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Today I want to give you a place to start your week. It’s Monday and in the wake of a great weekend and a workweek ahead, sometimes you just need a “kickstart” to get focused.  So grab some coffee let’s start a great week together.

Yesterday we began our series “Back to the Table” at Kfirst. Though this is a new series of talks, the topic is NOT new as this is our third series that visits the “table practice of Jesus.” We see our lives as a “table” of hospitality. We see opportunities to change the world is done through Jesus’ approach to others at a shared table.

The message “Farm to Table” is all about taking what we’ve been cultivating in our lives and using that to serve the world around us. It’s what Jesus was wanting to correct in the hearts of those he was eating with in Luke 14. There was a religious culture cultivating a self-serving attitude. And through that filter, they responded to the world around them. The context of many banquets (tables) in this time period were about getting social status and feeling superior. Their hearts were self-serving, thus, their tables were self-serving. What cultivated in their heart?

• Who am I sitting with?
• Who did I invite? Because whoever comes to my table has to invite me back.
• How can I look good sharing your scraps with the needy in front of others?

It’s in that vein of thought we see in Luke 14:15 where a man sits back at the table looking forward to how good he’ll look at in the Kingdom of God. He says, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”  It’s here where Jesus paints a picture of the Kingdom and what the table should look like. Where others used the table to parade themselves, Jesus uses the table to speak deeper truths.

Look at the elements of the table of Jesus:

1. The Preparation. (v. 16)
   • The Master makes the banquet possible. He provides, sets the table, pays for the meal, and gives space for all.
2. The Invite. (v. 17)
   • There is no impact without contact. You must get closer to people to grow your potential for impacting their lives. And the only way to invite people to the table is to come in contact with them.
3. The Response. (v. 18-20)
   • Those that rejected the invite were content with their “standing.” But the invite wasn’t to feed them but to change them. When we respond to the table, it’s not our social status that’s changed but our hearts that are transformed.
4. The Result. (v. 21-24)
   • Lost people are found.
   • Broken people are put back together
   • Addicts are set free
   • Lonley people find community
   • Shame is lifted at this table
   • Forgiveness is given at this table.

Our challenge this month: Invite someone to “the table.” Maybe it’s at your home. Perhaps it’s to a coffee shop or restaurant. Know this: The table is part “location” but mostly your action.

Access the table. Be the table. Share a table.

Love you all. Praying over you this week.

BTW: Here’s a song for your week