Hosting comes very easy to some people. Some people just have the gift of hospitality. They decorate, are gifted cooks, and are able to make people feel at home. When you walk in the door they give you slippers, something to drink, and invite you to sit wherever you want, “Just make yourself at home.” Over the next six weeks, we host some pretty large and important groups here at our church. While God calls us to take the message into the world where we live, there are times when the people of our community come to our facility. We get to host them for the time they are here. We have some divine opportunities in the next few weeks to show God’s love and truth, in amazing ways to the people who are on our campus. MCREST From March 8 - March 15, we host 30 homeless men. The county organization of MCREST works with them to find jobs and housing. In that week, we are the generous hosts. The food you give and we cook, is their substance through the week. The company you share as we staff the evenings and mornings, show love to them in simple and humane ways. The way we share our lives, speaks volumes to men who are at the lowest points in their lives. Pray for our church to share the love of Jesus with these men for a week. Easter Extravaganza On March 28, we invite our church, your friends, and our community to gather for a family-friendly event. We share the truth about Easter with a short program, let them enjoy an egg hunt, crafts and games. There is food for purchase that benefits our Ghana mission, in the multipurpose room. The program begin at 10:30am and again at 12:30 pm. Your friends and the families from our community may see it as an activity to do with their families. But for us, it is a chance to host them, share our lives with them, and the truth about Easter. We need to be good hosts to those who visit us on that Saturday. We need to staff it well, and everyone from Macomb needs to realize – you are the hosts to all those you see. Be friendly. Engage others in conversation. If Jesus really changed our world, I cannot help but believe it was for it to be a place of love, acceptance and truth. Pray that God bring families to our campus to engage with us and the truth of Easter. Easter On April 12, we have three services to celebrate the risen Jesus. The services are slightly different times this year. We do not have an early service on Easter. We have a service at 9:30am, 11:00am and 12:30pm. If we are good hosts, we probably should not demand people get up really early on a holiday to come to church. The message we share is too important to hide in an early service where we only see the already saved. First and foremost, we want you to decide who you can invite to come to Easter service. Being a host means making an invitation. People only feel welcome if we invite. Your friends and family feel welcome here if they are invited to come. It is the first step of being good hosts. Make them feel at home. Invite them home. On Easter, we worship hard and teach truth and we need everyone to be hosts. Not just our greeters and welcome center people. Everyone. Help people find the coffee. Talk to the people around you. Church is more than just a spiritual experience during a service. To understand the strength of a real community – they need to see it as we share with them. Pray for people to be open to God’s truth that day. We share the most important message of God with the world – Jesus is risen, there is hope. As I write this, I am reminded that God had a world and a garden, and he decided to be a host to us. He shared this world with us. He enjoys it with us. Let’s share our church with others and enjoy it with them. We might just be surprised how a little attention and interest can communicate the presence of God to people. I look forward to hosting these next few weeks with you.