Comfort Zone: We Get To Do This

Welcome to Venture Church. If you don't know who I am,

I'm Brandon. I am the lead pastor of the church.

I'm glad you're here with us today. If if you're

here for the first time, you're our guest. I'm going

to be hanging out in the lobby after the service.

Please come up, say hi to me, Introduce yourself to me.

I love the opportunity to meet you. Easter's coming two

weeks away. Crazy, we have so many things going on

during Easter. Last week we handed out these top five cards.

We encourage every single person that is a part of

Venture to perfelly consider who are five people who are

five families in your sphere of influence that you will

look for an opportunity to invite to one of our

six Easter services. We have doubled the number of our

services for Easter, so there's plenty of room for people.

There's not going to be parking issues, it's not going

to be overly crowded. We have thought in terms of

making this as guest friendly as we can, but it's

up to you to invite people. So who are your

top five? Be thinking about that. We also handed you

last week touch cards and these are your opportunity. Take these.

We'll be giving more out after the service today as

you exit, take these cards. Use these as invites to

let people know about our Easter services. There's QR codes

on the back with more information. And we have all

kinds of amazing opportunities during Holy Week for you to

celebrate pass Over dinner, which if you haven't done that,

you should probably sign up unless it's full. Two good

Friday services and then again six Easter services sound good?

All right, Grab your bibles. Try to find third John

as you are going to your table of contents, looking

up what age number it's on. I'm gonna read starting

with verse five, says dear friend, you are faithful in

what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even

though they are strangers to you. They have told the

church about your love. Please send them on their way

in a manner that honors God. It was for the

sake of the name that they went out receiving no

help from the pagans. We ought, therefore to show hospitality

to such people, so that we may work together for

the truth. Today, I want to talk to you about

what I believe is one of the most important Christian virtues.

It is something that you and I need to to

continue to develop and if we have not developed it yet,

it's something that we need to include as a part

of our life. And it is the virtue of hospitality.

I want to ask everyone to buy your heads, close

your eyes. I want you to repeat this prayer after me.

Everyone say, Dear Jesus, speak to my heart, change my

life in Jesus' name. Amen. Gave some money to my seminary. Recently,

I graduated from Asberry Theological Seminary and they sent me

a bunch of swag. They sent me these coffee mugs.

I mean, they're really gaudy and tacky, but you know

here it is. When I was at Asbury, I had

to take a class on the history of the Methodist movement.

Now Asberry is a Methodist seminary, and so I had

to take classes and learn about guys like John Wesley

and Francis Asberry. Interestingly, those two guys were circuit riders

in the late seventeen hundreds early eighteen hundreds. So what

they did when America was becoming a nation. They came

here by horseback, traveled from town to town, city to city,

preaching the gospel, and every time they would go town

to town, city to city. They didn't have the luxury

of fast food restaurants. There was no Chick fil A,

there was no In and Out, there was no Dick's

Drive In. Everywhere they went, they had to just hope

that strangers would be hospitable to them. They also didn't

have the luxury of Airbnb. They didn't have Expedia dot Com.

There was no Motel six, There wasn't even a Lakinta.

They had to trust as they went down to town,

village to village, city to city, they had to trust

the hospitality of strangers. Well. They did this circuit riding

ministry for about fifty years each. At its peak, the

Methodist movement became the second largest denomination in the entire

United States. Interestingly enough, Francis Asbury and John Wesley established

one hundred and seventeen of the universities in America. You

might not have known that a couple of the universities

they established were Duke University. They established Boston University. This

was their ministry that was only possible because of the

hospitality of strangers. The Book of John, the context of it,

was a time when the Apostles were beginning to travel

town to town, village to village, city to city sharing

the gospel. They'd go to Jewish towns, they'd go to

gentile towns, sharing the gospel, the whole time hoping for

the hospitality of strangers. Third John is a letter that

John wrote to a guy by the name of Guias.

Think of it this way. It was a thank you card,

a thank you note, because when people would go to

the city of Corinth to Minister Gius would invite them

into his home. He would open up his heart and

open up his hand and open up his life. He

would feed them, shelter them, protect them, take care of them,

even though he didn't know any of them. They add

to as they started spreading the gospel trust the hospitality

of strangers. Today, I want to highlight what I believe

are three aspects of this passage, and I'm gonna tell

you up front what they are, and then we're gonna

unwrap each one. And the first one is hospitality is

a virtue, and the second one, hospitality is a way

for you and I to participate with Jesus and expanding

God's kingdom. And then finally, the blessing of hospitality will

always be greater than the burden of it. So number one,

hospitality is a virtue Church. This is a character quality

that you and I need to steward. If you don't

have it yet in your life, it's something that you

need to develop. So this note that John wrote to Guias,

it says this in verse five, dear friend, you are

faithful in what you're doing for the brothers and sisters,

even though they're strangers to you. Now we don't even

necessarily know if John, who was based out of Ephesus,

even ever met Guias. We don't know. But Guias's reputation

had exceeded him, like it had gone all the way

to Ephesus, and John heard about it that when the

leaders would go to Corinth, they always knew that there

was someone there that would care for them. So he

referred to Guias. He called him friend. Other translations referred

to him as beloved. If you go back a couple verses,

John also says this about him. He said, it gave

me great joy when some believers came and testified about

your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continued to

walk in it. So basically his reputation for hospitality was spreading.

He was noted for someone who opened up his home,

shared his resources, and was willing to help strangers along

in their journey. Specifically, though John mentioned his faithfulness, he says,

you're faithful in what you're doing. In other words, you're

faithful in doing your part, whatever it is you can do,

You're faithful in it that you were doing your part

to further God's mission in the world. And he's commending

him for doing his part. I always wonder how many

times Guias looked at what he was doing and felt

it wasn't good enough. Like I wonder how many times

Guias thought, well, I'm not the guy preaching man, I'm

not the circuit rider hopping on the horse, riding from

town to town, handing out Bibles, sharing the gospel. I'm

not the missionary, I'm not the evangelist. I wonder how

many times he thought that. But here is an entire

chapter in the Bible dedicated we're still studying it two

thousand years later to honoring him for being faithful in

doing what he could do. And you and I know

that it is the context of he opened up his home.

He opened up his life. He opened up his hand,

he opened up his heart to strangers. He was faithful

to the mission of Jesus. By simply practicing hospitality, was

doing his part. Now understand, culturally, back then, this was

something that you did. You were hospitable to strangers. You

were you would open up your home to them. But

here's what I want you to catch today. The heart

of biblical hospitality is inviting others into your space. Let

me say it again. The heart of biblical hospitality is

inviting others into your space, having an open hand, an

open heart, and open life to others. Let me completely

modernize this as much as I possibly can. In this

church right here on thirty fifth, this place, right here,

this is your space, this is your house. You're familiar

with this. You recognize the people. We are showing biblical

hospitality when we invite others into our space with an

open heart, an open hand, and an open life to strangers, seekers, travelers.

Guias was faithful to do his part. He was faithful

to do whatever it is he could do. Notice we're

not told what he did. We don't know if he

is rich. We just know that he opened up what

he had and made it available and wanted to make

people that he didn't even know feel comfortable in his space. Church.

You might be here and you are super busy. You

only have time to occasionally, once or twice a month,

drive the shuttle from our external parking lot to this one.

It's all you have time to do. You might only

have time to greet. You might only have time to

help in the parking lot. Do what you can do.

Live out the virtue of hospitality. Whatever you do, big

or small, be a blessing to other people. You see,

God's concern is that you and I are faithful. Look

at what he says. John says, you're doing this even

though they're strangers. And it is so easy to love

and show kindness to people we know and like, but

God wants us to do it to strangers. Did you

know that when when you greet, you are modeling Jesus

to people that don't know you. When you are working

in the parking lot and you're smiling and helping park cars,

you are modeling Jesus to people that don't know you.

When a new family comes to church on Sunday with kids, men,

they're so anxious about their kids. They're wondering Are my

kids gonna like the kid's ministry? Is my number gonna

get popped up on that screen and I'm gonna have

to get up in the middle of the service and

go get my kids. And so the whole time you're wondering,

are my kids gonna be loved? Are my kids gonna

be cared for? Are my kids gonna be protected? When

you hold that baby in the nursery, you were modeling Jesus.

You see, God will use us because of our hospitality

to love strangers, to model grace, kindness, and acceptance. You

were given the opportunity when you seek people as an usher.

You're given the opportunity when you work in the cafe

to model Christ's love. The most amazing thing about God's

love is God's love is so incredible that it loves

people right where they're at, that God accepts who they

are in that moment. And when you checking kids, when

you serve as a youth leader, it is you modeling

God's love that accepts people right where they're at. And

the most amazing thing about God's love is it is

so powerful that they never stay right where they're at. Remember,

you too, were once that stranger that someone welcomed and

invited in. You were once that guest in need of hospitality.

You needed that welcoming, happy, helpful person to make you

feel at home. I love the fact that the Bible

doubles down on this Hebrews thirteen to two. This is

in the Bible. This is God upping the Ante says,

don't forget to show hospitality to strangers. For by so doing.

Some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

I didn't make this up. Sometimes that weird person, it

shows up that you're not sure if you should greet

or not, but you force that smile, shake their hands.

God has sent an angel on assignment. Do you ever

think about this? Have you ever heard of a secret shopper.

Secret shoppers go to they go to restaurants, they go

to stores, and they act like a normal customer, and

they go through the whole experience. They want to know

how well was I greeted, how well was I treated?

They want to know what the whole experience was like.

Then they leave and then they evaluate the place where

they secretly shopped. Did you know that churches do that

all the time, that we frequently have people that come

to our church tending to be guests to go through

the whole experience to then give our staff feedback on

how we've done well. This verse tells us that God

does this, that God is thinking, I wonder how venture

is doing furthering my mission in this community. I'm going

to see how they show hospitality to strangers. So God

sends some secret shoppers on assignment to see how you'll

treat their kids, to see how good the coffee is

from the coffee stand, to see how convenient the shuttle

is when they park at the off site parking. Jesus

is upping the ante even more. He made this statement.

He said, I was hungry and you gave me something

to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something

to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in.

This was Jesus speaking. The person responded to him sort

of confused, and he said, Jesus, when were you a

stranger and we invited you in? When did you need

clothing and we clothed you? And then Jesus answered by saying,

whatever you did to one of the least of these

brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Now

my goal is to fully change your perspective. When you

serve as an usher, when you greet on Sunday mornings,

when you work in the parking lot, when you serve

in the kids ministry, that is an act of worship

unto Jesus that when you do that, that blesses and

touches the heart of God. Do you know that when

you care for and hold a child in that nursery,

that is as if you were caring for Jesus. When

you lovingly greet someone who comes into this house, your house,

when you welcome them and make them feel at home,

that is you doing that and loving on Jesus. That's

what he's saying. It is an act of worship. One

of my biggest concerns that I haven't and I hear

this so much. People come to me and their stress.

They're worn out, they're busy. I mean, life is busy.

We're all busy. Like you know, for every person that

thinks they're busy, there's ten other people that can prove

they're busier. Come on, this is twenty twenty five in

the world. We're all busy, and often times people get

busy and they start thinking, I gotta cut some things out.

And I am telling you, almost always the first thing

that everybody wants to cut out serving because serving is

totally other centered. And I will even get the Holy

Spirit told me I shouldn't serve anymore. People tell me

that all the time. I've never had the Holy Spirit

tell someone they should serve. He only seems to tell

people they shouldn't serve. Is it possible that's not the

Holy Spirit. Welcoming a stranger to our home and making

them feel at home is probably one of the greatest

acts of worship you can do. Showing affection to strangers,

Jesus says, is showing affection to him. Hospitality is a

virtue you need to practice and develop. Number two, Hospitality

is a way for you and I to participate in

the mission of Jesus. He said this verse seven. He said,

it was for the sake of the name. It was

for the sake of Jesus that these people went out

town to town, city to city, receiving help from no

one but guias you help them. And he said, we

ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that

we may work together for the truth. Here's what Peter

had to say about this one. Peter four verse nine,

offer hospitalality to one another without grumbling. Each of you

should use whatever gift you have received to serve others

as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who

speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they

should should do so with the strength God provides, so

that in all things God's name might be praised. You

serving is you participating in God's mission to the world.

Like He loves the greater seattel Aria. He wants his

kingdom to grow in this region. And when you serve

as an usher and a greeter, when you serve in

the parking lot, when you serve in kids, when you

serve as a youth leader, you are participating in God's

mission to the world. Guias, you're doing what you can do.

You can only do what you can do. And if

you do what you're supposed to do, and Pastor Brandon

does what he's supposed to do, and Sean does what

he's supposed to do, and David does what he's supposed

to do, and Kaylee does what she's supposed to do.

The mission of Jesus moves forward. When we all do

what we can do, and together the mission of Jesus expands.

But it says you should do so without grumbling. Pibi

Hotis have a really cruddy attitude about serving in the

kids ministry. Well, I agree, attitude is everything. Did you

ever pause sometimes and think that maybe the bad attitude

you have about serving others, that maybe that's not from Jesus,

And maybe instead of meet would die and say I

think I should take a break from serving. Maybe what

you should do is rebuke the devil. Did you ever

happen to think, if you serving in a small way,

is you participating in God's mission to the world, that

the enemy of this mission is going to try and

stop you. Do you ever think that maybe instead of quit,

you should rebuke the devil. Have you considered the possibility

that it is the enemy that's discouraging you. Here's the

attitude we should have. We get to do this. Do

you realize how amazing it is that God is invited

you and I to participate in his mission to the world,

That each one of us has a part to play

in God's strategy to reach the greater Seattle area. For

some of you it's up here leading worship. For some

of you it's in the sound booth running all that tech.

Do you realize that we have an incredible online campus,

high online campus, and we do that at a very

high level. You're so used to seeing camera people run around.

Those are people that volunteer. Did you know that when

they're running around with that camera, so that people that

are at home, people that are in the hospital, Hyde

Parker that right now, like they do this as an

act of worship, unto Jesus. And you know what Jesus thinks.

He thinks, that's my guy, right, he gets it. Too

many people we think, like sitting here, that this is

the worship. If I don't get to participate in the singing,

I didn't get church, I'm not getting fed to. We

have to get past that. We get to do this.

We get to be participants in what God is doing

in the world. Do you realize you don't know that

baby that you're holding in the nursery, You don't know

who that is someday going to be. You could be

holding in your arms the future diabels, that smelly, awkward,

annoying junior high boy that you serve as a youth

leader with and had to be in charge of his

stinky cabin. That could be the future, Morgan Butcher. You

don't know when you greet someone. There are people that

the only thing that gets them to come back to

church is that smiling face that greeted them. They're dealing

with all the stuff in their life, all the garbage,

and all of hell is trying to keep them from

coming to church, but they come because there's the chance

they'll see that smiling face and it gives them just

a ray of hope and sunshine in the midst of

their challenging week. And they come week after week after week.

You don't know who that person is. I mean that

that could be the future. Billy Graham. I always tell

everybody that when I first started going to church, there

was a guy by the name of Mike Kansas. Nobody

knows who Mike Hansas is, but I remember Mike Kansas

because when I was testing out all this church stuff,

Mike Kansas accepted me as I was who I was

in that moment, probably hoping I wasn't going to stay there.

But to this day, Mike Kansas was critical because he

should owed me kindness. He accepted me, welcomed me into

his house. Finally, the blessing of hospitality will always far

outweigh the burden. Serving comes at a cost. There's a

sacrifice for it. It takes energy, it takes time, takes resources.

You have to give something. Anytime you do something that

is other oriented, it will cost you something. But in

the long run, Ah, the benefit so far outweighs the burden.

In our last podcast that Tony and I did, he

asked me this question. He said, how do you evaluate

the health of a church? And that's kind of a

question pastors get asked all the time, partially because they're

trying to bait you into a conversation about numbers and

stuff like that. But I said this. I said, it's

the life change. If there's continual life change, I am

addicted to the life change. Did you know that there

are people that are up on this platform leading us

into worship that your hospitality was instrumental in their faith journey?

And I thought, I like Megan Martin's up here leading

this song. I remember when she was just a punk

high school youth kid that a bunch of youth leaders

loved in spite of how challenging she might have been,

and I I, I didn't know you were here. I

remember when Kate and Keaton Branch first started coming to

the church. Three years later, he's helping lead worship. I

remember when the drummer, Nick Watson was the stinky, awkward

junior high school boy. Now he's playing the drums at church.

I remember when the Reems family first came to the church.

And you don't know how critical you are in someone's

faith journey. Why do I do what I do? This

like I get to stand there three times every Sunday

during worship seeing people on this worship team. Remember I

remember when they first started coming to the church. I

remember when they got saved. I baptized them. There's a

guy serving today as an usher. Six weeks ago, Johnny

and I right over there baptized him and his entire

family at the same time. Now he's a greeter usher.

You don't know, church. I'm telling you, the blessing of

hospitality always outweighs the burden. Not only are you furthering

the mission of Jesus by doing it, but you are

loving Jesus by doing it. And I realize there are

tons of things that you can give your time to.

There are lots of things that are very valuable investments

of your time to participate in, and it seems like

our world today has demands on our schedule all the time. Well,

please hear my heart when I say that there is

nothing more valuable than the cause of Christ. Serving should

not be an obligation. It should be a delight. It

should be a joy. We get to do this Church,

We get to do this. Gary gets to play the

piano when I'm supposed to close the sermon after the service. Today,

there is a there's a booth. It's just gearing up

for Easter. It's an invitation for you to participate in

God's mission. I'm telling you there there will be so

many guests here on Easter, and when I give an

altar call for Salvation, I'll promise you there will not

be a service without dozens of hands being raised. You

helping in the kids ministry on Easter makes it so

I get to do what I do and not have

to worry about what's happening over there. You greeting and

parking cars and being an usher and driving the shuttle.

You allow David and our worship team to be fully

focused on what God has them doing. And then when

people find Jesus, we did this thing together. Romans twelve thirteen,

Paul said, share with the Lord's people who are in

need practice hospitality. Jesus needs you. This community that God

has strategically placed us in needs you. We need you,

And the coolest thing is we get to do this together.

Don't miss out on the blessing of hospitality. I want

to ask you to buy your heads, close your eyes,

Lord Jesus. I want to pray that you would first off,

remind every person here who they should be inviting to Easter,

burn images in their mind. Lay people on their heart

that they need to invite. God. I pray that it

is so heavy, so strong, they have to do something

about it. And then Lord, I pray that you would

open up the opportunity for them to invite well. Lord,

I also ask that if there are some people here

that are sitting on the sidelines, that they jump in,

that they would participate in your mission to the world.

For some they don't have a lot of time, but

they can do something. May we be faithful to do

what we can do. Lord Jesus, we commit this to

you and God, I lift up Easter. I want to

pray that this place will be full six times, and

that every time an alter call an opportunity for people

to receive you as given God, I pray people will

respond and lives will be changed in Jesus's name. Amen. Amen,

that was a