Hospitality, Community and Evangelism by Cheryl Hilderbrand

Hospitality is a strong, warm word, evoking connotations of personal welcome and comfort. Despite these connotations, our modern usage of the word is frequently industrial, commercial and institutional.

Most of us have aided in the commercialization of hospitality, helping turn it into a multimillion dollar industry. We buy cookbooks and decorating magazines, or subscribe to blogs and newsletters created by entertainment gurus. We clip ads and articles from the slick women’s magazines, hopeful that our friends and family will like our offerings and that we will be admired for our domestic expertise.

But . . . our faith demands that we find ways to make our concern for others more personal, as voiced in Matthew 25:35–36. . . . And so our hospitality cannot be limited to the warm fellowship of those who are like us. Jesus specifically tells us to go out and invite those to the banquet who cannot repay us.

Continue to explore the call of the Gospel to offer community to all in our midst in the September/October 2009 issue of Horizons Magazine (HZN-09-240; $4 plus shipping).

Cheryl Hilderbrand is a veteran educator who works with teacher candidates and writes features and columns for Georgia magazines and newspapers.

Illustration of Mary and Martha by Fouquet. Banque d'images, ADAGP/Art Resource, NY.

Other Articles Online This Issue

Meddlin'
Hospitality and Belonging: . . .
Hospitality, Community and Evangelism
2009 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women
(Devotion) . . . A Prayer
(Discernment) How Did Hannah Know?
(Going in Circles) Following Mama


Continue to explore the call of the Gospel to offer community to all in our midst in the September/October 2009 issue of Horizons Magazine (HZN-09-240; $4 plus shipping).	Hospitality, Community and Evangelism by Cheryl Hilderbrand Hospitality is a strong, warm word, evoking connotations of personal welcome and comfort. Despite these connotations, our modern usage of the word is frequently industrial, commercial and institutional. Most of us have aided in the commercialization of hospitality, helping turn it into a multimillion dollar industry. We buy cookbooks and decorating magazines, or subscribe to blogs and newsletters created by entertainment gurus. We clip ads and articles from the slick women’s magazines, hopeful that our friends and family will like our offerings and that we will be admired for our domestic expertise. But . . . our faith demands that we find ways to make our concern for others more personal, as voiced in Matthew 25:35–36. . . . And so our hospitality cannot be limited to the warm fellowship of those who are like us. Jesus specifically tells us to go out and invite those to the banquet who cannot repay us. Continue to explore the call of the Gospel to offer community to all in our midst in the September/October 2009 issue of Horizons Magazine (HZN-09-240; $4 plus shipping). Cheryl Hilderbrand is a veteran educator who works with teacher candidates and writes features and columns for Georgia magazines and newspapers. Illustration of Mary and Martha by Fouquet. Banque d'images, ADAGP/Art Resource, NY. Other Articles Online This Issue Meddlin' Hospitality and Belonging: . . . Hospitality, Community and Evangelism 2009 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women (Devotion) . . . A Prayer (Discernment) How Did Hannah Know? (Going in Circles) Following Mama	Current Issue SEPT/OCT 2009 About This Issue Contents FREE Resource How to Use In Our Next Issue to Horizons or call (866) 802-3635 the September/October 2009 issue, HZN-09-240 ($4 plus shipping/handling)

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