Reclaimed Part 1, by Pastor Rob Ketterling
Well, I am so glad that you decided to join us for our series here, Reclaimed, and I want to just take a moment to welcome all the campuses that are watching. Of course we have our Apple Valley campus, Faribault, Savage, Minnetrista, Edina Area and Eagan, all in Minnesota, and then Swaziland and Valencia, as they are participating in this series with us. And at all of our campuses and at Apple Valley, let's just thank God for what he is doing in multisite. Let's give a hand clap and say hi to all the other campuses and do that.
We are currently praying for two more campuses for next year, strategically looking at two locations. And I can't tell you where they are, but I can tell you to join us in prayer and be praying. We are just looking to expand wherever God opens the door. And it's just neat to see how technology is being used.
In this series, Reclaimed, we are going to reclaim the table. We are going to reclaim the table; the table that God has designed for us to come together for a lot of different functions. And one of the things we are going to ask that you do in this series is to use that hash tag. It is this, #Reclaimthetable. This is important for a couple of reasons. This will be a way for you to reach more people. It will be a way for you to be able to get that out. It is like an arrow pointing people to this sermon series.
If you use it on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, it will also make you eligible to win a custom made table. If you saw the table in the intro video, we are going to give away a custom table valued at thousands of dollars, and it will be picked from somebody that does the #Reclaimthetable. So you are eligible to win, except for staff. All right? So they are not eligible. So my wife can stop tweeting. She wants one of those tables.
I'm excited. There are so many things we are doing in this series. You will see. There are so many tools for you to take advantage of this series and to take it to another level in your growth and spiritual growth. And one of the things we are launching today is something in cooperation with the YouVersion Bible app. So if you have a smartphone or an iPad or something like that, you can actually follow along. If you go to YouVersion Bible, if you tap Live, then search River Valley Church, you will find this sermon and you will find each time now the sermon in that app. You will see that you'll have the scriptures, the sermon points and you can follow along. You can actually take notes in that app, email it to yourself so you can put it into Evernote or anything like that, so we are utilizing that technology, and it launches with this series. And we're very excited. There is also surveys you can take, interactive things that you can be doing while the sermon is going on. You are like, "Wow, this is really exciting!" Don't get too distracted, all right? Stay with me.
But reclaim the table. We are going to reclaim the table because I believe that the time around the table God has given to us is so important. There is time for discipleship. There is time for outreach. There is time to live healthier lives. There is time to remember how good God has been to us. There is time to be thankful. So we are going to reclaim the table. This sermon today, if you will, is like the appetizer for the three course meal that is coming in the next three weeks. This is just the appetizer. Eventually we get to Deuteronomy, Chapter 6. But we are going to have a lot of setup and a lot of things that will help us to interact with this sermon series.
Now, we are going to look at meals and eating and spending time together. And I don't know if you realize this, but the Bible actually starts pretty soon right after creation God talks about eating. Did you know that? God talks about eating. He says, "I created all this for you. You can eat anything you want, except that one. You can eat anything. It is all really good, except that one." How many know that Adam and Eve went right for the "except that one." And ever since then, how many know we've been making bad food choices? Lot of bad choices in general.
But the Bible talks about eating. It opens up with eating, and then it actually talks about eating meals in the Old Testament. And in Week 3 of this series we are going to look at how the food actually becomes the narrative; it actually speaks to you. That the Jewish people have meals that they celebrate that help them to understand the theology, their understanding of God.
The simplest thing for us is communion. When you hold the cup and the bread, it says something to you. It reminds you. Actually, when you look at the bread and you look at the cup, you remember Jesus, that he died on the cross and that he shed his blood for you. But there is more. There are all sorts of meals in the Bible that will actually preach to us in Week 3 of this series.
You will see that Jesus was doing so much of his ministry at meals. There is something about gathering around a table, gathering around food and having ministry take place. One theologian, Robert Karris, noticed Jesus is either coming from a meal in the Gospel of Luke, going to a meal, or at a meal. Think about that. When you read Luke, if you take this challenge, he is either coming, going, or at a meal. It's over and over and over again Jesus is doing ministry at the table.
You think about this; the Bible actually ends with food. How many know that in Revelation 19:9 it talks about this. It says, "Then the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!"
Think about this. The Bible, after all of the end times things, all of them happen, God says, "I'm bringing you to an all you can eat buffet with no calories." Come on! I was thinking about this. Maybe the reason we love buffets so much is because buffets just point us to heaven. Let's just go experience some heaven today, all right? Oh, man! It's amazing.
God has given us this joy of eating together and enjoying food. One author said Tim Chester he said, "The world is more delicious than it needs to be!" There must be a God. Think about it. He invented bacon. It's awesome, you know.
Now think about this. We are designed to gather around tables, to gather around tables to eat. God has designed us so that we can eat about three to seven times a day, depending on the portion size. You could eat smaller portions three to seven times a day. And he is saying come together, gather around the table. There must be something about the power of the table, the power of getting together, the power of having that moment of exchange with having that food there and having people around the table with us.
He could have created us so that we eat once a month. He could have. I can remember I took Connor and Logan to a zoo. They were much younger. We walked into the reptile exhibit. We actually went in the exit by mistake instead of the entrance. And as we went in the exit, they had just started to feed a python, and they had a chicken in there with them, and he'd already strangled it and he was getting ready to eat it. And we are like, "This is awesome!"
And they are like, "You are not supposed to see that."
We are like, "We're not leaving!" And it was just incredible.
And they said, "He won't eat more for another month."
You know, think about that. What if it was just once a month food, once a month for you and I? But, no, God created us to have the table three to seven times a day for us to get together. So there must be something important for us to do as we gather together to eat. And we are going to reclaim the table.
The average American eats one of five meals in their car. We are way too busy. We need to slow down and reclaim the table. The majority of Americans say they have one in five nights where they have a family dinner where everyone is present. One in five nights. We have to change that. We have to slow things down and say we are going to reclaim the table. And studies have shown that if you will have three family dinners, three evening meals together per week, if you will do did that, you will have children that are set up to win. They are going to be 40 percent less likely to be obese. You don't need to worry about the lunch programs. If we will have family dinner, the obesity rate will go down. They are more likely to be excelling in school. They are less likely be truant or in trouble with the law. It actually cuts in half by having family meals three times a week.
Vanderbilt University was trying to study why do children excel in reading and others not excel in reading, and they thought it was because their parents read them bedtime stories. And they found out it wasn't bedtime stories. It was actually the fact that they had family dinner, and they had family dinners at least three times a week. And in that time they were dialoguing together. The children, their vocabulary was expanding. They were learning how to interact. They were learning how to form sentences. And it was way more important than Baby Einstein or reading stories at night. It is all about family meals and spending time together.
This whole series was birthed when I had lunch with I was at a table with Leonard Sweet. He's an amazing author and theologian. He's written 41 books. I was having lunch with him, and he's talking about the importance of the table, and it just hit me. I said, "This is going to be our fall sermon series. We need to do this."
And he was sharing with me some statistics, and I'll pass them on to you. He said the Amish retain 95 percent of their children in the Amish lifestyle. He said it's startling. People have tried to study this. How in the world in the day of technology and all this are the Amish retaining 95 percent of their children in this culture? And they found that the key was this; that twice a day the family stops and has a family meal together. Twice a day they sit down, and dad leads the family, and he leads them in the blessing, and he leads them in the stories, and he talks to his children, and he affirms his children, and they have that physical contact and they sing songs together. And no matter where you go in the world, technology cannot take away that moment of being around the table with mom, dad, and everyone present.
He also said that the Jewish people, a statistically insignificant group, about 14 million people on the planet, that's it less than .2 percent of the whole world's population these people have over 50 percent of the Nobel Peace Prizes on the planet. They are innovators, entrepreneurs. You say, well, maybe it's because they are so peaceful. No, that is not it. They studied this. They said it is the family dinner. Again, in the family household the father takes the lead and does the family dinner and brings everyone together, and he tells them about the story of the Bible, and he tells them about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And as they do these meals that speak to them, they understand the story of God. And they see how the story got to their family and they see how the story continues with them. And instead of having to go out when they are 18 and find themselves, they already know who they are. They already know where they are in the story. They don't have to find themselves. They can go out and invent something and be an entrepreneur and take a risk knowing the safety of the family is still there. There is something to this. It is an absolutely amazing thing.
I think one of the successes of our Alpha ministry at our church is the fact that it starts with a meal. If you are not familiar with this, Alpha is launching at our Apple Valley campus, at our Edina Area campus this Tuesday, and you can be a part of that. You can come and check it out. You can sign up online. I actually think there is a link in the YouVersion app. You can sign up and be a part of this. But it starts with a meal. People gather together, they eat together, and then they discuss the things of God. It is a safe place to ask questions. If you don't know Jesus, you can find out who he is. If you are new in your faith, you can get grounded in it. It's a great opportunity.
By show of hands, how many people have been through Alpha? Go ahead, raise your hands. Look at that. So if you have a question, grab the people that have their hands raised, and they will be able to tell you about it. It's an amazing thing. And really that mealtime is so important, and at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars, let me tell you, tens of thousands of dollars in our budget to pay for that meal because we believe in the power of the meal together to draw people together in a safe environment to talk about the things of Jesus Christ.
It's amazing. One of the most popular shows on TV, Duck Dynasty, what does it end with? It ends with a family meal. You can't wait to see what they are eating and see the prayer and all that. It is like, "Goodnight, John Boy." [Laughter] See, you are older. Saturday crowd didn't get that one. They are way younger, just saying.
Leonard Sweet said you can really take the Old Testament and New Testament, put them into three sentences. The Old Testament would be this: They are trying to kill us, we survived, let's eat. The New Testament would be I love you, I forgive you, let's eat. Isn't that amazing?
Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door. If you open the door, I'll come in and I'll sit with you. I'll eat with you. I will be there with you." That's what it's about. That's why this sermon series is so important for us to reclaim the table.
So I'm going to give you a few things to make the most of this series. The first thing I want you to do is use that #Reclaimthetable. Again, it is a modern day amen when you tweet, when you put out an Instagram, when you say how much you love your church through social media, it becomes a way that points people toward a message of hope, and you can use that hash tag. And, of course, we are giving away a table.
Another thing I want you to do this is going to be a strong challenge for many of you I want you to pray at every single meal for the remainder of this month. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, doesn't matter where you are. Right now you are already thinking, "Okay, I have this meeting."
I had a CEO of a company come up to me, say, "I have 15 clients that are flying in for a meeting this week and you drop this on me."
I said, "Isn't that awesome?" The opportunity, okay?
I had another person say, " I am consulting with a company in New York, and I've got to go there, and you're telling me I've got to "
I said, "Yes, I am."
I had a young person in high school come up, and I said, "What do you think of that?"
He goes, "Lot of pressure."
Okay, but here's the deal: At the end of the service we will pray with you for boldness. Our prayer teams will pray for boldness. But I want you to be creative. I want you to pray over every meal. I think we are going to pray over every meal, because when we do, God shows up to dinner. That's what we are going to do. And God is going to show up to dinner and we are going to see what happens. I'm not saying you have to do like, "Attention, everyone! I'm going to pray." You don't have to do that, all right? You can simply pray a little prayer.
I remember on an airplane once I was praying, and I just folded my hands, prayed over my meal. The guy next to me stopped to pray over his meal, took a little card out and kissed it. I said, "What is that?"
He said, "Oh, this is my God."
And I saw it. He was Hindu. He had a picture of some elephant with multiple arms. I was like, "Oh, that's interesting." I said, "After I pray to my God, I don't kiss him. I continue to talk to him, and he talks to me all day."
And he's like, "Let's talk about that." For two hours a little prayer over a meal opened up into a whole new dialogue.
So whether it is a silent prayer and you stop now, none of this like, "Lord, thank you for the food," and no yawn, fake out prayers. Okay, none of that. No like tying your shoe under the table. None of that. I'm stealing away your angle. All right. You're going to pray. You're going to pray over every meal. In the mall, in the school, in the boardroom, anywhere. And if you're the leader, look for the opportunity. Look for the opportunity.
And if you want, you can throw me under the bus. That's okay. You can say, "Our pastor told us that we should do this. It is part of our thing and we're going to do this. And only for this month I'll be doing this."
Here's the thing. We were out to eat the other day, and Pastor Davey, I said, "Davey, why don't you pray," and the server was right there.
And he goes, "Hey, do you have any prayer requests? We are about to pray."
And she goes, "I do," and she set down her book and grabbed our hands. We weren't even going to hold hands, you know. She's like, "Okay!" You know, God just shows up. Look for the opportunity.
So we are going to use the hash tag. We are going to pray at every meal. And we are going to eat at least three family dinners together. We are going to eat at least three family dinners together. You can say, "That's easy, you're empty nesters." Actually, that's sad for Becca and I. We'd love to be able to have Connor and Logan at these meals, and we are trying to figure out how we are going to get to college to see them and with our travel and their work schedule. And we're trying to do as many meals as we can, but Becca and I will have more than three meals together. But do whatever you can to have three meals together. This is something that is very important for this series for the remainder of the month.
And we have given you a couple tools. Our kids ministry just amazing they came up with this Around the Table placemat. It's as good as Disney. Incorporates our characters from the church. On the back it says, "Ten questions you can ask mom and dad. Ten questions mom and dad can ask you." It has their SOAP devotion reading. It's an amazing opportunity. So we've given you that resource.
We also made a new resource much like Table Talk, and it's called the Reclaimed Cards. And so on there it is just like, "If you were a car, what kind of car would you be?" "Communicate the gospel in five words." "What's one thing you want to do before the end of the year?" "What are you getting Pastor Rob for his birthday?" No, I'm just kidding. That's not in there. So you get it. We are even helping you. It is one per household. So singles, you can get this.
And here's what I'm saying, don't excuse yourself. Empty nesters, singles, whatever, think of a way to do this. Maybe at work you can say, "Hey, we're doing this, and I thought we could do lunch three times a week during this series. We'll do the Table Talk cards." Who knows what God will do? Do not excuse yourself.
As a matter of fact, I think we have the link for the Lifegroups. There is actually Lifegroups with Reclaim the Table. You can sign up for those and follow the link there and go to Reclaim the Table. Again, I think it's with the app. But it is Lifegroups/Reclaimthetable. But go ahead and be a part of this. This is something we are going to do.
Now, there is just two rules for the family dinner. There is no phones on and there is no TV. All right, now I can tell you we did not do good at that as a family. I'm just confessing. We didn't do good. There is no phones on and there is no TV. I didn't make up this saying, but I think it is really cool. Disconnect to reconnect. Disconnect to reconnect. So that's what we are going to do. We are going to disconnect to reconnect. So no phones and all that. And if at all possible, let's eat at home. Eating out does count, but, again, put the phones down.
It does not count if you are eating at a lunch counter. You can't be like, "How you doing?"
They are, "Doing good."
None of that. It's at a table, all right?
All right, so it's for the entire month. And you are not too busy. You are not too busy. Let me just say this. You might say, "Well, our kids have sports and this and that and all this. They've got soccer and all that."
Here's what you're going to say to the coach: You're going to say, "Our other coach, our pastor coach, who has more authority than our soccer coach, our pastor coach because we want our kids go to heaven, not just know how to do a corner kick our pastor coach, our pastor coach is telling us that we have to practice, and it's part of our training. And as soon as we are done with our other coach, because our kids are signed up for multiple events, our kids will get done with that, and we'll come to practice as soon as we can as soon as we fulfill our other obligations from our other coach." Can I get an amen from all the youth pastors?
So we are going to do this. We are going to reclaim the table. It is more than just a physical table. We are reclaiming meal time.
But I want to let you know, as far as I can tell, I think God invented the table. He actually gave the instructions for the table. Now, if you go to Wikopedia you'll see it says the Egyptians invented the table. But it says the Egyptians invented a short little table to keep things off the ground. But if you look in Exodus, Chapter 25, God tells Moses how to make a table. And he says, "Here's the height of the table, here's the width of the table," and he said, "This is how I want the table to be built in the tabernacle."
Interesting thing, the exact height and width of that table in Exodus 25 is most likely the height and width of your dining room table. If you took out a tape measure, and I did this, your table is probably 42 inches across. Why? Because that's the width that God designed in Exodus 25. And it's amazing. When I took out my tape measure, I measured, it was like 42 inches. I was so excited. It's true, you know. Amazing. God has given us a table to gather around. And I know that in Bible times they laid around on cushions and their tables were much lower. But in our culture the exact height, the exact width is the table found in Exodus 25.
And it is more than just the table. We are taking back the power of the meal time. We are taking back the table. We are reclaiming the table and saying there is something that is going to happen there. There's going to be discipleship, there is going to be outreach. We are going to be intentional with the meals that God has given to us. He's given us three to seven meals a day on purpose for a reason because something, an amazing spiritual dynamic is going to happen at the table.
Jesus was with his disciples in Matthew 26:20, When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. He was discipling them. And we are going to say in Week 1 the table is a place for discipleship. The table is a place for discipleship. In Luke 10 he's with Mary and Martha. The discipleship is going on. In Luke 11 he condemns a Pharisee at a meal. He is there and he takes the time to say to his disciples that is not the way we are going to do it; we are going to do it this way. And he was always teaching and discipling around the mealtime.
In Luke 19, when he meets up with Zacchaeus, Jesus could have said, "Let's just stay here and talk." But instead he said, "We are going to your house. You're going to feed me a meal. You're going to take care of me. What is for dinner? We are going to do discipleship around the table."
And I think there is something powerful, and for all the families that are here, there is something that you've got to grab hold of; it is your place of discipleship. It is your place of discipleship. You are supposed to be discipling your family in that moment. Single moms, you are supposed to be discipling. Families, you are supposed to be discipling. Don't excuse yourself. There is opportunity to disciple at the table.
It didn't just start with Jesus. Again, it's all throughout the Bible. And I think about in Deuteronomy 6:4 7, it's a challenge from God. He says, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today he's talking about the Ten Commandments are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. How are you going to impress them on your children? You're going to do that as it says. Talk about them when you sit at home... Where are you sitting at home? You're sitting at the table. He says, and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
He's saying it is your job to take this time of discipleship, and God has given you a great opportunity with three meals a day in our culture, three meals a day to say let's do this together, let's disciple, let's make sure that we are pouring into the family at this moment. God knew that the land that they were about to go in was inhabited by all sorts of other people that would try to steal aware their loyalties, and he knew if they were there sitting down at the table, if they were there gathering together around the food and they would take that moment, they could stay discipled, they could answer the questions as they come up. It was an amazing thing.
And I believe that God wants us to take our table and do many of the things that are right there in Deuteronomy 6. They would say that there is one God and he's our God and he's in love with us and he has a relationship. And I think today you can talk to your family table and talk about how much you love God, and you could ask the question, "Are there many opportunities to get to God, or is there one name under heaven whereby men must be saved?" You could talk about that at your family table. At their family table they would talk about being slaves, and many of their meals would remember that they were in slavery and that God delivered them, and they would realize that God set them free.
And I'm going to ask you today around your table if you discipled your family, dads, moms, if you disciple your family so they know your salvation story. Do they know your story? Could they repeat it without you even being there?
You say, "Tell my story. How did I give my life to Jesus?"
And they are like, "I can't believe it, but dad used to be a druggie and then God saved him." Who knows? But are you discipling around the table telling the salvation story?
In Deuteronomy 6 God continues, and he's like, "When you get in this land you're going to get houses you didn't build and wells you didn't dig, and it's the blessing of God on your family." Around the table, do you disciple your table and tell the blessing? Do they know how you acquired certain things in your life? Do they know how things came to pass that God's hand of blessing was on you? When you are doing that, you are actually discipling and mentoring your family. There is something, a spiritual dynamic going on that is just a huge blessing on your family.
They talked about obedience. I mean, at your table you could disciple your family and talk about obedience. They were told to remember the Lord always. Remember the Lord. Be obedient. You could talk to your children and say, "Here's a time when I wrestled with God. He told me to do something and I didn't do it. And as we eat the meal tonight, I want to tell you about that story. It took me three months, and if I can tell you this, don't wrestle with God, he always wins. It doesn't go well. It's way better when you obey."
Maybe talk about a moment that you obeyed right away. Maybe talk about the importance of obedience. And even if you've living in the darkness where you obeyed and you haven't seen anything come to pass yet, you still talk about knowing you obeyed and you're waiting for God's blessing. That's discipleship. That's what they would talk about around their family table. That's what they would talk about to disciple.
This is a place to be ready for those regular moments. And in verse 20, it talks about spontaneous teachable moments. Spontaneous teachable moments will happen around your table if you take time around the table. It will happen. It talks about: 20 In the future, when your son asks, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” 21 tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt..." and he goes on and on and on, but God brought us out with his mighty arm. It's a teachable moment.
I can't tell you how many times at family dinner a teachable moment arises. It would just arise right there, and all of a sudden we are like, okay, we are taking care of that. We were thinking we were doing this, but we are now taking care of this. Because being in proximity, being gathered together all of a sudden brought about these teachable moments. Just the past week Becca, myself, Pastor Ryan, we were in Springfield, Missouri. We did chapel. Ryan led worship for the Assemblies of God chapel and I preached at the chapel. And it was just fun to be there. And then a thunderstorm hit and we couldn't fly out. We got stranded in Springfield. And we said, "What if we drive to Kansas City and we can get out?"
They said, "Well, you could drive there, get out in the morning."
So we spent three hours in the car together talking, and then we spent two hours at dinner talking together. And Ryan was like, "Don't take this wrong, but I'm glad we got stranded." He's like, "I had so much fun just talking and learning, and I feel like I know you better, like you know me better. I feel like it was discipleship time." And it was just a great time around the table. There is something with those teachable moments that just happen around the table.
Now, I want to tell you a couple of practical things before we end this. We are very proud of our two boys Connor and Logan. They are both at North Central University studying for the ministry and just amazing young men. We were trying to figure out what are the things we did right and what are the things we did wrong. And one of the things we know we did right was family dinner with them. We know we did family dinner with them. And I know this, we didn't always eat the best. If you know the story, I was extra large shirt and now I'm a medium and changed our diet. I mean, we knew we didn't do it all right with them when somebody said, "What are the favorite vegetables?"
And one of them said, "Cheesy beans."
They are like, "You mean green beans?"
"No, cheesy beans." Okay. All right.
But here is something we did right. We had family devotion time. And I found this looking through, because we'd do something different each year, this is the year that 911 happened. That's how old this is. And you will see through here that we were doing this little Adventures for Growing Families, 52 week devotional, and you will see that each day we wrote down the prayer requests. It is pretty amazing. I mean, I don't know, this day we were praying for Logan. We said, "Let's pray that Logan learns to say his K's better." He is doing real good now, so it was answered you know.
Here's one. I tried to bring back prayer requests from the church. You know, when this couple was divorcing, it says, "Let's pray for this couple. The dad is not being very nice to the mom." I tried to make it in a way they could understand. But we'd pray for families in the church. Here's one where we are praying for our cars to sell. We had two cars for sale, and we prayed for them to sell. A little bit later it's like, "Hey, the Jeep sold." All the way back here, "The Maxima sold." It's kind of neat to see those answered prayer requests.
We prayed for President Bush because 911 happened. I didn't realize it was also the same year that the anthrax was going on, and we prayed that the person sending the anthrax would get caught and that the people that were victims of that would be okay. We prayed for families that lost loved ones. These are real prayer requests. That's discipleship going on around the table.
Another year I found this one. Again, just kind of saved it. Another year we did the One Minute Bible. And I just thought the kids could handle one minute of Bible reading, and then we'd just talk about whatever God would open up. So we did this for a year, the One Minute Bible.
I kind of felt as a dad that, you know, I wanted devotion and this time of discipleship to be fun, and I kind of felt like just for a season, one time I said I'm going to try to take something and adapt it to a devotional. So I adapted the Essential 55 with the Teacher of the Year and taught our kids all sorts of manners and really discipled our kids. And to this day, if you ask Connor and Logan how they are doing, they will return the question, because they learned it here at the family table. You say, "How're you doing?"
They'll say, "We're doing good. How're you doing?"
And I've watched grown adults shocked that a teenager would actually return the question and make eye contact. And they learned some of those things around the family table.
We took the JVQ quiz pack and did that and just picked a card and talked about it. As a matter of fact, not that long ago we were at family dinner and they had a friend over, and I was quizzing them; "Where in the Bible does it say this? Where in the Bible does it say that?"
And their friend was like, "Do you guys do this all the time?"
They are like, "Yeah, we do."
All right. Now I want to tell you this. I did this because I'm a dad. Not because I'm a Pastor. I did this because I'm a dad. And it's my responsibility to lead the family table. Again, if you're a single mom, it is your responsibility to grab that. But it is our responsibility as parents, as leaders of our home. We have God ordained roles. And husbands and wives, you should be leading the charge. Can I tell you this, you may be so busy, but you need to accommodate and work however you can.
My mom used to pack us in the car when we were little with a picnic lunch, because dad worked three jobs. He worked at Key Cadillac, he was in the Army Reserve, and he counted inventory for a restaurant. Three jobs to make ends meet when we were being raised. And I can remember there would be busy seasons, and mom would pack us in the car with a picnic lunch. We'd drive into Edina to Key Cadillac, go to a local park, spread out a blanket. It became our table. And she said, "My husband will bless his children. My children will know what it is like to be in proximity, to have this going on."
You are not too busy. We can find a way. And we do this, not because we are pastors, but because we are Christians, because we are parents, because God has given us the ability of the table to disciple, and we are going to reclaim the table for discipleship in Jesus' name.
So, Lord, I pray right now that we would reclaim the table. We would reclaim the table. You have created us in a way to have family meals, to get together so that you're present, so we stop and acknowledge you. You have given us the opportunity so that we can get together as a family. Let's not waste this opportunity. There is something powerful about mom and dad and children being together and those teachable moments and discipleship and things going on. And I just pray in Jesus' name that we reclaim the table.
I do pray for boldness. I pray for boldness over our church that they would pray in the boardroom, in the consulting meeting, one on one with a client. They are going to have the boldness to say, "Do you mind if I pray this blessing over the food? I always like to give thanks to God for everything I have.
I pray for boldness amongst our teenagers, and I'm believing that they will have the strength to pray in the school. They will pray in front of their friends and maybe their friends will join them. And maybe we could have ministry and outreach to servers in our community as we ask them if they have anything that we can pray for.
I have no idea where you are going to take this, but we are going to reclaim the table for discipleship. So I pray for that boldness and that desire to reclaim the table.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen, amen.
