Living for the World: A Field Guide for UPC Seattle Small Groups

University Presbyterian Church . Seattle, Washington

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Hospitality isn’t the same as ‘entertaining.’ Hospitality is sharing your life—and letting people see what you’re really like. Forget perfection . . . make people part of your family!

Invite your guests into the kitchen to help with the last part of the meal prep. It blesses them because they feel like trusted friends. Offer grace—not just the kind you say before a meal. Once, we had just bought some expensive pans, and the international students living with us unknowingly damaged the pans with high heat and abrasive cleaning. I was upset at first, but then I realized I hadn’t explained how to use the pans. “I forgot to teach you,” I told them, and then explained. When I saw that the students felt terrible about what they had done, I told them, “You are more important than any pan.” — Ardi

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Suggested Order

Example

1. Read the passage through and familiarize yourself with the story.

Week one: Jesus and the Samaritan woman.

2. Each day, place yourself in the scene as completely as possible, using all of your senses.

For week one: Feel the heat of the desert noonday sun. See Jesus, sitting alone at the well, shielding his eyes from the harsh rays. Sense his thirst. Experience the wariness of the woman as Jesus reveals in the conversation that he knows more about her than an ordinary stranger would.

3. Engage the action of the scene.

Enter into the dialog yourself, asking questions for the players in the story. In week one, you could become one of the disciples as they are confused to find Jesus and the woman talking.

4. Focus on Jesus in the scene.

Listen as he speaks. How do his words affect you? Open yourself up to his gentle company.

5. Answer the question for that day.

Write your answer down if possible, creating a journal of your insights and growth.

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