HOSPITALITY FOR EVACUEES
Wildfires have devastated the Pacific Northwest this summer. By early August, millions of acres had burned across Washington and Oregon. Near Spokane, Washington, officials ordered over 60,000 residents to evacuate. The local Presbyterian Disaster Assistance agency has approved financial aid and assistance for individuals affected by fires. However, local ministers are responding in more personal ways. The Reverend Sheryl Kinder-Pyle, a Presbyterian minister based in Spokane, invited several evacuees to stay in her home amid the evacuation and recovery efforts. She cites Romans 8:35–39 as an encouragement for hospitality, comparing the “nakedness” in that passage to the loss of possessions resulting from wildfires. She invites members of her denomination to be proactive in their efforts to extend hospitality.

HOSPITALITY FOR GOD’S FAMILY
While on a missionary journey, Paul and Silas travel to Macedonia and the city of Philippi. They spend several days there, giving Paul the opportunity to preach. On the Sabbath, Paul and his group travel to the banks of a local river, where they meet Lydia, a seller of purple cloth. She hears the gospel and accepts its message. Desiring to be faithful to God, Lydia extends hospitality to Paul and his companions and invites them to stay in her home. Later, after Paul and Silas are released from prison, she again demonstrates hospitality by taking them in again. Her acts of hospitality demonstrate her faithfulness to God and her love for other members of God’s family.

Questions

• When has someone shown you hospitality, and how did that act affect you?
• What mindsets, feelings, or outlooks make it difficult to extend hospitality to others?
• Who might God be calling you to provide hospitality for in the upcoming week?