Day Three  -  Notice new people

1 Peter 4:9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

                  The word hospitality in the new testament is a compound word.  The Greek word is φιλοξενος philoxenos which means “a lover of strangers.”  When the Lord was talking to His disciples He told them,

Luke 14:12  Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

13  But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

This is not easy and it is not as much fun as having your friends or family over.  Friends and family like the same things you like.  They are easy to talk to.  They do not take without giving back.  It is easy to love your friends.  Jesus said,

Matthew 5:43   Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

The world loves its friends.  If we are to be different from the world, then we need to love our enemies.  Our God sends rain on the just and the unjust.  He is good to all men. 

A stranger may not be an enemy, but he is not a friend,  and it is not easy to talk to someone that you don’t know.  But God made it clear in the law, 

Deuteronomy 10:18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

And because God loves the stranger,  He says, 

Deuteronomy 10:19  Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

When you go to church this Sunday,  notice those in the church that are “strangers to you.”  If you don’t know them,  then the command is to love them.  It is hard to love them and ignore them at the same time. 

An Exercise to increase our Faith:  Have a new person in the church over to your house for dinner.   Call them up or contact them after the service and ask if they are free to come to your home  (either this Sunday or next Sunday).  One of the reasons that churches grow is because the people of the church make visitors a part of their church family.   This is not an easy assignment,  but faith is often a stretching exercise.