For Richer or Poorer

Well it was a treat to be back with you all today. Tracee and I have missed the fellowship, friendship, and warmth of worshipping at our home base.. It is fun to travel, but it isn't quite like home. Thanks for being there today.

And... a special welcome to our returning visitors Jon and Veona and new visitors Don and Melanie. I hope that you felt our hospitality and genuine appreciation for your presence. We don't always (or even usually) have all the answers but we all know that We Believe!.. and we are excited to have a life community to talk openly within, share, and trust in.

If you couldn't make it today, you missed a whopper of a lesson on Ruth 2:2-17 where we studied a model for hospitality to the "poor" and discussed how we could or should apply it to our daily lives. It is hard to see the poor, even harder not to judge and difficult to prioritize and share of our blessings, whatever they may be.. The imperative to embrace hospitality is NOT optional. We are instructed to CARE, and that is where the difficulty lies..

Seek to include, not exclude.
Love others, especially those that are different from you.
Use your blessings, skills and talents to make a difference in someone's day, EVERY day!
Random acts of kindness are small and simple.. don't make it harder that it is.. "save one starfish at a time" and let God deal with the whole world..

Our lesson these weeks is on "Missional Hospitality" so I think I will use our Fun in the Son pool party on August 2 to wrap us up as a theme. It seems appropriate given the generosity of the Haywoods to open and share their pool and home. Please think about how we could double our group's size.. with friends, neighbors, kids, etc.. As Amanda said this morning.. it is pretty easy to invite someone to a party.. TAKE the opportunity to stand up and reach out. We can use our community to reach out to others if we CHOOSE to...

NEWS/EVENTS:
FUN in the SON 2 - pool party at Haywoods.. August 2, ~2pm - 8pm.. more details to follow.. Tracee P is the Primary POC on this. 804 794 1586

LADIES' DINNER: is on the docket to be planned and executed in the FALL(date TBD, principal coordinator needed)..I'll be glad to cook and serve, but the planning part isn't my strong suit. I'm thinking a Friday nt, Guys will cook and serve dinner to all the ladies.. We will all dress a bit and make it NICE..

Bulletin today communicated a need for Backpack ministry through school supplies.. As the OPEN DOOR Life COMMUNITY: I would like for us to embrace it and fill at least 3 backpacks with supplies for some less fortunate children. This is an opportunity immediately for us to make a difference. Choose to help please! More to come on this next week.

Lesson info/MORE:
The book of Ruth can be read as a drama in four acts, with introductory matter at the beginning (related to Naomi and her husband's ill fortune in the land of Moab) and an epilogue at the end. In the first act (1:8-22), the widowed Naomi resolves to go back to Bethlehem. She tells her Moabite daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, to remain in Moab. Ruth refuses to leave Naomi, however, and accompanies her to Bethlehem. In the second act (2:1-23), which is the focus for today's lesson, Ruth gleans in the fields of Naomi's relative, Boaz, who shows special concern for her in her impoverished condition.

The third act (3:1-18) takes place at Boaz's threshing floor, where Ruth executes a bold plan to express her wish that Boaz marry her according to the Israelite custom of the kinsman-redeemer. In the fourth act (4:1-12), an unnamed relative more closely related to Naomi renounces his right to marry Ruth, and she is finally married to Boaz. Finally, in the epilogue we read of Ruth's descendants and Naomi's joy.

UNIT CONTEXT:

Missional Hospitality

If we are serious about following Jesus, we will be people of open hearts, open hands, and open homes. In other words, as followers of Jesus we will practice the fine art of hospitality.

In this unit, we will study five facets of Christian hospitality. As we do so, we will be reminded that hospitality is "missional." That is, simply by being hospitable, we will be on mission for Christ.

In the first session, we reflect on a passage from Job, where Job proclaims his lifelong practice of showing hospitality to strangers. This first session highlights hospitality as a central virtue in both the Old and New Testaments.

The second session specifically addresses hospitality to the poor. Our spotlighted passage is from the book of Ruth, where Boaz practically and kindly reaches out to Ruth in her poverty.

The third session focuses on hospitality to sinners. We study the episode in John's Gospel where Jesus forgives the woman caught in the act of adultery and use that passage to consider our own response to sinful people.

The fourth session focuses on hospitality to newcomers, specifically newcomers in our church. The passage we use in this session is from 1 Corinthians 14, where the apostle Paul encourages the Corinthians to consider the needs of others in their times of worship.

We wrap up our study of Christian hospitality by reminding ourselves that all of our hospitality is really hospitality to Christ. The final session in our study focuses on the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25, where Jesus says all of our hospitality is actually done to, and for, him.

The good news about hospitality is that it doesn't require us to have money, education, brilliance, fame, or power. It only requires that we open our hearts, our hands, and our homes to the people around us.

July 6
Hospitality to Strangers
Job 31:16-23, 31-32

July 13
Hospitality to the Poor
Ruth 2:2-17

July 20
Hospitality to Sinners
John 7:53-8:11

July 27
Hospitality to Newcomers
1 Corinthians 14:20-33

August 3
Hospitality to Christ
Matthew 25:31-46