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Listening is the Heart of Our Ministry
Listening is the heart of our ministry here at The Upper Room. In July, I traveled Read More
Mira Conklin | Read Luke 14:1, 7-14
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Sign Up TodayProper channels can obstruct kingdom work. While they can provide the needed skeleton for ministry development, they can also be a spiderweb of hierarchical committees that drain the passion from those who felt the initial call to action. In churches whose identity is defined by how closely disciples follow the...
God, help us stay faithful to your path. Amen.
The admonition in Hebrews 13 “to show hospitality to strangers” is vividly illustrated by Jesus’ advice to guests and hosts in Luke 14. In the topsy-turvy world of divine hospitality, everybody is family. Radical hospitality makes sense only in light of the conviction that God rules the world and therefore adequate repayment for our efforts is simply our relatedness to God and our conformity to what God intends. The texts from Jeremiah and the psalm call the people of God back to commitment to God alone, rather than to the gods of the nations and their values. God is no doubt still lamenting our failure to listen but is also, no doubt, still inviting us to take our humble place at a table that promises exaltation on a scale the world cannot even imagine.
• Read Jeremiah 2:4-13. To whom or where do you go to ll your cup with living water?
• Read Psalm 81:1, 10-16. What shape does God’s bread and honey take in your life? Where are you being invited to open your mouth and to name the gift as sacred?
• Read Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16. How do you offer hospitality to those closest to you?
• Read Luke 14:1, 7-14. When have you been blessed by a party of mis ts? How can you extend the table?
Respond by posting a prayer.
"Often we pray expecting God to take away our problems. Prayer usually doesn't change our circumstances, but it can change our reaction to them. If we can relinquish control and give everything to God, we may find greater clarity. Whatever we are going through, God is with us. And God is bigger than any problem we might face."
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