It all began for me with the Discipling Class our pastor, Dan Goddard, had conducted over several months at our Beltsville Seventh-day Adventist Church.  During this class we all took a spiritual gifts inventory and a temperament test.  We studied church growth and how to maintain or restore church growth.

After the class ended, the pastor called all those with the gift of hospitality, fellowship dinner leaders and those who had an interest in hospitality to come to a fellowship dinner one Sabbath afternoon.  Ideas and comments were exchanged about how to make our church friendlier for guests and members and help new members become part of our church family.  Notes were taken and then given to a couple to follow up with a plan for our church. 

Out of this beginning H.O.P.E. Ministry was started with an interested group of members.  Home Outreach for Pilgrims Encouragement (H.O.P.E.) started to research principles of Biblical Hospitality.

Our first task was to search through the Bible to find verses dealing with hospitality.  In some books it was easy to begin to see the thread of hospitality going through the Bible.  But there were some books that people just could not find any hospitality texts in.  This became a challenge to me because as I began to understand (through this study of Scripture) just how important God’s hospitality really was to us and our sharing this with others, I felt there must be something about it in every book.  So I searched those books that no one else could find a verse on hospitality and did indeed find at least one text in each of those books.

These were collected together in different categories.  You will find them listed in the resource section.

Our next project was to go through the church hymnal and find hymns about hospitality.  Sometime it would be only one verse or maybe the chorus but the list was completed and put into different categories.

All during this time, we met together and by learning and then putting what we learned into practice, we helped new members become active and part of our church family.

Statistics show that if a new member does not make at least six new friends in a church they have joined, that in about six months they will be gone.  So it is important to help these new members, whether through baptism or transfer of membership, by getting to know them and help them to become active.

Much of the harm we do to each other in church life comes as a result of ignoring God’s instructions for us in the Bible about how to treat each other.  We have a privilege and responsibility (PR) as church members to do this in our church, community, business and family relationships.

HOSPITALITY DEFINITION

    HOSPITABLE

            Giving or affording a generous welcome and entertainment to guests or strangers.

    HOSPITALITY

            The reception and entertainment of guests or strangers with liberality and kindness.

THE OPPOSITE 

    HOSTILE

            Opposed in feeling, action, tendency, or character.  Hostile criticism, remarks, or intentions.  Unfriendly, antagonistic, inimical, adverse.

    HOSTILITY

            Hostile state, feeling, or action, enmity, antagonism, acts of warfare.

THIS IS THE GREAT CONTROVERSY!

This page last updated on Friday September 16, 2005 05:23 PM

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