Addison, stand up. Some people might not know who you are, but Addison was in Iraq, and we've been praying for him for some time. So he's back in the States at least for a while, and you're back in this area for how long? Until the 10th. So we praise the Lord that you're home safely, and continue to pray for him as he serves with the Marines. And so thanks for blessing us with your presence this morning. I think I also saw Jody and where's everybody just kind of one. It's a light. I think here. So again, it's always a blessing to have Jody and the Ray family here with us, too. So from Wyoming. So tell you, we are a we just draw them in from all over the states, international from Iraq, everywhere. So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Romans chapter 12. verses 9-13. Romans 12, verses 9-13. Let's stand together as we read God's Word this morning. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to one another in honor. Not lagging behind in diligence. fervent in spirit serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. You may be seated. Let's pray. Lord, thank you. for Your grace to us, for Your mercy. Thank You for Your great love that was demonstrated to us through our Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. Thank You, Lord, that You have drawn us to Yourself, that You have given us this great blessing of being reconciled to You through Jesus Christ. If we're trusting in Jesus Christ alone, as our Lord and Savior, as our great joy, our great treasure. I thank You for what You've done in our hearts and minds. And Lord, I pray this morning that You would continue to work in us and cause us to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Cause us, Lord, to walk in the kind of ways that will please You and honor You, that will demonstrate to others the great mercy that we ourselves have received from You. So, Lord, we pray for Your your help and for your grace this morning. Give us understanding and insight into your word. Help us to focus. Give us the mental and spiritual alertness in our hearts and our minds this morning. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Again, just kind of to summarize where we've come from. All of what we see in chapter 12 flows out of what Paul summarizes in chapter 12, verses 1 and 2 in reflecting upon the mercies of God. Presenting our bodies as living sacrifices because of the mercies of God that are demonstrated for us and to us through our Lord Jesus Christ and all that God has done for us through His great mercy and grace through Jesus Christ. And the transformation that comes upon those who trust in the salvation that is provided through Jesus Christ alone, and through the renewing of our minds. And all of the things that we've seen before that have flowed out of this are kind of as a result of what it means to have renewed minds. It's the effect of a renewed mind in how we live our lives. And so everything flows out of that. And so these are more than just mere commands for us, another set of rules for us to try to keep. These are attitudes. They're actions that flow out of attitudes because of God's grace, because of the transformation that's taking part in our life through the renewing of our mind, through that new relationship that we have with God through Jesus Christ alone. And so, again, we've looked at a number of these and this morning we're going to be looking at contributing to the needs of the saints and practicing hospitality as the next two in verse 13. Contributing to the needs of the saints. First, I think we need to establish who are the saints. You know, if you ask on the streets, many will probably have the idea that saints are people in the Roman Catholic Church who have done certain things, they've met certain requirements, and therefore they have earned the status of sainthood because of what they've done or what they've achieved. But the Bible doesn't use the word saint that way. The Bible uses the word saint to describe persons who belong to God. They're God's people. They're those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They have a special relationship with God because of his grace and mercy. by faith alone, in Christ alone. And we see this over and over again, and usually in at least a few of the epistles, in the introduction that comes to most of the epistles. We see it in the book of Romans where we've already looked at it. But if we look at Romans chapter 1, Paul describes those whom he's addressing through this epistle when he says, "...among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ." So, Paul is addressing the believers, those called of Jesus Christ, who are beloved of God, called as saints or holy ones. at the church in Rome. We see it also in 1 Corinthians 1. If there was ever a church that probably stands out and is seen as maybe the church that caused the Apostle Paul maybe the most heartache, it might be the church at Corinth. But yet, he again, in addressing them, calls them saints. In 1 Corinthians 1, verses 1 and 2, it says, Called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Sosthenes, our brother, to the church of God which is Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. Saints by calling. with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours." So here we get a description or definition of saints. First of all, he is talking to the church of God which is at Corinth. The church are those who are made up of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are those who are called out of the world, called to the Lord Jesus Christ to worship God and reconcile with God through Jesus Christ alone. They have been called They've been sanctified in Christ Jesus. They've been set apart. Saints by calling with all who in every place, not just at Corinth or in Rome, every place, call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. So again, the saints are depicted as those who are trusting in, calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And those are the saints. And this morning, if you are trusting in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, The salvation that God has provided through Jesus Christ alone, you are a saint. If Paul were writing us a letter, he would be describing to us, to the saints in Wahoo, or to the saints at Wahoo Community Church. And so this morning, again, if you are a believer, you are a saint. And so, Paul is describing here now, in this command, what he wants to happen, and what should characterize us as the saints. As those who have experienced the mercies of the Lord Jesus Christ, the mercies of God, he wants us to contribute to the needs of the saints. So he's writing to the church and telling them, contribute to the needs of the saints. Help, Cranfield says, help relieve the necessities of the saints. And the word that we get in the New American Standard that's translated as contribute really has the idea of to share in, to participate in. It is a word that we translate in some places as fellowship, what it means to fellowship with someone. And so we see that it has the idea of participating in or sharing in the needs of the saints. And so Paul is not urging us so much here to have fellowship with the saints, but to participate in the needs of the saints, to demonstrate that we are going to help with the needs that are seen in the lives of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We also see that it is described as to share one's possessions with the implication of some kind of joint participation or mutual interest in sharing with that. We see this word used in a number of places, one of them in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14. We get a A glimpse of this word when it's used of the Lord Jesus Christ when it says, therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also took of the same that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil. And so we see that Jesus becomes sharers in a participant in our flesh. He takes upon himself a human body in order to pay the penalty for our sins, to represent us in fulfilling the law and paying the penalty for our sins. We also see in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 32 through 34, again, a way in which this participation in the needs of the saints was demonstrated. In chapter 10, verse 32, we read, but remember the former days when after being enlightened You endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a spectacle, a public spectacle, through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one." What the writer of Hebrews is commending here is that these believers that he's writing to saw their brothers and sisters, some of them being persecuted, some of them being imprisoned, and they identified themselves with those individuals in the midst of their sufferings. And most times what we see here is a different situation in the jail systems of the first century and what we know today. Many of the prisoners in that first century would be dependent upon people to supply their needs, to bring them food, to bring them the things that they needed in order to survive while they were in prison. It's not like that today. It's like the Hilton in a lot of jails compared to what they would have experienced in the first century. And so the thing that you see here is that it would have been a struggle maybe for Christians to say, look, my brothers and sisters have been in prison because they're Christians. If I go and take them food, if I go and help them with their needs, they will also possibly identify me as a Christian. And so there was, in a sense, a great step of faith that God would be with them in the midst of their taking care of their brothers and sisters who have been in prison and maybe even as their own imprisonment. And he says this, he says, for you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession, a lasting one. So they were willing to identify themselves with the needs of the saints, with the other Christians, even if it meant repercussions coming upon them. And so we see that demonstrated here in the examples of the early church. The needs that we see here also are characteristic of the early church is coming together and supporting one another. And it was a mark of the early church that that had a great effect upon the unbelieving community that was watching the believers and how they took care of one another. They would see somebody with a need and they would help them with that need. And it spoke volumes to the unbelieving world as we see in the book of Acts. In Acts 2, verses 44-47. It says, And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might have need. Day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." So again, we see here that there was a common a common goal in reaching and ministering to believers who had needs. We see this also in Acts 4, verses 32-37, in how this was accomplished. And the congregation of those who believed were one heart and soul, and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power, the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring all the proceeds of the sales, and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they were distributed to each as any had need." They were ones who realized that they were not clenching on tight-fistedly to the possessions that God had given them. But they were willing to, if necessary, sell what they had to meet a need. And this is so hard for us in a prosperous Western society where we have so many possessions and oftentimes we hold on to them way too tight. I'm not saying everybody go out and sell your house. and bring it to the church so that we can take care of the needs. But I'm saying, if you see any, look at all the things that God has given us. Look how he has blessed us. And there shouldn't be anyone who has legitimate needs that we should not be willing to go to great lengths to minister to and to provide for those needs. And that's pretty radical as we think about it, isn't it? But you know what? And again, what they said, it was the attitude of their heart. Not one of them claimed that anything belonged to him was his own. We should view our houses this way. We should view all our possessions this way. Again, that we're stewards, that God has given us property, not so that we can hang on to it, not so that it can become our God, not so that it becomes an idol that we worship, but that we use it for the glory of God and for the good of His church, for the good of His people. We have especially a command in Galatians 6, in verse 10, where Paul says, While we have opportunity, let us do good to all people and especially to those who are the household of the faith. So here we see that we're to do good to all people. It's not just that we're concerned only for people if they come to the Wahoo Community Church. We are concerned for all people and should demonstrate concern and love in tangible ways to them. But especially. Especially. to those of the household of faith. To the saints. To the believers. We see it demonstrated over and over again in other places. As a matter of fact, in Ephesians 4, verse 28, Paul writes, He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good. And then he gives us the reason or the purpose when he says, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. So God has given us labor, the ability to do labor, the ability to earn income so that we can help those who have needs. We see also in 1 John 3, where John brings this idea of helping a brother to one of the signs of whether our faith is authentic and whether we truly are believers. In 1 John 3, verses 14-17, John writes, We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? The answer, it doesn't. The implication it doesn't. If we can look at a brother that has a need, and we have the ability to help in that need, and we turn our back, we close our heart to that individual, we say, how is that a demonstration of the love of God? It's not. We see that there is a call in Scripture from the Old Testament throughout the New Testament for God's people to be generous in their giving and in their demonstration of of their love towards other people. We see this in Paul's collection for the saints that he was taking to Jerusalem in writing to the saints in 2 Corinthians 9-6-15. He describes to them what their part is to give out of the wealth that God has blessed them to help the needs of the poor saints in Jerusalem. We see it in the Old Testament The writer of Proverbs in chapter 11 verse 25 says, the generous man will be prosperous and he who waters will himself be watered. Now, this verse and verses like this have been taken out of context saying, well, if you just give me a little bit of seed money, then God will bless you with more. So send me your seed money and you'll get a blessing from God. And what happens is I get rich, you all stay poor and we're all happy. And it is a prostitution of the gospel. It is a false gospel that we preach and is oftentimes associated with that type of mentality. A mentality that says that God wants you to be rich. God wants you to always be rich and healthy and nothing bad should ever happen in your life. And if it does, then something's wrong in your life. But nevertheless, there is a principle that's established in Scripture that God loves a cheerful giver. That God blesses those who are generous. Now, it might not be in the ways that we think. It might not be if we give our money that we're going to become millionaires. But that God blesses us for our obedience to Him, for trusting in Him, and showing in the demonstration of our giving that money is not our God. that money is not our master. We give it away and trust God that he'll provide. I remember reading in the book Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, there was a time in which he was trying to save money and God, I think I've spent a while since I've read it, but I remember this verse coming from from his testimony in this book was he had a certain amount of money and he needed this money. But as he met someone, he saw they had a need, a greater need. And the struggle was, do I give them this money that I have, that I need, or do I give this to them? You know, I mean, here's Hudson Taylor. He could justify, say, God, I'm preparing to go to China. I'm prepared to go to overseas to serve you so I can't afford to give. But he ends up giving his money to this individual with this verse in mind. He says, this verse came to the mind, the one who is gracious to the poor man lends to the Lord and he, the Lord, will repay him for his good deed. And in the life of Hudson Taylor, the story goes is that when later, I think of that week, God provided for him and his need. So he gets the blessing of stepping out in faith and giving and God rewards and God blesses him for it. And again, I don't think that we can always say, okay, wow, I've got this amount of money. So if I give this amount, then I should, God should bless me. And we get the calculator out and we say, okay, well, if I give this much, then God will give me this much. No, that's, that's the wrong attitude. We should do so with the mind to show again, as we've been talking about over and over, to show how glorious God is in our giving and our service to him. The second thing that we see here in this verse is we are to practice hospitality. That's what the New American Standard says, practice hospitality. This word, hospitality, is a word that means to be fond of strangers, to receive strangers and treat them as guests by providing lodging, food, and friendship. And this would be especially necessary in the first century where you don't have a Motel 6 or, you know, different hotels all over the place where people when they're traveling would just say, I'll make my arrangements in a hotel or, you know, put it on the credit card or whatever. But they would be traveling, some of them missionaries, some of them like Paul would be traveling to different places. and would rely upon people to take care of them, to lodge them. Now, later on, there were people who took advantage of that, and so there were also principles that were set to establish who were legitimate people who really needed the needs and who were taking advantage of the situation and just going for the free ride. But the word means to show hospitality to a stranger. And by that, it's someone who's not regarded as a member of the extended family or close friend. It really means to be lovers of strangers. And we see this in a number of places in the New Testament. One is in the first Peter chapter five or first Timothy chapter five. And it was a qualification that if this virtue was seen, In the life of a widow, and she met other requirements, she could be put on a widow's list and could require the care of the church. In 1 Timothy chapter 5 in verses 8 through 10, but you can go all the way up to chapter 3, it says, honor widows. So the context is taking care of widows and what the conditions are in her life. But as we come to verse 8, it says, But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works, and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, If she has washed the saints feet, if she has assisted those in distress and if she has devoted herself to every good work. And so part of that was is that she was one who was hospitable and showed hospitality to strangers. We see that that it's also one of the qualifications for elders in first Timothy, chapter three, verse two, and Titus chapter one, verse eight. In both of these lists, the qualifications for elders in the church is that they are hospitable. and they demonstrate that hospitality to others. We see in Hebrews 13. This is also brought out here. Hebrews 13 verses 1-3. It says, Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated since you yourselves are in the body." And so again, a reminder to take care of those who are in prison. And, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. And the reason he's saying, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it, It probably has reference to the story in the Old Testament where Abraham is visited by the men who come to him. And Abraham is a story of hospitality. He gets up and offers them food and bread and taking care of them. And then they come to them and talk to him about what God has for the future, but the fact that they're going down to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy it. And we see that Abraham intercedes for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. But we see that then in chapter 19 that it says, then the two angels went down to the city. And so we see there an instance where we possibly, I'm not sure that that's exactly the reference, but it could be a reference to that instance in Abraham's life. In first Peter chapter four in verses seven through 11, Peter writes, "...the end of all things is near. Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint or without grumbling." So as we've seen a number of times in Romans, again, The Scriptures are concerned with not only that we obey the commands that we see in Scripture, but also that we obey with the right heart attitude, that we are to do so joyfully, not grumbly, not complaining, but we are to do so joyfully. The word that we see in relation to this command that we see for hospitality is the word to, again, as the New American Standard says, is practice. A literal word that we would use, and I think it's probably better to translate it, is to pursue. And it is an intense word. It's something that is in the present tense, something that we are to continue to do. We are to pursue hospitality. This word is an intense word, and depending on the context, in certain contexts where the same word is used, it is used for the word persecute. And it's actually used in verse 14. where he says, bless those who persecute you. Same word. So we see that there is an intense effort that's being demonstrated in this. A.T. Robertson in his word pictures of the New Testament writes, pursuing as if in a chase or hunt. They were to pursue hospitality as their enemies pursued them. Douglas Moo writes, he says, Paul urges us to pursue hospitality, to go out of our way to welcome and provide for travelers or strangers. And John Murray writes, pursue implies that we are to be active in the pursuit of hospitality and not merely bestowing it, perhaps grudgingly as we saw in 1 Peter 4, verse 9, when it's a necessity or when it's unavoidable for us to do so. But we are to pursue it. We see that this word is used, and if we use it in relation to the same verb, to pursue, we see that there is a seriousness to this command and the other things that we see that we are to pursue. And then we see it in relation to hospitality, where Paul says, and I'll just read these quickly in 1 Peter 3, verse 11, it says, And let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. It's not optional. It's not something that we have an option whether we will do it or not. We are to seek peace and to pursue it. We're to pursue peace. And we see this a number of times. Hebrews 12, verse 14, Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. 2 Timothy 2.22, Now flee from youthful lust and pursue righteousness, faith, Love and peace with all those who call on the name of the Lord from a pure heart. No one would ever suggest that pursuing righteousness, faith, love, and peace is an optional thing that is required of us. And that it takes effort. We're to do it with great effort. 1 Timothy 6, verse 11, But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 1 Corinthians 14.1, pursue love. We see in Romans 14.19, so then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. And so we see again, over and over, this idea of pursuing something and how important it is. Here Paul is saying pursue hospitality. Again, it's not optional for us. It's not something that we can take or leave and whether we'll be hospitable to others. You might say, I don't have the gift. I don't have the gift. There are those who are gifted in a way that I think demonstrate hospitality to maybe a higher degree or a greater efficiency. But it's like all of the gifts. Just because we don't have the gift does not mean that we don't participate in acts of mercy. Doesn't mean that we don't have the gift of giving. We don't give. No, we still do it. We're still required to do it. And it's the same thing with hospitality. We're to pursue hospitality. I think that the word pursue is a better word to use here than we see in the New American Standard with practice. But I like the idea of practice in the sense that, well, really two things. The practice means, has the idea of, it becomes a regular habitual thing that is ongoing. It's a discipline that we incorporate into our lives that we show hospitality to people. but also has the idea in sports that if you want to be good at something, you have to practice it. And maybe when you first start out, maybe you're not as good at it. Maybe at times you feel a little awkward and maybe you're saying, I'm just shy, I don't have the social skills to do it. He's saying, step out in faith, practice. Maybe don't start inviting 150 people to your house. Start by just maybe a few people. and build up to, or invite people and you invite someone else who maybe is a little bit better at carrying the conversation. So you're serving, you're helping, you're doing things, and you're bringing somebody else in who maybe can make the situation a little less awkward if that's the way it happens. But I like this quote by John Piper. In his sermon when he preached this in 1985, He preached a sermon called Strategic Hospitality. And he starts in Romans 12-13 and said that we should be constant or persistent in our practice of hospitality. Hebrews says the same thing in a negative way. Don't neglect it. Evidently, something that can easily fall into neglect, indeed it can. And then he uses this illustration that I really like. He says, the physical force of gravity pulls everything to the center of the earth. In order to break free from the Earth-centered life, thousands and thousands of pounds of energy have to push the space shuttle away from the center. There is also a psychological force of gravity that constantly pulls our thoughts and our affections and physical actions inward toward the center of our own selves and our own homes. Therefore, the most natural thing in the world is to neglect hospitality. It is the path of least resistance. All we have to do is yield to the natural gravity of our self-centered life, and the result will be a life so full of self that there is no room for hospitality. We will never forget about it. We will forget about it, and we will neglect it. So the Bible bluntly says, stop that. Build a launching pad, fill up your boosters, and blast out of your self-oriented routine. Stop neglecting hospitality. Practice hospitality. I like that. It's a great illustration. It is. Which also demonstrates that this hospitality is something that is not natural for most of us. It's something that we need God's grace and mercy in order to do it in a way that honors Him, the way that pleases Him. So let's think of little bit of application here how do we do what Paul is commanding of us in here and again it's something that that if it's hard for us to do for some of this is an act of faith that's stepping out trusting that God will give us the grace that we need in order to do this in contributing to the needs of others and in the pursuing of hospitality to love strangers to love those who are are outside of our normal social circles. Well, we start out by inviting each other to our homes. You know, it's just start and say, hey, you want to come over for dessert? You want to come over for dinner? You want to come over for coffee? You want to, and get together and show hospitality in a way that, again, and hospitality goes more than just food, obviously. There might be times in which we extend other care to people. Somebody needs a place to stay. We open our house to them. And I think it goes back to the idea of saying, and most of us probably say this, but it becomes maybe a little bit harder in practices, that God owns my house. Or God owns my car. Or God owns fill in the blank. But think of the implications. That's true. And we're stewards. But think of the implications that that has. for how we use what God owns and that we're stewards and into our homes. The other thing is this goes beyond just everybody in the Wahoo Community Church inviting each other over to their homes. As important as that is and as much as we encourage that and want to see that happening, and again, it is to pursue it. Don't neglect it. And I think it's easy, isn't it? It's easy to neglect it and to take it for granted and just to go our own way and just to think about what we're doing. here and there, but it really has the idea at the heart of it is to minister to strangers, to invite others who are outside, again, of that natural influence or that social circles that we run in. So we invite guests to our homes, neighbors. How many of us have invited our neighbors over to our house or visitors here at church? I've just gone up to them and spur a moment and say, you know, hey, let's, what are you doing for lunch today? And you know, sometimes it's not always going to work out, but sometimes it's easy to plan for it. And I think that's what I liked about Piper's sermon was it's strategic hospitalities. We make plans to do it. It doesn't mean that if we haven't made plans, we can't do it. We can do it on the spur of the moment, but it's strategic. You do it. You make plans to do it. You purpose to do it. And another way that is just a natural is, you know, we live a little bit further away from UNO and UNL and some other colleges, but international students. You know, these guys are a long way from home. You know, we should try to hook up. And I'm sure there are agencies and organizations where we can do this. And I think there's a lady in Omaha that we could probably get connections with. is to invite international students, who oftentimes when colleges shut down for holidays or special days or weekends or extended periods, they're left to fend for themselves. What a great opportunity to invite people who are away from their homeland. And again, it might be hard to speak to somebody from a country that maybe speaks limited English, and you don't speak much of the language where they're from, but it's saying, hey, do it anyhow. Do it anyhow. There are, again, a number of mentalities, a number of things that maybe are hindrances to this, applying this application. You know, some of us, I think, and sometimes I find myself in this circle, is you think the house has to be just perfect, you know, in order to invite somebody over. Well, you know, sometimes, I can remember when we were kids, or sometimes even when as our family, it's run home and kick things under the bed or get everything and throw it into that office room that we have there. And you just keep that door shut. Everybody knows that that door stays shut while people are there. And the house looks good. They just don't see the junk in the closet or the – so it doesn't have to be perfect. And it's just one of the things – I think that it's a mentality that says we've got to have it perfect in order to bring somebody over. Or, you know, sometimes it can get to the point and say, you know, it's just so much work. You know, do we really want to do this? Well, the model says, yes, you pursue it. You put in the work. You put in the effort to do it. Sometimes, it's just easy, and I have a tendency for this, and the area is laziness. Lote is great. I think she has the gift of hospitality, so I just ride on her coattail. And so she makes us look good sometimes, unless I really blow it. I could just tend to shut myself at the house and come out only when necessary. And I think part of it is, too, is that we have to see that hospitality is part of something bigger. And we have to get a vision for and an understanding that hospitality and that God uses hospitality to reach people. To reach people and inviting them to our homes, we are communicating something to them and saying, I want to get to know you. I want to find out who you are, and for neighbors, and if we have unbelievers in our neighbors or family or friends, however it is, or associates at work or whatever else, it's a great opportunity just to say, do you want to come over to my house? You know, there are different ways, and I'm just focusing kind of on the food thing because I think I'm hungry. You know, there are other ways that you can show hospitality and that they go merely beyond just eating lunch. And it's demonstrating that kindness and that grace and that mercy to other people. And we have to do it to the glory of God. And ask God that he'll give us the provision, he'll give us the grace, he'll give us the means. in order to demonstrate hospitality to one another. He'll give us the grace, he'll give us the means, he'll give us the ability to minister to the needs of the saints. And so, part of it, when we see the commands, the question is, will I obey and trust in the grace that God will provide by faith that he will give me what I'm going to need to do what he's called me to do? And hopefully we can use this to an opportunity for the gospel, an opportunity to minister grace to someone who has a need. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your love and your goodness. Thank you for your mercy. Lord, help us to be a body of believers that go above and beyond when it comes to hospitality, go above and beyond when it comes to meeting needs of the saints. demonstrating love in tangible ways. Lord, we look to you and by faith sometimes we say, I don't know how I'm going to be able to do it. It makes me nervous. I'm not typically that way. Lord, we pray for your grace and enablement to step out of our comfort zones and to think, as John Piper wrote, just think strategically about how we can be hospitable to other people for the glory of your name. In Jesus' name, Amen.