He also says that we are to go after a more “excellent” way, and that is the way of charity, or love.

We find in 1 Peter 4, Peter preaching that the end of all things was at hand and how we should be sober and watchful.  We would all agree that we are closer to the Lord’s return and that we should be working down here as we are looking up there, hopeful and ready for our Lord’s triumphant coming.  But in that watchfulness, Peter says that, “above all things have fervent charity among yourselves.”  He is saying that “love” covers a multitude of sins.  What do you think God could do with a church full of Christians who loved each other and had a love for lost souls?

It is in this love that God challenges us to use “hospitality” one to another, and to minister the grace of God that we have received to those around us.  The word hospitality simply means to “entertain strangers,” that is, we are supposed to be hospitable to those visiting our church and to those we may meet outside the walls of our building.  The sad case is, most Christians are not “hospitable”, but “hospicable”.  I know that is not a word, but if it were, it would be an appropriate one to define the despicable way that Christians treat “strangers” or visitors that are in most churches.

With this in mind, besides the preaching of God’s Word, I believe hospitality should be the centerpiece of any ministry.  It is my desire that Berean Baptist would be a church that not only says it loves people, but displays a love that is felt, shared, and spread to others as we reach our community with the Gospel.