Everyone Gets a Welcome: Living Sacrifice and Hospitality

Ephesians 5:1-2 calls God’s people to be imitators of God as dear children and to walk in love because Christ has loved them and given himself for them. The word “therefore” reaches back into Ephesians 4 and gathers up the life God has already shown: anger without sin, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, mercy, grace, and love. The text does not leave welcome as a church strategy or a friendly personality trait. The text roots welcome in the character of the Father.

God welcomed broken people who were far from him into a family through Jesus Christ. God did not wait for people to become clean, familiar, easy, or already alike. God brought the far near, saved them, and changed them. The call to “mimic” God means dear children begin to look like their Father, not in physical image, but in attributes. Children resemble their father, and God’s children become people who make room for others.

Everyone gets a welcome because every believer was first welcomed. The church does not welcome people because everyone is alike. The church welcomes people because God’s people are trying to become like their Father. A room full of different people may have thousands of differences, but one thing stands in common: when each person walked in, there was a seat. Since 1929, West Asheville Baptist Church has had seats for people who needed to hear about Jesus, and the future calls for even more room, more people, and maybe even more churches planted for the sake of people who do not yet know Christ.

The fear that welcomed people may be different, hard to love, or slow to change is not a reason to pull back. That kind of difference may actually mean the Great Commission is working. God changed people who could not change themselves, and God has not stopped changing people. The same power that changed those once far from God can change others from the inside out.

Ephesians 5:2 shows how welcome becomes real: God’s people live in sacrifice. Christ gave himself as an offering and sacrifice, and those who follow him give up the rights to themselves. Hebrews 13 names that sacrifice as praise, doing good, and sharing, which carries the idea of fellowship, welcome, and invitation. Sacrifice may cost comfort, a favorite seat, a parking spot, time, awkward conversations, or serving where there is need. Someone made room for those already present. Jesus gave himself for them. The question now is whether a seat will be made for the next person.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Welcome flows from being welcomed God’s welcome is the starting place, not human friendliness or church culture. The Father brought far-off people into his family through Jesus, and that grace becomes the pattern for how his children treat others. A church that forgets it was welcomed first will eventually turn welcome into a memory instead of a living practice. [56:25]
• 2. Children should resemble their Father Ephesians’ call to “imitate” God is not vague inspiration. It is the call for God’s people to mimic his kindness, mercy, forgiveness, generosity, and love in real human relationships. The family resemblance of God’s children shows up when difficult, different, and unfamiliar people are given room. [57:38]
• 3. Difference can signal gospel advance The arrival of people who look different, act different, talk different, or are hard to love should not be treated as failure. That may be the Great Commission doing exactly what Jesus commanded, reaching every creature without playing favorites. The discomfort of difference can expose whether welcome is built on preference or on the gospel. [60:21]
• 4. Only God changes from within Human beings did not change themselves, and nobody else will either. The power needed for real change must come from outside the person and then work from the inside out. That truth gives patience for people in process and confidence that God has not stopped saving and changing others. [61:04]
• 5. Sacrifice makes room for others Christ’s self-giving love turns welcome into more than words at the door. The cost may be comfort, a favorite seat, time with familiar friends, or the awkward work of initiating with someone new. Living sacrifice means saying yes to Jesus first and gladly giving up personal rights so another person can find a seat. [66:36]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [48:52] - Opening Prayer and Bible Confession
• [49:22] - Mission, Vision, and Everyone Gets a Welcome
• [51:09] - Many Differences, One Shared Seat
• [52:58] - A Future Full of Seats
• [54:05] - Opposition and God-Given Victory
• [55:34] - Ephesians 5:1-2
• [56:25] - Welcomed Into God’s Family
• [57:38] - Imitators Who Mimic the Father
• [59:23] - Welcome Because God Welcomed First
• [59:53] - What If Different People Come
• [61:50] - Living in Sacrifice
• [65:02] - Hebrews 13 and the Sacrifice of Fellowship
• [66:36] - The Cost of Making Room
• [68:16] - Everyone Gets a Welcome

1. In Ephesians 5:1-2, what reasons are given for imitating God and walking in love?
2. What qualities from Ephesians 4 were connected to the word “therefore,” and how do they describe the kind of life God’s people are meant to live? [58:33]
3. What picture was used to show how a room full of very different people could still share one thing in common? [51:58]
4. According to Hebrews 13:15-16, what sacrifices are pleasing to God, and how was “share” explained? [01:05:48]

1. If believers are called to imitate God “as beloved children,” what does that suggest about the connection between being part of God’s family and becoming people who welcome others? [57:38]
2. Ephesians 5 says to “walk in love” as Christ gave himself for us. How does that move welcome beyond being friendly and turn it into something costly and sacrificial? [01:02:16]
3. When different, unfamiliar, or hard-to-love people begin to show up, why might that be evidence of gospel advance rather than a problem to avoid? [01:00:21]
4. God changes people from the inside out. How should that shape the way a church views people who are messy, slow to grow, or still very early in their faith? [01:01:10]

1. Every believer was welcomed by God first. How does remembering that change the way a person sees guests, newcomers, or people who do not seem to fit naturally? [56:25]
2. Children begin to resemble their Father. In what relationships right now is God calling a person to show more kindness, tenderness, forgiveness, or mercy?
3. Making room for others may cost comfort, routine, or convenience. What is one specific comfort that may need to be surrendered in order to help someone else feel genuinely welcomed? [01:06:53]
4. Welcome often becomes real through small sacrifices. What might it look like this week to give up a usual conversation, seat, parking spot, or plan in order to notice and include someone else? [01:07:16]
5. Some people are easy to welcome, and others are harder to receive. What kinds of differences tend to make a person pull back, and what would it look like to respond with gospel-shaped love instead? [59:53]
6. God has not stopped changing people. Is there someone who has been quietly judged as unlikely to change? How might faith in God’s power lead to more patience, prayer, and hope for that person? [01:01:21]
7. The question is not only whether there was a seat for those already present, but whether there will be a seat for the next person. What can this group do in a practical way to help make room for the next person who walks in? [01:08:09]