Prepare for Worship | Get Together
Last Sunday, Ryan Heard preached from Colossians 3:16 and showed us that biblical love includes admonishing one another.
Read: 1 Peter 4:7-11
This Sunday, Pastor John Henschen will preach from 1 Peter 4:9 and encourage us to earnestly love one another by showing hospitality. As you prepare for our Sunday gathering, be encouraged and challenged by these words from Brian Hedges.
Reflect: “Get Together”
At the most basic level, we must begin [our pursuit of spiritual maturity] by getting together! This is implicit in the commands to greet one another (Rom 16:1–16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Peter 5:14) and show hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4:9). You cannot get to know someone deeply if you don’t know them at all! The process begins with greeting. Saying hello. Having a conversation.
After conversation, the New Testament envisions something more meaningful: inviting other believers into your home and into your life. Of course, showing hospitality often requires self-denial and hard work, which may be one reason Peter says, “show hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9). Most of us only welcome into our homes and lives people who are like us, those with whom we are naturally most comfortable. While it is fine for Christian hospitality to begin more or less inside our comfort zone, the idea is to push beyond it, welcoming fellow believers who may be very different from us.
We see this in Romans 14–15, where Paul exhorts the believers in Rome to extend the love of Christ to one another in spite of their different perspectives and practices in dietary matters.
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. —Romans 15:5–7
Here, at the height of his argument for Christian unity, Paul points the Romans to the power, the model, and the reason for welcoming one another into their lives.
The power for welcoming one another and living in harmony comes from God himself, “the God of endurance and encouragement,” encouragement,” again acknowledging that hospitality and openness are not always easy.
The model is Christ: “live in harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, . . . Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.”
The reason is the glory of God: “live in harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” and “Welcome one another . . . for the glory of God.”
Greeting one another. Showing hospitality to one another. Welcoming one another. These are the first steps to community. To build transforming relationships with others, we have to get together.
Excerpt from Christ Formed in You, pp. 250-252, by Brian Hedges.
Sing: Song List for Sunday
1. “Tell the Story (Psalm 8),” by Shane & Shane
2. “All Sufficient Merit,” by Shane & Shane
3. “All People That on Earth Do Dwell,” by Keith & Kristyn Getty
4. “Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery,” by Matt Boswell
5. “Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb,” by People & Songs