, friend, neighbor, church member, business woman, daughter, granddaughter, caregiver, single, married, widowed, divorced.

Hospitality is life-giving as well.  We can be life-giving in our homes, our cars, our work, our church, our communities.  This may look like bringing a small gift to a neighbor who has just moved in or one who is going through a rough time (a gift card or something fresh from the oven or grocery store).  This may look like welcoming your kids’ friends over to your house every Friday night – or any night of the week – just so they have a loving place to hang out.  This may look like talking to the older women sitting around you in church, the ones you don’t know, the ones who look lonely.

Whatever hospitality looks like for you – bring life to someone else.

Book quote from Missional Motherhood by Gloria Furman

Lavish Hospitality 5

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Hospitality didn’t begin with us.  It didn’t begin with Southern Living, or really anything Southern.  It didn’t begin with a table.  It didn’t begin with Sweet Tea.

It began with God.  Everything good originated with God.  He created all we know.

He didn’t choose us, choose us to lavish his gracious hospitality on us because we were so good.  He delighted in us, welcomed us to his table, into his presence, restoring a broken relationship, simply because He is God and He chose to love us.

One of my favorite Bible stories is King David and how he welcomes Mephibosheth into his dining room.  He welcomes a lame man, family to the former king, into his presence to eat at the King’s table.  David could have had him killed.  This story has been my favorite Bible story for 20 years.  I spoke at a women’s retreat – my first time I spoke at a church event as the keynote – on this topic.  We love hospitality – and this one story from the Bible tells of God’s gracious hospitality to us.

Book quote from The Ology by Marty Machowski – a theology book for kids.  Picture: kcreatives

Bible story found in 2 Samuel 9.

31 Days of Hymns

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31 Days of Hymns

I grew up in a small town in between two of the largest cities in Florida.  I went to an even smaller town to go to a tiny church until high school.  We sang hymns.  You know the 4 verses with amen at the end.  I could play most of them on the piano by the time I got to high school.  And just if you ask…we either sang all four stanzas or 1, 2, and last.  That’s just how it went.

Some of those hymns were solid and deeply rooted in Scripture.  Others were rooted in feel good theology which is seldom really good theology anyway.

One of the perks of being married to someone who loves music is the depth of knowledge of hymns that he brings to my life.  He has made me think more about the music we sing than I might have ever done otherwise.

So, for the month of October, I’m joining with The Nester again and (hopefully) writing on some of my favorite and requested hymns – both old and new – to hopefully deepen our love for God, His Word, His Church, and deep solid rich lyrics of hymns.

What are some of your favorite hymns?

Tomorrow: Thou Who Wast Rich