A Three-Week Series
At the Table
with Jesus
Shared meals, shared lives. How Jesus welcomed, forgave, and transformed everyone who came to His table.
The Heart of Hospitality
Christian hospitality isn't about perfect hosting. It's about opening your life to others the way Jesus opened His to you. Each week fuels a different part of it.
i
Grace fuels the invitation. Week One. Because Jesus welcomed me, I can welcome anyone.
ii
Humility fuels the posture. Week Two. I serve at my table-I don't preside over it.
iii
Worship fuels the motive. Week Three. I host out of overflow, not out of performance.
Scripture
"As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?' But when he heard it, he said, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.'" Matthew 9:9-13 · ESV
Main Points
i Grace invites and welcomes everyone to have a seat at the table. Jesus called Matthew-a tax collector, a traitor, a man religious society had written off-and immediately sat down to eat with him and his friends.
ii Grace changes us; we don't change ourselves. Matthew didn't clean up his life before following Jesus. He rose and followed, and transformation happened in the company of Christ.
iii Grace comes alongside others; legalism judges from a distance. The Pharisees stood outside and asked questions. Jesus went inside and shared a meal.
"Shared meals lead to shared lives."
Practice This Week
How Grace Fuels Hospitality
Group Discussion
Hospitality starts with grace, because grace is what you're extending. You can't welcome someone to a table you haven't yet been welcomed to yourself.
Make a short "grace list"-three people in your orbit that you'd normally overlook, avoid, or quietly judge. Start praying for them by name.
Invite one of them to coffee, lunch, or your home this month. No agenda. Just presence.
Before the meeting, remember: you are Matthew. You didn't clean yourself up to sit at Jesus' table. Extend the same welcome you received.
Listen more than you talk. Grace comes alongside; it doesn't lecture.
1In the first century, sharing a meal signaled friendship, acceptance, and shared identity. Who would have been on Jesus' "unexpected" guest list then-and who would be on it today?
2Matthew rose and followed Jesus immediately. What do you think gave him the courage to leave the tax booth behind? What does a similar response look like in your life right now?
3The Pharisees asked their question about Jesus' table rather than asking Jesus directly. Where are you tempted to judge from a distance instead of coming alongside someone in their mess?
4Jesus quoted Hosea: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." How would your relationships look different if mercy became the primary lens you viewed people through?
5Is there someone in your life who needs an invitation to your table-literally or figuratively? What's one concrete step you could take this week?
6Where have you experienced grace coming alongside you when you didn't deserve it? How has that shaped the way you treat others?
Scripture
"One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully… 'When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.'… 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.'" Luke 14:1-24 · ESV
Kingdom Table Manners
i Elevate compassion over tradition. Legalism elevates rules over people; grace elevates people over rules. Traditions should help us serve others-not give us reasons to ignore them.
ii Pursue humility before honor. The kingdom runs upside-down. Self-promotion leads to demotion. Don't live to get-live to give.
iii Practice radical hospitality and generosity to the outcasts and spiritually broken. Invite those who can't repay you. Meals are mission opportunities. If you have a table, you have a ministry.
iv Accept and extend God's invitation of grace to everyone. The master of the banquet doesn't stop when the first invitees make excuses. He sends out for the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame-until His house is full.
"If you have a table, you have a ministry."
Practice This Week
How Humility Fuels Hospitality
Group Discussion
Humility turns your home into a mission field and your table into a ministry. You stop asking "who can advance me?" and start asking "who can I serve?"
Push back against fear: your home doesn't have to be clean, curated, or impressive. People aren't coming for the décor-they're coming for you.
Push back against busyness: block one evening or one weekend afternoon this month specifically for hospitality. Put it on the calendar before it fills up.
Take the low seat. Serve the drinks, clear the plates, ask the questions, turn down the music so someone else can be heard.
Invite at least one person you can't "repay"-someone new in town, someone grieving, a single parent, a widow, a college student far from home.
Try the "one more chair" rule: when you're already cooking dinner, who could you text to join you last-minute?
1Are there "traditions" in your life, family, or church that have subtly become more important than the people they were meant to serve?
2Think about a time you maneuvered for a "seat of honor"-at work, socially, online, or even at church. What was driving that desire? What would humility have looked like?
3Jesus said to invite guests who cannot repay you. When was the last time you gave hospitality or generosity to someone who had nothing to offer you in return?
4The sermon identified two main reasons we avoid hospitality: fear and busyness. Which one is more of a barrier for you right now? What's one small thing you could change?
5In the parable, the invited guests made excuses: a field, some oxen, a new marriage. What "good things" in your life have the potential to become excuses that keep you from responding to God's invitation?
6Who is in the "highways and hedges" of your neighborhood or workplace? How might God be inviting you to compel them to come in?
Scripture
"And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment… 'Her sins, which are many, are forgiven-for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.'… And he said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'" Luke 7:36-50 · ESV
"We were made to worship, but nothing was made for our worship."
Three Distortions
i A distorted view of Jesus. Simon's theology pushed him away from Jesus; the woman's drew her toward Him. Worship is a response to who Jesus actually is-not who we assume Him to be.
ii A distorted view of our sin. Simon didn't see the severity of his own need. Earned grace is not grace. The one who is forgiven little loves little.
iii A distorted view of grace. The woman walked in as an outcast and walked out welcomed, clean, and loved. Grace is never earned-only received.
"We find our value from the worth of what we worship."
Practice This Week
How Worship Fuels Hospitality
Group Discussion
Worship guards the motive. When Jesus is the center of your affection, hospitality stops being performance and becomes overflow-you give because you've received.
Before your next gathering, spend five minutes thanking Jesus specifically for the grace you've received. Host from overflow, not from obligation.
Ask yourself: Am I hosting to be seen, or to see others? Worship reorients the spotlight away from you.
Refuse the Simon-the-Pharisee posture: don't quietly evaluate who "deserves" to be at your table. Everyone at the table is there by the same grace.
Be willing to be the woman with the alabaster jar-extravagant, unembarrassed, generous. Give the good food, the best seat, the most attention.
End the evening by sending your guest off the way Jesus did: with peace, blessing, and the sense that they are deeply seen.
1"We were made to worship, but nothing was made for our worship." What competes for your worship right now-work, success, relationships, comfort, reputation, approval?
2Simon's view of Jesus distanced him; the woman's drew her near. When you picture Jesus, what do you see? How might that picture be shaping (or limiting) your worship?
3The woman's worship was public, emotional, and extravagant. What keeps you from worshipping more freely?
4Jesus said, "He who is forgiven little, loves little." Where might you be underestimating your own need for grace?
5Notice how quickly critical thoughts about others expose what's in our own hearts. When have you recently caught yourself judging someone? What did that reveal about you?
6"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." If you truly received those words from Jesus this week, what would change in the way you carry yourself, treat others, and approach God?
The 3-Week Challenge
Open your table.
A tangible way to practice what this series teaches. Pick one step for each week.
Week One · Make the list Write down three names-people who need grace, inclusion, or a seat at your table. Start praying for them.
Week Two · Make the invitation Pick one name from that list and invite them to a meal in your home or out. No strings attached, no agenda.
Week Three · Make it worship Host from overflow, not performance. Pray over your meal. Listen well. Send them off with peace.