Acts 16:14-15 (NLT) 14 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15 She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.

Acts 16:40 (NLT) When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the home of Lydia. There they met with the believers and encouraged them once more. Then they left town.

Three Steps To Seeing God Use Your Home:

1. An open DOOR of HOSPITALITY

• Hospitality and Biblical culture
  • Leviticus 19:34 (NLT) Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
  • Hebrews 13:2 (NLT) Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!
• Hospitality starts in the heart.
  • Open hearts, make open spaces.
  • The word says that “The Lord opened her heart”. 
  • Closed hearts
    • Insecurity — “My home, cooking, or life isn’t good enough.”
    • Inconvenience — “I don’t want my plans, schedule, or routines disrupted.”
    • Intrusion — “I don’t want people entering my private space.”
    • Indifference — “I don’t notice—or feel responsible for—the lonely and disconnected.”
    • Individualism — “My home and resources exist primarily for me and my family.”

2. An open TABLE of GENEROSITY

• If hospitality is I WANT YOU HERE, generosity is WHAT I HAVE IS YOURS.
• The table opens what is mine to you.
  • When I open my table, I am opening more than my food.
  • The table says...
    • I feel safe with you.
    • My provision is yours.
    • My time is yours.
    • My attention is yours.
• The table creates fellowship.
  • Acts 2:46 (NLT) They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity--
  • Generosity creates the conditions for fellowship.
• The table becomes a place of grace.
• Put another seat at your table.
  • Who needs a seat at your table?
  • The lonely, hungry, stranger, or outcast?
  • A single adult, new family, college student, or neighbor?

3. An open LIVING ROOM of MINISTRY

• Church can be attending something. Entering a home is entering someone’s world.
• Ministry under a rooftop:
  • Prayer happened in homes. 
  • People were saved in homes. 
  • The Spirit fell in homes. 
  • Churches were born in homes.
• God has always loved using ordinary rooms for extraordinary purposes.
• Two questions:
  • Whose living room are you in?
  • Who is in yours?
• God gave you a home to cover your family — but He may also want to use it to reach another one.