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A few Sundays ago, I shared about our incredible Men’s Ministry Dinner, where we welcomed Secretary Sonny Perdue. It was a special night, not just because of his distinguished career, but because he came as a fellow believer, friend, and family member to many in our congregation. At that dinner, Shelly and I were seated at the head table, and I joked that I didn’t really want to be there. Truth is, I’d rather be at the edges of the room than right in the middle with everyone watching.
But if I’m honest, even as I walked in that night, I was thinking the same thing many of you probably would: Where am I going to sit? And more importantly, who do I want to sit with? That thought took me back to the school lunchroom—especially those first days of the school year—when the questions loomed large: Who’s going to sit where? Who will I sit with? Will I belong?
That same hunger for belonging, for being seen, for having a place, follows us into adulthood. And it doesn’t take long before we realize how exhausting it can be to always measure ourselves by where we sit, who we’re with, or whether we feel noticed.
This Sunday’s gospel from Luke 14 dives right into that hunger. Jesus tells a parable about seats at a banquet, but it’s really about the arrangements we make in our own hearts. What if the way we’ve been trying to secure our place only leaves us emptier? What if God has something far better in mind—a table where the seats are given, not earned, and where the guest list is filled with the most unlikely of people?
If you’ve ever felt the pressure to measure up, to prove your worth, or to find your place in the room—this is a Sunday you won’t want to miss.
Grace and Peace,
Tom
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