Go! And Welcome Everyone: The Gospel of Radical Hospitality
Introduction – A Question That Opens the Door
Let me start with a question: Who do you struggle to welcome?
Is it the person who doesn’t fit your idea of “respectable”? The one who votes differently? Dresses differently? Worships differently? Or maybe the one who wronged you?
Our series is called “Go! And…” and today’s call is this: Go! And Welcome Everyone.
The church is not called to be a museum of the like-minded—it is called to be a home for the broken, a family for the lonely, a refuge for the lost. And if that makes us uncomfortable—that’s the point!
Jesus never welcomed people to leave them as they were—He welcomed them to transform them.
Hebrews 13:1–3 (NLT): “Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realising it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.”
The letter to the Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians under persecution, tempted to withdraw into safe, familiar circles. But here they are commanded:
Keep on loving – Greek: f??ade?f?a (philadelphia) – brotherly love, continuous action.
Show hospitality – Greek: f????e??a (philoxenia) – love of strangers. Not mere politeness, but sacrificial welcome.
The writer even hints that when we welcome strangers, we may be welcoming angels unawares, echoing Abraham in Genesis 18.
Our culture values comfort over connection, privacy over presence. But the Kingdom calls us to open doors, not lock them.
Charles Stanley said: “The church is not a club for saints; it is a hospital for sinners.”
If that is true, then hospitality is the ambulance that brings them in.
1. The Banquet of Grace – Luke 14:12–24 (NLT): “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet… don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbours… Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind… Go quickly into the streets and alleys… so my house will be full.”
Jesus speaks at a Pharisee’s table, turning the social ladder upside down.
The Greek ?a??? (kaleo) means to invite for gain—Jesus rejects that. Instead, Kingdom hospitality seeks nothing in return.
The great banquet represents the Gospel invitation—Israel made excuses; the outcasts came.
A pastor once invited a group of homeless men to Christmas dinner in his home. The neighbours frowned. But that night, the house rang with carols, the table was full, and for the first time in years, those men felt like honoured guests.
This is a glimpse of heaven: a feast where the unworthy are seated because the Host is generous.
In 21st Century Britain, hospitality is often networking with people like us. Jesus says: “Invite those who cannot repay you.”
Tim Keller wrote: “The gospel creates a new kind of hospitality that does not focus on similarity but on grace.”
We welcome because we were once beggars invited to a King’s table.
2. The God Who Welcomes Sinners – Luke 19:1–10 (NLT): “‘Zacchaeus!’ he said. ‘Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.’ … For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Zacchaeus was a tax collector—hated, corrupt, wealthy but empty.
de? (dei) – “I must” – indicates divine necessity: Jesus’ mission drives His hospitality.
His presence in Zacchaeus’ home brings repentance and restitution.
Imagine a crime boss walking into church and the pastor says, “Lunch at your house today.” That’s the scandal of grace.
Max Lucado said: “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way.”
Hospitality in Christ is not about affirming sin—it is about creating the space where transformation begins.
3. Breaking Down Barriers – Acts 10:1–48 & Ephesians 2:11–22
Ephesians 2:14 (NLT): “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.”
In Acts 10, Peter receives a vision: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”
Gentiles—once outsiders (?????, xenos)—are now fellow citizens.
The cross is a demolition site: Christ tore down the dividing wall.
Prejudice—whether racial, cultural, or class-based—cannot survive at the foot of the cross.
John Piper wrote: “The death of Christ is the death of hostility.”
In a divided Britain—where migration, class, and culture spark conflict—the church must be the place where walls come down.
4. The Reward of True Welcome – Matthew 25:31–46
“I was hungry, and you fed me. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home… I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
This is a glimpse of final judgment—hospitality is not a means of salvation, but a fruit of it.
????? again: stranger. To welcome them is to welcome Christ Himself.
In 2 Kings 4:8–37, the Shunammite woman welcomed Elisha with a meal and a room. God rewarded her with a miracle: the son she longed for was given, then raised from the dead. Hospitality often becomes the doorway to God’s wonders.
The Greatest Welcome – The Gospel
This sermon would be incomplete if I only told you to welcome others without telling you how God welcomed you.
We were not just strangers—we were rebels. Romans 5:10 says: “For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.”
Jesus came, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for your sin, was buried, and rose again. Through repentance (µet????a, metanoia – turning) and faith (p?st??, pistis – trusting reliance), you are no longer an outsider—you become family (Galatians 3:26–29).
Practical Application – How to Go and Welcome
Examine your circle: Who feels unwelcome in your home, church, or heart?
Open your home and calendar: Hospitality is not about perfect décor—it is about presence.
Use hospitality evangelistically: Your table may be the pulpit where someone hears the Gospel.
R.T. Kendall said: “Hospitality is often the bridge God uses for His greatest works.”
Will you build that bridge?
Call to Action & Gospel Invitation:
Believer—this week, don’t just talk about welcome. Practise it.
Invite the colleague no one includes. Visit the neighbour who lives alone. Share a meal, a coffee, a conversation.
Unbeliever—today, Jesus is inviting you. He is at the door, knocking (Revelation 3:20). Will you open? Will you repent of sin, trust Him as Lord and Saviour, and be welcomed into His eternal family?
Benediction:
“May the God who welcomed you while you were still far away, fill your heart with His Spirit, enlarge your home with His love, and send you into the world as a living sign of His open arms—through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
