Table Talk: Dinner’s On Me Week One
DINNER’S ON ME: Our Place at Jesus’s Table
Here’s a short description of our current sermon series.
We will journey through the Gospel of Luke, exploring the profound significance of meals in Jesus' ministry. More than just moments of sustenance, these shared tables became powerful settings for divine encounters, transformative teachings, and radical grace. From dining with outcasts to revealing his resurrected presence, Jesus consistently used meals to break down barriers, challenge societal norms, and demonstrate the heart of God. Through these stories, we'll discover how Jesus' invitations to the table reveal his heart for the marginalized, his commitment to meeting both physical and spiritual needs, and his desire for intimate fellowship. This series invites us to reconsider our own tables, prompting us to ask: How can we extend radical hospitality, engage in meaningful conversations, recognize the presence of Jesus in our midst, and bear his presence to others? We’ll discover together how these ancient meals can transform our understanding of grace, service, and the very nature of God's kingdom.
Spiritual Practice: Meaningful Meals
We believe that Jesus’ teaching is more than just knowledge for our minds (though it is certainly that). It should transform our actions. By living out - or practicing - the ways of Jesus, we are being shaped into a people who look more and more like Him.
Gathering around the table is a consistent and significant practice from some of the first pages of Scripture to some of the last. But in our hurried, busy lives, meals can become something we squeeze in between activities or quickly check off our list. How would it change our family relationships, friendships, communities, and inner lives if we saw meals through the eyes of God? What if we took time to recognize God’s gift to us in both the provision of food and the provision of community? This summer, we want to grow in the practice of Meaningful Meals. Here are some ways to start, or deepen, this practice:
Gather: Increase the amount of time you spend gathered around the table. If you rarely eat with your family, friends, or small group, begin by scheduling one meal per week when you will intentionally sit down to eat with others. If you are already doing this, try increasing the number of times you gather with others to eat.
Set aside distractions: Put away phones. Turn off the tv. Remove whatever distractions you can. Take this time to be present with one another and open to God’s goodness and blessing.
Thank God together: Take a few moments at the beginning of your meal to thank God for his provision, and ask Him to help you see the time together through His eyes. You could allow each person to share a way God blessed them that day.
Listen to one another: Cultivate meaningful conversations. Take your time to really listen without rushing to the next activity. If you need some conversation starters, you could use those listed in this guide for each week, or there are a multitude of mealtime conversation starters available online.
BONUS PRACTICE: Invite others: Ask a friend, relative, co-worker, or acquaintance to join your family/group for a meal.
Prayer
You can pray this prayer daily during the sermon series, or use it as a closing for table conversations each week.
Jesus, You came to show us how to live a full and abundant life. We are created with bodies that need to be fed and with souls that need to connect with You and with others. Jesus, You took time to gather around the table with friends, outcasts, and seekers, to connect deeply with them and to show them your love. Help us to see one another through Your eyes and to pour out on one another the same love that You have freely given to us. Transform our understanding of grace, service, and Your Kingdom through the experience of gathering around the table together. In Your name, we pray. Amen.
SERMON SUMMARY In Jesus' time, tax collectors were societal pariahs, viewed as betrayers who enriched themselves at the expense of their fellow Jews. They were considered as much enemies as the Roman occupiers. Jesus' choice to share a meal with Levi, a tax collector, was a scandalous act. It wasn't a casual invitation; Jesus actively sought Levi, driven by a divine purpose. He desired to convey to this ostracized individual—this perceived adversary—that God extends an invitation of belonging and healing. Jesus welcomed an outsider into fellowship. How does this challenge our perceptions and actions toward ourselves and others?
Conversation Starters
KIDS Have you ever been invited to a friend’s house to play or to have dinner? How does it feel to be invited? Who could you invite to play or to share a meal with you?
STUDENTS How does it feel when you are invited to a party or event that your friends are going to? How does it feel to be excluded, or to find out that all your friends are hanging out without you? In Jesus’ day, tax collectors were outsiders. Are there certain types of people who are outsiders in our culture or even in your school/community? Should Jesus’ actions toward Levi change our own actions toward the outsiders in our lives? How?
ADULTS Who are the outsiders in your community? Who do you find it more difficult to love well? Because of our sin, we were once outsiders in our relationship to God. But He came near to us through Christ, and made us His own sons and daughters. When we recognize our own movement from outsiders to God’s family, it should give us a certain humility in our views and actions toward others. What are some practical ways we could welcome outsiders into our homes, friend groups, and/or church community?
