What are some things that are hard to share?
A grape
Your toothbrush
A jawbreaker
Eyeglasses
An ice cream cone
I imagine most of our parents taught us that we are supposed to share with others. The Bible teaches the same thing in Romans 12:13.
Most of the sharing we were taught as kids probably dealt with sharing our toys, sharing the remote or sharing the TV. These are good things to learn and will help you when you have a roommate in college or get married, but how do we get beyond the sharing we were taught to do as children? One way to look at this is that everything in the world belongs to God and he is willing to share it with us. 1f we look at all of our stuff like it belongs to God, it might be easier to share it when someone comes into our life with a need.
What does it mean to practice hospitality? This means to be welcoming. You may want to check with your mom and dad before you get too adventurous and invite someone over for Thanksgiving dinner. Where you can practice hospitality is with the Jr High room at church. See someone new? Go say hello to them. See someone who looks cold? Offer them your jacket (if you have one). These are great ways to be welcoming.
Now for the fun stuff
I've replaced a letter with a number in our lesson. If you find it, email me and I'll credit your account with a T-Bone Buck.
Joke of the week
One rainy, windy night, not unlike tonight, a man was walking home alone, down a dark, deserted street that ran right by the local cemetary.
As he passed the gates, he heard a bump in the darkness behind him. Not daring to look back, he quickened his pace. But, the bumping noise continued behind him.
He stopped and turned to see what it was. Coming down the road behind him was a coffin, standing on end, bumping from side to side - BUMP, BUMP, BUMP.
The man, terrified for his life, turned and ran into the driving rain. Behind him, the coffin came faster - BUMP, BUMP, BUMP! Ahead of him, there was a branch that had fallen from a tree. He reached down and grabbed it as he ran by. Still running, he turned and threw it over his shoulder at the coffin - but it just splintered when it hit the coffin and the coffin continued coming faster - BUMPITY, BUMPITY, BUMPITY!
The man turned the corner onto his street and ran through his front gate, the coffin right behind him. His splitting axe was resting against his woodpile so he snagged it, turned, and gave a mighty two-handed throw sending it end over end right at the coffin. SMASH! - the axe shattered on the unnaturally strong wood of the coffin and it continued after him.
The man dashed in his house, but the coffin crashed through the front door. The man ran upstairs and grabbed his shotgun off the wall display. He blasted the coffin with both barrels, but the shot bounced harmlessly off the coffin as it continued up the stairs - BUMP, CLOMP, BUMP, CLOMP!
The man, desperate and scared to death, jumped into the bathroom and locked the door - knowing it would do no good. The coffin Banged against the door, once ..., twice ..., and on the third time, the door exploded and the coffin came forward.
In desperation the man reached out his hand and grabbed whatever he could. All that was there was a bottle of cough syrup so he threw it at the coffin.
The bottle shattered, the cough syrup poured on the coffin, and the coffin stopped.