1 of 15

Hospitality

receiving, cultivating and sharing

2 of 15

Review

We were created and formed in God’s image, as His Delight and for His glory. We belong to God and are invited to share in and reflect the relationship of the Trinity with each other: this union of perfect love and transparency, being loved and loving, being known and knowing. Our spiritual formation is experienced through behavioral, systematic, and redemptive movements.

God The Potter forms and molds us, intending for us to be fully alive and fully authentic. Jesus demonstrated for us how to be good clay, by being soft, malleable and yielded to His Father. We are invited to be good clay to be made fully alive, fully authentic as God intended, with the Trinity, ourselves and each other.

3 of 15

Tonight: Hospitality

We are invited into the hospitality of the Trinity and to cultivate this hospitality for ourselves, each other and the world. �
The person of Jesus embodies this invitation of the Trinity’s outpouring love. Jesus sees us as our fully authentic selves and invites us to “come and see” and receive a relationship with Him; experience His restorative and transformative love.

As we receive and cultivate the hospitality of the Trinity within ourselves, we can cultivate a space for others to do the same. We do this by creating space, with a posture of openness, vulnerability, presence and listening, friendship/companioning, giving freedom and grace for others to come and meet Jesus and experience the healing work of the Holy Spirit. ��

4 of 15

The Chosen: “Come and See”�Season 2 Episode 2 – The invitation to/Calling of Nathaniel

�

5 of 15

The Chosen: “Come and See”�Season 2 Episode 2 – The invitation to/Calling of Nathaniel

�

Where do you see hospitality in these scenes?

1. How does Nathaniel come to God?

2. Consider Nathaniel and Philip’s relationship.

3. How does Jesus see Nathaniel?

4. How does Jesus invite Nathaniel?

6 of 15

The Chosen: “Come and See”�Season 2 Episode 2 – The invitation to/Calling of Nathaniel

�

How do you see hospitality in these scenes?

7 of 15

How do you see hospitality in these scenes?

�

1. How does Nathaniel come to God?

2. Consider Nathaniel and Philip’s relationship.

3. How does Jesus see Nathaniel?

4. How does Jesus invite Nathaniel?

Nathaniel is real and authentic with God as he calls out in his disappointment and confusion.

2. Philip tends and cares for Nathaniel. Companions him. Speaks words of truth and encouragement. Listens to his story with compassion. They both are real with each other, both share their struggles and envy of each other at times. They speak truth to each other. Joke around or banter a bit. Philip also tells his story to Nathaniel. Philip points Nathaniel to hope in Jesus, to come and see.

3. Jesus knows Nathaniel, speaks truth about Nathaniel: he is a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Nat likes clarity and truth. Jesus reveals he is the Son of God when he says he saw him in his desperate state under the fig tree. Therefore, God did not turn his face from Nat.

4. Jesus invites Nat to a new purpose in life. To come follow Him.

8 of 15

�

Jesus demonstrates God’s hospitality toward us. Just as Nathaniel and the rest of the disciples are invited to Come and See Jesus: Jesus invites us to dwell with him. And to have curiosity to come and see his love and purposes for us, to be touched and restored by Him and to join him in inviting others. First Jesus sees us and knows what we need. Like he saw Nathaniel under the fig tree at his lowest point, that is where Jesus meets us and call us. And he uses others, like Philip to companion us to himself.

Jesus sees us and knows where we are at and invites us to come as we are. We are always invited, no matter what our story has been, we are free to come out of the shadows, into the light, we have been invited to know the depth of Jesus’ love for us.

We come as broken and needy people, Jesus welcomes us and receives us. Meeting and knowing Jesus, makes us want to discover more of who God created and called us to be.

We can say Yes to Jesus, He is trustworthy and makes His home in us. It isn’t a place where we find Jesus, He dwells within us. John 14:17-18.

If we have seen Jesus we have known the Father. God makes His home in us. Once we discover this for ourselves. We can invite others into this relationship.

9 of 15

Cultivating hospitality begins in our own souls and flows outward. In that space between us and God, we experience the deepest hospitality. We are invited into the intimate community of the divine Trinity. There we can be open, honest, vulnerable. As we enter into God’s Trinitarian hospitality, we are able to be hospitable to ourselves. [When] we find our acceptance and belonging in our own souls between ourselves and God, we find that our souls expand, and we have room in our souls to let others in.”

Our Unforming, De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation, Cindy S. Lee p 103.

10 of 15

Hospitality facilitates seeing and being seen, listening and being listened to, knowing and being known, caring and being cared for.

Each time we allow someone new into our soul space, we are taking a risk, but sharing our souls with another is the first step toward forming community.

Our Unforming, De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation, Cindy S. Lee p 105.

11 of 15

Hospitality is a posture of openness with which the hosts share of themselves to create an environment where others feel comfortable sharing of themselves too. It is facilitated through the sharing of food, space, and embodied practices that invite the opening of our souls to one another.

Our Unforming, De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation, Cindy S. Lee p 105.

12 of 15

13 of 15

“Healing spaces are created-those who suffer can tell their stories to someone who can listen with real attention. Full and real presence of people to each other is indeed one of the highest forms of hospitality.”

“Listening to know through and through is a healing service, allowing the person to become familiar with the terrain they are traveling, helping them to discover the way they want to go.”

Reaching Out, Henri Nouwen

14 of 15

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Colossians 3:12-14

15 of 15

Gathering in Companion Circles

Where have you experienced the hospitality of the Trinity? How were you invited into that space?
Where have you experienced the hospitality of a brother or sister? How did they companion you to see Jesus?
Do you have space in your soul for others this season to be a Philip to someone and invite them to “come and see” Jesus and His restorative love? How can you cultivate hospitality in your life? (create space, invite, listen, companion someone, whether spontaneously, or planned, invite folks to experience what you enjoy or join them in what they enjoy.)

Guidelines for Companion Circles:

Make space for one another by being open, vulnerable, generous
Listen intently and generously
Receive what each has to share as a gift
Pray for one another��