hospitality
It is hard to believe that just one year ago we
were right in the middle of our Calvary@Cal-
vin experience. Hundreds of you committed
to serving in many different capacities each
weekend. For thirty-six weeks you made Cal-
vin College feel like home. We lived out hos-
pitality. As we’ve come back home, we rec-
ognize even more the blessing of having so
many natural opportunities to practice hos-
pitality in that “foreign” place. Now that we
are comfortable again, sitting in our regular
seats and enjoying our familiar routine, some
important elements from our Calvary@Calvin
days may be missing.
Last fall, I asked the Lord, “How can we con-
tinue to intentionally show hospitality among
our church family?” I felt the Lord impress on
me the age old idea of simply sharing meals
together. Not just warmly welcoming each other at Calvin or at Calvary, but
welcoming each other into our homes.
With this concept in my mind, I began to look for affirmation; is this really
an effective strategy for being Christ’s church in this place? Then I read
Acts 2:46-47, “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad
and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of the people. And,
the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Yes – it
sure was effective for the early church! Then, I came across the book by
Tim Chester called A Meal with Jesus, which reviewed the book of Luke. It
seemed like in most of the stories, Jesus was either going to or coming
from a meal with others. Eating with others was how Jesus did much of
His ministry!
And that is how this “lunch{together}” idea came to be… a spin off from
the life{together} series Pastor Samra taught a few years ago: continuing
to apply the concept of growing in community by genuinely serving each
other and enjoying a meal together. To the right, learn more about how you
can enjoy lunch{together} this summer.
By Stacy Armbrester
Serving
Stacy enjoys helping people find a place to serve and belong at Calvary. She also loves having lunch{together}
and hopes many of you will be inspired to give it a try!
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