Radical Hospitality

This Sunday we are starting our new sermon series 'Radical Hospitality.' Here's an introduction from Andy bringing our latest blog post from the middle of a field at United: New Wine!

I write this sat in the middle of a field in Peterborough, surrounded by thousands of people all seeking to know more of Jesus Christ. The strap line is uniting thousands to worship the one!

It is a time to go deeper in relationship with Jesus and also to catch up with friends some of whom we haven’t seen for three years! Hospitality abounds with offerings of Tea & cake, wine and nibbles - it is a reminder of the hospitality God in Christ offers to each of us and that we are called to display to others.

As we enter into August, I sense that relationships and generosity will be the way we grow. Our sermon series at our 10am Service during August will take us deeper into what hospitality means and where we find it in the scriptures.

My daughter Charlotte and I were reflecting on a passage of scripture a few weeks ago, Genesis 18 verse 1-10 (it’s worth a read!) it’s about the presence of God visiting Abraham. And Abraham demonstrates hospitality to God through food and worship at an inconvenient time for him! Yet through it he discovers God in a new way…..It is love in action, by making others feel welcomed and valued. This is, and should not just be reserved for Breakfast on the Go or Lunch on the Go or the Living Room, but demonstrated by each of us to people we do not know and those we do know in our regular Sunday gatherings too.

There is a painting (see below) by Andrei Rublev, it is called either Trinity or hospitality

And it is painted in such a way that as you look at it, we are sat as the 4th person at the table! In other words we are invited into the holy hospitality to act and serve in the way God shows hospitality to us.

Everyone is different, so everyone is hospitable in different ways. Let this be a reminder of when Jesus welcomed us into the family of God, when he died on the cross, showing the greatest hospitality of all.

I hope you are able to join us at some of our events and services over the summer as we grow deeper into the Lord Jesus, we may not be thousands but we still worship the one! Let’s be church together this summer with one another in faith and in worship.

Practicing hospitality. As it says in Romans 12:13

Every blessing

Andy (Vicar)

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