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Hospitality Ministry at Grace Bible FellowshipOne of the great themes all throughout the Bible is food. Regarding the simple gift of food that God has given to humanity, 1 Timothy 4:3-5 says, “God has created [food] to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the Word of God and prayer.” And for the believing community, food and meals are many times synonymous with fellowship and intimacy all throughout Scripture. Beginning in Genesis we see Abraham entertaining the Lord Himself with a sit-down meal (18:1-8). Fellowship over meals was an ongoing reality in the ministry of our Lord Jesus (Luke 5:29; 7:36; 14:1; 24:30; 24:42). Jesus concluded His ministry preparation with His Apostles over a meal—the Last Supper (John 13). The early church perpetuated the fellowship meal after Christ’s example, as Acts reports the first Christians, “were continually devoting themselves…to fellowship, to the breaking of bread…breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart” (4:42, 46). And in the future, the culmination of Christ’s reunion with His Bride—the Church—is depicted as a fellowship meal, being called “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9). A unique feature of GBF from the very beginning has been our Lord’s Day Fellowship Meals. These full-scale, home-cooked, sit-down meals have been a tremendous blessing for our church. Countless hours of meaty conversation have taken place at these meals, including introductions, encouragement, counsel, evangelism, as well as light-hearted friendly exchanges. God has blessed us with a wonderful facility to host these meals and He has blessed us with gifted and faithful saints who enable this ministry to continue even as logistical challenges have come our way with new growth. Many other people have helped tremendously in the preparation and clean up of the weekly meal. We appreciate everyone's help. Truly here many hands make the load light. The Fellowship Meals are just one component of the Hospitality Ministry at GBF. Consider even more of related highlights in this area from this past year: * Week one had greeting tables manned by the Wong's and Douglas's, a pot luck dinner at 5:30 for 100 that first week and a desire to do the meal every week, but not knowing if the pace of the duties could be kept up. * By week 4 the weekly meal was a hit and it has become one of the most anticipated parts of the worship day....great fellowship, a time to really get to know each other, a time to share. Robin Douglas led a team of faithful ladies (including Jackie Yao, Donna Wong, Nancy Simpson and Debbie McManis) who became the foundation of the kitchen/meal ministry and many others have since joined these women to continue to support this great time together weekly. * The Yao's hosted the Harvest Social in October, 2006. The first church wide social with great food, horses, golf, pumpkin carving, a jump house, and basket ball proved to be a hit—something for everyone, a great time for all. * Christmastime brought an amazing Ladies Tea that was creative, well-organized, spiritually focused, well attended and a memorable experience for the ladies of all ages in our church. * February brought a change of the service hour from afternoon to morning. Therefore, we moved the weekly meal from dinner to lunch, and the addition of donuts and juice became a staple just before the Sunday school hour. *Since week one we have sought to give special recognition to every visitor God sends our way. To that end, we welcome them, give them a visitor’s gift bag, invite them to our Fellowship Meal and make a personal contact with them during the following week to thank them for being with us and to see how we might minister to them. Other areas in Hospitality that deserve recognition include the following: |
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