Sermon Illustrations
Shared Meals Create Opportunities to Share Christ
In his book A Meal with Jesus, Tim Chester shares the following stories about how various church communities in England are sharing Jesus through shared meals:
To celebrate the Kurdish New Year … we provided kebabs and live music. Over one hundred Kurds from across the city converged on the party. Our main worry was whether the floor would hold. Standing in the basement, we could see that the Kurdish men dancing in sync above was causing the floor to flex by at least an inch. The floor held, and the evening ended with my friend Samuel telling everyone we'd put this party on to express God's love for Kurds.
Every month one of our missional communities hosts a curry night for Pakistani men. A dozen or so come to enjoy homemade curry and conversation. That's it …. Except that relationships are growing and gospel opportunities are increasing. More recently they've started a similar venue for Pakistani women.
In a community hall underneath [a soccer stadium], more than a hundred people of all nationalities gathered. Our church had paid a Pakistani friend to make biryani curry, and church members provided desserts. At a couple of points in the meal we told stories of meals—the story of the woman who washed the feet of Jesus in Luke 7 and the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15.
Chester concludes:
These are all forms of mission Jesus would recognize. They are the kinds of events he might have attended …. But they are also ways of doing mission that you could do …. When you combine a passion for Jesus with shared meals, you create potent gospel opportunities.