You can be on mission without being a
, but you cannot be a disciple without being on
.
13 Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 Then, passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.
15 While he was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him. 16 When the scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” —Mark 2:13-17 CSB
4 Needs of Our City
1.
2.
3.
4.
The mission starts with a
.
“Mealtimes were far more than occasions for individuals to consume nourishment. Being welcomed at a table for the purpose of eating food with another person had become a ceremony richly symbolic of friendship, intimacy, and unity…when persons were estranged, a meal invitation opened the way to reconciliation.” —Scott Bartchy
“When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” —Luke 14:12-14
We are more effective in our mission when we stay true to our
.
We don’t make
out of people; We make
for people.
Outcomes are none of our business, but the
is.
Jesus didn’t make a demonstration out of you, He made dinner for you.
PRACTICE TOGETHER THIS WEEK
“Our post-Christian neighbors need to hear and see and taste and feel authentic Christianity, hospitality spreading from every Christian home that includes neighbors in prayer, food, friendship, childcare, dog walking, and all the daily matters upon which friendships are built… Let God use your home, apartment, dorm room, front yard, community gymnasium, or garden for the purpose of making strangers into neighbors and neighbors into family. Because that is the point—building the church and living like the family of God.” —Rosaria Butterfield
1. Meet a Neighbor
2. Invite a Neighbor