Host:
Guests: and

Read: I Pet 2:9; Josh 24:17; Is 39:4

What Have They Seen in Your House?
Isaiah’s question to King Hezekiah still has resonance for us today. What makes a house a home? What are the elements that convey comfort, hospitality, livability, warmth, and welcome to friend, family, and stranger alike?

Key Texts:

  • 1 Peter 2:9 – But you are the chosen race, the King’s priests, the holy nation, God’s own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light.
  • Joshua 24:17 – The LORD our God brought our fathers and us out of slavery in Egypt, and we saw the miracles that he performed. He kept us safe wherever we went among all the nations through which we passed.
  • Isaiah 39:4 – What have they seen in your house?

Questions for Discussion:

  1. The lesson this week begins with the Hezekiah story and his visit by the Babylonian ambassadors who were interested in his miraculous recovery from illness. What lessons might we learn from his story about those times when we open our homes to guests from the community?
  2. How do we like Andrew, who is continually portrayed in the gospels as bringing someone to Jesus, introduce our siblings or children to Jesus?
  3. What was there about the witness of Naomi that influenced Ruth?
  4. What are some of the challenges faced by families in which the home is divided on matters of religion?
  5. What does it mean for one partner’s religious experience to sanctify the other?
  6. In his little book on Creative Ministry, Henri Nouwen characterizes ministry as hospitality. What does that mean in terms of the ministry of the Christian home?
  7. Is there a difference between entertaining and hospitality?
  8. As you have visited in various homes, what are the common denominators for you in identifying those homes in which you have felt hospitality?
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