Isaiah 25:6-8

"On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

From Background Notes [BN] for March 17^th/18^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Jesus bears witness that God's table is for all kinds of "lost people"…

…and when these people finally start showing up, this is a sign that God is going to fulfill his Old Testament promises to restore His people once more. 

Matthew (Matthew 9:9-13) knew firsthand what it felt like to have "the reproach" removed from his life. For he had been privileged to sit at table-fellowship with Jesus, and he also had the honor of inviting others to share that feast. When he did this, they, in a real sense, re-enacted the promised banquet of the coming age. Together, they were living out now what the community of God would look like in the future. "This is what it will be like," Jesus seems to be telling us, "when God finally fulfills his promises to Israel. And even now Matthew and his house is experiencing it, here, at table fellowship with Jesus, who rejects no one because of some false sense of holiness, but instead, calls everyone to follow him. Together we sit as sinners, living under his mercy; sick folks touched by his righteous hand of healing." What an impact Jesus had on Matthew’s life — and on ours centuries later!  [BN, 8]

Join us this week in Study & Worship at ChicagoFirstChurch of the Nazarene –

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am, 5:30pm