Last Sunday our sermon focused on two chapters from Isaiah’s message to the people of Judah (Isaiah 56 & 57). We saw that, since Jesus gathers people to himself from all nations and backgrounds, we must join him in this work of being a home for the outcasts.
God’s family is one where all people, even the most unlikely, are invited to experience his blessing by doing several things: expressing sorrow for their rebellion against him, taking hold of his promises, and allowing his character to take root in their heart. His welcome is open to you, even if (especially if) you’ve been rejected by others or don’t feel like you fit in. You don’t need to clean yourself up before you come to him. He longs to heal you. Simply respond to his call, receive his gift of salvation, and allow him to transform you.
This is the good news we want to share with our community and our world! But it’s easier said than done. Welcoming strangers and those on the margins of society can be difficult. It requires us to get uncomfortable, perhaps changing the rhythms of our lives in order to intersect with those we might not typically gravitate toward.
And yet, this is who we are in Christ! We are his family, the imperfect yet beautiful community through which God communicates his welcome to a world that is far from him. He has scattered us to homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, and marketplaces with all kinds of people who need to meet Jesus and his life-transforming power.
As we think about what it means to live out our identity as God’s home for the outcasts of society, God often speaks through his Holy Spirit into the wise conversations of his people. Here are some questions to consider along with your family, friends, small group, or any other group of believers this week:
- How does the saving work of Jesus in my life affect the way I interact with others who don’t yet know him?
- Who do I consider an outsider, most unlike me, or hardest to love? How is God prompting me to show his mercy toward this person or group of people?
- Is anyone in my life currently experiencing a trial or transition? In what way might my presence and words demonstrate God’s welcome to them?
- Where in my community do people often gather? How might I spend more time (or more intentional time) in these places in order to open up conversations that point to Jesus?
- What is one thing I can do on a Sunday morning to help a visitor to our church feel the warmth of God’s welcome?
Let’s pray for God to use the ministry of his people at Goshen scattered throughout our area this week to extend his life-giving invitation to the outcasts of our community!
