Connect Group Discussion

Sunday, May 25th, 2025

Jesus and the Table – Part 1: Meals of Grace

Series Theme:
We are a people on mission. One of the most powerful yet overlooked ways to live this mission is through meals. In this series, we’re learning how the table was central to Jesus’ ministry and how it can be in ours.

Read Luke 5:

Main Points:

1. The Power of the Table

• Christianity did not take shape around pulpits or in books it was around the table. As one another faced each other as equals.

• It was where Jesus often revealed the Kingdom—not just in ideas, but through meals you could taste and share.

2. The Ministry of Meals

• Luke 7:34: The Son of Man came eating and drinking.

• Jesus didn’t just preach sermons; He hosted and attended meals—this was the “how” of His mission.

• Jesus’ meals created space for belonging, not performance or status.

3. Grace Over Performance

• In Luke 5, Levi (Matthew) is called while sitting at a tax booth—an outsider, hated and unworthy by religious standards. Jesus sees him, calls him, and dines with him.

• Jesus' table invites the broken, the sinful, and the outcast—those who know they need grace.

4. A New Way of Seeing People

• The Pharisees imposed strict boundaries around who belonged. Jesus shattered those barriers.

• The Gospel invites everyone, not through law or purity codes, but through faith in Christ (Galatians 2:16).

• We must resist the tendency to live like modern Pharisees—avoiding or judging those who don’t “measure up.”

5. Meals of Grace Are Missional

• We reflect God’s grace by extending our tables to others—especially those who feel unseen, unworthy, or excluded.

• Sharing a meal is not just hospitality—it’s an act of mission and Kingdom inclusion.

Discussion Questions

1. When you think back to meaningful meals in your life, what made them so powerful or memorable?

2. How has your view of meals or hospitality changed in light of Jesus’ ministry?

3. The Pharisees were offended by Jesus’ guest list. What does their response reveal about the human tendency to draw lines of inclusion and exclusion?

4. What boundaries or biases do you recognize in yourself that might prevent you from welcoming others as Jesus did?

5. How can your dining table (or favorite meal space) become a regular place of mission and ministry?

Response:

1. REFLECT

• Take a quiet moment. Reflect on your own experience of God’s welcome.

  • When did you feel most seen, known, and accepted by Jesus?

  • Have you let the busyness of life or fear of others stop you from making space for others at your table?

  • Who has God placed in your life that might need to experience grace through you?

2. REPENT

Bring before God the places where you’ve drawn boundaries He never did.

• Have you avoided certain people because of discomfort, judgment, or pride?

• Have you let your table become closed off or your hospitality conditional?

“Lord, forgive us when we’ve lived with a Pharisee spirit—keeping distance when You drew near. Forgive us for protecting our comfort more than showing Your welcome. We lay down our pride, our fear, our boundaries. Create in us clean hearts.”

3. RECEIVE

Open your hands as a sign of surrender.
Receive the truth: You are welcome at His table.
Not because you earned it—but because of grace.
And just as you have received, Jesus now empowers you to give.

Prayer prompt:

Jesus, we receive Your grace again. Thank You for setting a place for us. Fill us with Your Spirit—Your compassion, boldness, and love. May our homes become places where the lost are found, and strangers become friends. Use our tables to reflect Heaven.