不需要事前得到朋友允准或预先致电相约，便可以去探望他，这令人感到快慰。如果我们开放自己的家来欢迎别人，他们便可以无拘无束地在那里共享食物、交谈和团契生活了。在这种环境当中，我们往往感到心平气和，是出于舒适和接纳所散发出的温情，能够帮助我们感到自己不是外人。
假如你去探望的家，令你觉得好像在参观一所博物馆，而不是一个可以令你放松，享受彼此相伴的地方呢？假若与人交谈时的话题，是信息性的谈论多于分享生活近况，那又怎样呢？你的探望便可能是冷漠、古板、枯燥的了。
有些教会和信徒群体落在以上两个极端中的其中一个，而更多都是在两者之间的。作为基督徒，我们应该期望每一间教会（包括建筑物本身和里面的人），都成为一个好客的家，是一个充满恩典、怜悯和无条件的爱的地方，是一处让人可以放下他们的「包袱」和「重担」的地方，让人跌坐在悔罪的长椅上，并沉浸在赦免和恩典的坐垫的地方。“家”是一个有人给你一杯永活的水和生命的粮，让你能瞥见神永恒家的地方。
父啊，求祢帮助我们，像祢在天上欢迎我们那样，在地上欢迎别人，叫我们开放自己的心和家，让人能在那里接受祢的恩典和怜悯。阿们。
希伯来书 4:14-16
14我们既然有一位已经升入高天尊荣的大祭司，就是神的儿子耶稣，便当持定所承认的道。
15因我们的大祭司并非不能体恤我们的软弱，他也曾凡事受过试探，与我们一样，只是他没有犯罪。
16所以我们只管坦然无惧地来到施恩的宝座前，为要得怜恤，蒙恩惠，做随时的帮助。
"Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - Hebrews 4:16
There's something refreshing about being able to visit a friend without having to ask permission or to call ahead. If we open our homes to others, they can be places where food, conversation, and fellowship flow freely. In those settings we often feel at peace because the warmth of comfort and acceptance help us feel like we belong.
What if you visited a home that, instead of feeling like a space where you could relax and enjoy the company of others, seemed to you like a museum? What if the conversation with others was more like sharing information than sharing life? Your visit would likely feel rather cold, rigid, and dry.
But our hope, as Christians, should be that every church (both the building and the people inside it) should be like a welcoming home, a place full of grace, mercy, and unconditional love. A space where people can set aside their "baggage" and "burdens," flop down on the couch of confession, and sink into the cushions of forgiveness and grace. A home is where you’re offered a drink of living water and the bread of life, where you experience glimpses of the eternal house of God.
Father, help us to model your heavenly welcome here on earth as we make room for people in our hearts and homes to receive your grace and mercy. Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
