E: Eat With Others
August 16, 2026 • Pastor Pat Findley • Matthew 9:9–13
Week #4 of the B.L.E.S.S. Series | E: Eat With Others
What if one of the most powerful tools for sharing our faith was already built into our daily routine? This message centers on a remarkable encounter from Matthew chapter 9, where Jesus does something that shocks the religious establishment of his day. He walks up to one of the most despised figures in his culture, a tax collector named Matthew, and simply says, 'Follow me.' What happens next is even more surprising. Matthew throws a party and fills his house with every broken, marginalized, and socially unacceptable person he knows, and Jesus pulls up a chair right in the middle of it all. The spiritual lesson here is both simple and profound. Jesus was intentional about who he shared meals with, and that intentionality changed lives. We are challenged to see every person around us as potentially ready to receive the grace of God. The fields, as Jesus described in John 4:35, are already ripe for harvest. We often wait for the perfect moment or the perfect words, but this message reminds us that sometimes the most transformative thing we can do is extend an invitation to the table. Meals create a space where walls come down, where real conversations happen, and where the love of God can move quietly and powerfully through simple human connection.
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