Hospitality as Ministry (Marriage as a Mission) Pt 1 - 339

Your front door might be the start of someone else’s healing. We sit down this week to talk about biblical hospitality and why a Christian home is never meant to be a sealed-off retreat, but a mission outpost where the love of Jesus becomes tangible in ordinary moments. 

We dig into Scripture that reshapes how we think about hosting, from Abraham welcoming unexpected travelers to the widow of Zarephath offering what felt like her last meal and watching God multiply it. Along the way, we keep it real: laundry piles, dog hair, busy schedules, and the pressure to make everything look “together”. We come back to a simple truth that changes everything: hospitality is not about performance; it’s about presence. 

We also wrestle with the tension many couples feel today, especially in Western culture, between safety and openness. Hebrews 13:2 challenges our reflex to treat every interruption like a threat, while wisdom and prayer help us practice discernment. Then we bring it home to marriage: hospitality doesn’t start with guests; it starts with how we treat each other behind closed doors, creating a refuge for one another first. 

Finally, we share a modern reminder of the ripple effect of a table made available to God: Millie and Carl Deanert hosting a young Billy Graham before the world knew his name. If you want practical encouragement to build a Christ-centered home, strengthen your Christian marriage, and use everyday life for ministry, press play. Subscribe, share this with a couple who needs it, and leave a review so more families can find the message.

Transcript

Marriage And Home As Ministry

Daniel Moore 0:06

This week we're diving into something that most couples probably don't think about very often. The idea that your marriage and your home might actually be one of the greatest ministry tools that God has ever placed in your hands. That's right, your living room, your kitchen table, your front porch, and yes, even that pile of laundry currently judging you from across the room. They can all become part of kingdom work. Because at the end of the day, a Christian home was never meant to simply be a place where we eat, sleep, pay bills, and occasionally debate whose turn it is to take out the trash. God designed marriage to reflect something far bigger, something eternal. Ephesians 5 tells us that marriage reflects Christ and the church, which means every act of grace, forgiveness, patience, and love in our homes becomes a visible picture of the gospel to those around us. But honestly, that's what makes this conversation so important and so relatable. Ministry doesn't just happen on church stages with microphones and spotlights, it happens in ordinary homes with ordinary couples learning how to love each other well while keeping Jesus at the center. So this week, we want to encourage you to believe that your home can become holy ground, your marriage can become ministry, and your everyday life can become part of God's greater mission because when a husband and wife choose to build their home around Christ, even ordinary moments can carry an eternal impact.

Series Context And Ways To Connect

Daniel Moore 1:32

Welcome to Marriage Life and More. This is a podcast about marriage, Bible, and book studies. We interview people that have inspiring stories. I'm Daniel Moore, your host. And over next to me is my beautiful co-host, my wife Michelle.

Michelle Moore 1:43

Hey, hey!

Daniel Moore 1:44

Thank you guys for joining us this week. Not me with our show. Check out our website at marriagelifeandmore.com. Our links to our platforms are there, YouTube and Rumble. We're also in the Christian Podcasting app Edifi. We're also on your Alexa and Google Smart Devices. You can also visit us on social, on Facebook, Instagram, and X at CTGAPOnline. If you're a fan of our show, please subscribe and feel free to leave a comment on our platforms. Give us a thumbs up or a five-star review on Apple Podcast, and we'd be thankful to you for doing that. Well, this week we're continuing our series, Marriage as a Mission, as we continue to work through the first book that we've released here at the Ministry. You can pick that up anywhere at Amazon, Walmart, Barnes Noble, anywhere pretty much you can get books, you can purchase that online. And there is a six-session study guide that goes with it as well. That's also just available at Amazon only. But if you'd like to pick that up, we're in episode eight this week. So we still got several weeks left as we finish up this series. Have plenty of time to purchase that and jump in and go ahead and go through this series together with us as we continue this week here on Marriage Life and More. Well, this week we're going to go ahead, as I said, we're going to kick off episode eight. And this will be part one of that episode. And this

Biblical Hospitality And Abraham’s Guests

Daniel Moore 3:00

week we're going to be talking about hospitality as ministry. But biblical hospitality? That's a whole different ball game. Less about matching tableware and more about opening your life, your home, and sometimes your last loaf of bread to someone who might just be an angel in disguise. One of the most striking and frankly slightly awkward examples of hospitality as ministry comes from none other than Father Abraham. You know the story, Abraham is chilling out by his tent, probably enjoying a quiet afternoon in the shade when three travelers stroll up. Does he send them away because he's still in his bathrobe? Nope. Instead, he springs into action like an ancient Near Eastern Martha Stewart rushes around to prepare a feast and offer rest. What he doesn't realize at that moment is that one of those guests is the Lord himself, and the other two are heavenly companions, possibly packing serious angelic credentials. That dusty roadside lunch became a divine appointment. Abraham didn't just host guests, he hosted God. I mean, no pressure or anything. Well this episode explores how even in our cluttered homes and cluttered schedules, hospitality can become a powerful ministry. Whether it's sharing a meal or simply making someone feel like they belong, the sacred act of welcoming others can open doors not just to your home, but to the heart of God. And who knows, the person drinking your last cup of coffee might just be sent straight from heaven. So maybe keep that bathroom clean just in case.

Real Life Hosting And Life Groups

Daniel Moore 5:04

And Michelle and I can definitely resignate with that. Yes. We've uh hosted life groups at our house. Yes. And we know that coming with that, you know, when you have dogs in the house and just living day to day in your house, you know, it's like, well, the group's coming over. We gotta start picking up, gotta do cleaning again. And sometimes it seems like it's just a never-ending chore uh whenever you do that. But I don't think there's anything more rewarding sometimes, though, than having just a group of good believers that are friends come over, share a meal, um, you know, share the word. And as we were kind of discussing before this started, this actually is kind of your wheelhouse to an extent because you love to host. I do, I do, you love to serve others and and all that kind of thing. So we actually don't host the life group right at the moment. We did that for about a year, a little over a year, I think it was. Two years maybe.

Michelle Moore 6:02

Two years, yeah.

Daniel Moore 6:03

And we loved every minute of it. But, you know, there's a season for everything. And as we were doing the hosting thing, we kept getting busier with different things in the church, taking on more responsibilities, and then our ministry here, um, everything that we do with it, uh, we had to start trimming a little bit here and there.

Michelle Moore 6:24

So well, it was more like me like, okay, something has to give.

Daniel Moore 6:28

That's right.

Michelle Moore 6:29

Because I can't go all the time like he can.

Daniel Moore 6:31

Yeah. And so we ended up uh going ahead and stopping our life group at that point, but there's still things that happen at our house where you get to host pretty regularly and and you love doing that, and I love watching you do that. That's and we're gonna talk about this. That's a ministry. Um, that's something that I think you have to have a really a calling on you uh to do something like that. And, you know, I don't think everybody can actually be a good host and and pull it off like they should. I think it takes a a special person that has that calling on their life um to make that happen. So we're gonna go ahead and get started this week. And Michelle, if you want to go ahead and and get us started there with using your home as a place of mission.

Welcome Over Perfection In The Home

Michelle Moore 7:13

Yeah, our homes are meant to be more than just places where we crash after a long day, hunt for missing socks, and stare into the fridge hoping food magically appears since the last time we checked it 30 seconds ago. According to God's design, our homes are supposed to be mission outposts, a little embassies of kingdom where grace is lived out, where people feel seen, and where the love of Jesus becomes tangible. A godly home is not measured by your square footage, but by the size of the welcome inside it. Some couples think ministry only happens on church platforms, behind pulpits, or on mission trips overseas. But throughout Scripture, some of the most powerful ministry moments happen around dinner tables, in living rooms, and through ordinary acts of hospitality. Romans 12 13 tells believers to share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Notice Paul didn't say practice hospitality if your house is spotless. He didn't say only invite people over once your marriage is perfect, your kids behave, and your decorative throw pillows all match. Honestly, if that were the requirement, most of us would never invite anybody over. Hospitality is not about performance, it's about presence.

Daniel Moore 8:39

Yeah, as we get started here, that's there's some very good points that you've just crossed there. And you know, probably the main takeaway from there was when you were talking about a godly home is not m measured by square footage, but the size of the welcome inside of it.

Michelle Moore 8:57

I like that.

Daniel Moore 8:58

With the heart of a servant like you have, what what does that mean to you when you read a statement like that? What does that make you think of when you think of a home that actually measures itself in that way?

Michelle Moore 9:10

Well, I was sitting there thinking about as I was reading some of this, you know, it's not about that being the house being spotless, it's about people coming in and feeling welcome and about being genuine and letting them know that, hey, this house is your house. Like, you know, it it's not to me about what's inside of it, it's about who they are and how you know God flows out of me to make them feel so welcome.

Daniel Moore 9:38

Yeah. And you know, back in the day, you know, several years back, we were leading that the other life group that we used to lead. It was college age and young adult. And you know, that's a whole different ball game when you're in that age group. The the life group that we just had was more adults, up into senior adults. But when you have the younger group especially, you always kind of have that open door policy. Yeah. You know, you always tell them, you know, if you guys just want to come hang out sometime, you know, if you're bored or if you want to come over, just need to talk about something. You know, we always our door was always open. And I think and they did come. They did. Yeah, and you and I think when you look at using your home as hospitality, as using it as a mission, uh, with you know, when you're a married couple and you're just able to pour into people like that, then you almost have to be like a 24-7 type of thing to an extent. Because there are people there that are going to look to you for their their times that they may need something or need some prayer. Uh, maybe they just feel lonely for a little bit and they just need somebody to hang out with, you know. It's just amazing what happens when people get together and start having some conversation and just, you know, start filling each other's void with your presence. And I like I know with us we are really picky and we do.

Michelle Moore 11:04

I'm not as near as picky as you are because I'm like, this is life. They need to see our life, you know. To me, it's not always about cleaning the house and you know, we we always tease each other because it's like if you see tumbleweeds, we're sorry, you know. That would be our dog's rolling hair, right? You know, golden doodle. Yeah. We vacuum every single day. I mean like it's still, but it's still there. But the thing is I don't want people to come over and think my life is made. Right. You know, it it needs to show this is my daily life. I live this way, I humbly go to other people's houses and show up un uninvited sometimes. And I know how I feel, it doesn't bother me as much, but it bothers you quite a bit. Yeah. So we try not to do that. And so, but the thing is God wants people to be able to stop by at any time, and our homes should be welcome and it should be open to where anybody feels like they're welcome.

Daniel Moore 12:10

Yeah. And regardless of how either of us feels about it, that's how our door is.

Michelle Moore 12:15

Um, we anybody knows that our door has doggy sn uh smudges on it from their noses, just FYI.

Daniel Moore 12:22

Yeah, but it's always open.

Michelle Moore 12:23

Yes.

Daniel Moore 12:24

You know, if if we've already we've told anybody that knows us well, they know that if they need to come by at any time and talk to us or whatever it may be, that our door is always open. And you're the type of person, and anybody that knows us well knows this about Michelle. She is a seasoned decorator. So she decorates for every season uh in the year and practic and it's a bunch of them. I'm constantly hauling totes out of the attic and up and down the stairs.

Michelle Moore 12:55

I know. Easy, easy.

Daniel Moore 12:58

But I have to give her credit because I do think it looks awesome. She's really, really good at decorating, and she keeps our home home very, very nice, very homey. We always get comments about how homey our home feels, and people come in, they just feel relaxed, they feel welcome. And that's the kind of an atmosphere, you know, that you do want. And so we're so thankful that God's given, for one thing, I'm thankful He's given you the capability to decorate like you do. He's given us a beautiful home. And so I think that you know, God wants us to use that for his glory. And it kind of leads into this next point. You know, people may forget your decorations, but they'll never forget how your home made them feel.

Michelle Moore 13:38

Yeah.

Daniel Moore 13:38

You know, some of the sweetest moments of ministry happen in imperfect environments.

Michelle Moore 13:43

Yeah.

Daniel Moore 13:44

A crock pot meal.

Michelle Moore 13:45

Yeah.

Daniel Moore 13:45

Kids running through the hallway screaming like tiny caffeinated missionaries.

Michelle Moore 13:50

I love that.

Daniel Moore 13:51

Husband trying to help clean up, but somehow loading the dishwasher like he's solving a Ruby's cube blindfolded. You know, it's real life, it's real people, and it's real love.

Michelle Moore 13:59

Yeah.

Daniel Moore 14:00

And that's exactly the kind of environment where Jesus loves to move.

Michelle Moore 14:03

Yes.

Daniel Moore 14:03

Hospitality is deeply woven into the story of scripture because hospitality reflects the heart of God Himself. If you get the Bible and you look from Genesis all the way to Revelation, we see a God who welcomes people in. You know, in Psalms 23, there's a very popular scripture. It says, You prepare a table before me. Jesus constantly sat at tables with sinners, outsiders, and hurting people. The gospel itself is an invitation into the family of God.

Michelle Moore 14:30

I'm going to say something right there. When you just said that, you know, I I in my mind, I think a lot of people think about, you know, well, I don't want people to come over because look at my house. Or I I don't, you know, my house is not this nice. Or, you know, I just feel like a lot of times we forget the whole purpose that God has provided our home for us. And when you said that, you know, I was just thinking about real life, real people. You know, he said with people, the hurting people, the outsiders, you know, if we tend to get caught up within ourselves, we're gonna miss that. Yes. We're gonna miss that opportunity that the father has for us. Yeah. And a lot of people are really worried about that, or I'm too busy, or anything like that. We have to remember why we're here.

Daniel Moore 15:22

Yeah. And the reason for that is when we as a couple cultivate a welcoming home, what are we doing?

Michelle Moore 15:29

We're reflecting the character of the Christ together.

Daniel Moore 15:32

Exactly right.

The Widow’s Last Meal And Obedience

Daniel Moore 15:33

That's right. Now there's another example in the Bible in 1 Kings 17 about the widow at Zarephath. Yes. This woman was down to her final handful of flour and a tiny bit of oil. She was literally preparing what she believed would be her last meal before death. But then Elijah shows up and asks her to feed him first. And you can imagine that moment for a second. You know, she had to be thinking, you know, sir, read the room. You know, yet in faith and obedience, she gave what little she had and God multiplied it. That story reminds us the hospitality has never been about abundance, it's always been about obedience. And I actually did an episode on that story several years ago. Um, it's called Living from a Deficit. Can't remember exactly what episode that was, but the whole point that I drew out of that episode was she was looking at what she didn't have. That's all that she was focused on was the little bit that she had left. So in essence, when you kind of flip that over into life, there's times that we feel like we're nothing. We feel like we have very little to offer. And we get negative on ourselves. Satan likes to speak that over us. You know, he he's always wanting us to uh feel like that, you know, we're who he says we are, that we're defined by our our failures and things that are negative about ourselves. When God wants us to look at no, you have this little bit left, but how much can you do with that little bit with me involved? You know? And when God's involved in that, that what we look at as a little bit, God's looking at it as a beginning of something huge.

Michelle Moore 17:12

That's good.

Daniel Moore 17:13

And it's all in our perspective, and that's why Elijah here was trying to get, you know, to the widow whenever, especially when he told her to feed him first, she's probably thinking, Well, man, he's kind of selfish, you know. Guys are always, you know, it's kind of common for a man to be nice to a woman and let them go first. You know, I remember family dinners we'd always let the girls go first and get their food, and the, you know, the kids and men would eat last. You know, you think of a lot of different cultures like that around the world, that happens a lot in different scenarios where the men, you know, they stay back and let the women go first or whatever. Well, here we got Elijah. He's like, I want to eat first. You know, I'm gonna eat before you and the kid.

Michelle Moore 17:53

Well, and what makes me also think about is because we live in such a different world now, if you had nothing but one little thing left and someone knocked on your door and said, Do you have this? How many people would actually give that?

Daniel Moore 18:10

Yeah. It's a very heart-searching question.

Michelle Moore 18:13

I mean, I'm sitting here asking myself, like, you know, I it just it blows my mind to think that, you know, but here she did. She did it.

Daniel Moore 18:23

Yep. And look what God did.

Michelle Moore 18:25

Yeah.

Daniel Moore 18:25

He multiplied, she she couldn't get enough jars to hold all the oil. And that just goes to show that if we put ourselves and what we have in God's hands and say, God, you gave me all of this, if it wasn't for you, I would not be here. I wouldn't have what I have. Use it for what you will. It's amazing the things and the and the lives that can be touched by that.

Michelle Moore 18:51

Well, even with our gifts and our talents.

Daniel Moore 18:53

Yeah, there's so many things that goes into that scenario. And so I think that just a little message out of that little portion there, you know, is if maybe you in your mind, maybe you've been approached here recently to utilize something you own, whether it fit your house, your car, whatever it may be, maybe you've been uh convicted in your heart to do something, but you feel like, you know, you're on the lower end of the spectrum. You don't have much. And you're afraid to jump into that because what little you have, you're afraid of losing it. Just remember with God on your side, if he's truly in it, you're going to be able to succeed.

Michelle Moore 19:33

Yeah.

Daniel Moore 19:33

He will make sure of that. And you'll probably actually get blessed even more beyond what you had to begin with. We're blessed to be a blessing. That's what the Bible tells us.

Michelle Moore 19:42

Right.

Daniel Moore 19:57

So go ahead and go with the next point there.

Generosity In Culture And Modern Fear

Michelle Moore 19:59

God does not ask us to give from overflow alone. Sometimes he asks us to trust him with the little we think we have left. There are married couples listening right now who feel like they don't have enough to offer. Maybe money is tight, maybe the house is small, maybe life feels chaotic, maybe you've got laundry piles stacked high enough to qualify as a hiking trap. Been there before. But hospitality was never about impressing people. It was about loving people. And sometimes the most impactful ministry comes from the couples who simply say, Come on in anyway. Around the world, this kind of open-hearted living is normal. In places like Ethiopia, Pakistan, and the Philippines, families where very little materially will still welcome strangers with incredible generosity. They may not have guest bedrooms or fancy dining tables, but they make room. They share the meals together, they offer rest. They understand something we often forget in a Western culture. A home is meant to be shared. Meanwhile, many of us in America treat our homes like high security compounds. We've got privacy fences, security cameras, video doorbells, and enough caution around unexpected visitors to make it feel like regarding classified government files. And I'm pretty sure he just pretty much told on himself. Every bit of it, people. Every bit of it. I'm like, he just told on himself. So let's be honest. If somebody rings a doorbell unexpectedly, half of us hit the floor like we're in an action movie. But Hebrews 13 2 says, Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers for by By so doing, some people may have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. That verse changes their perspective completely. What if that interruption isn't actually an interruption? What if the person needing encouragement, conversation, or refuge is someone God intentionally brought across your path?

Daniel Moore 22:22

Yeah, this section's a little convicting. I'm not gonna lie. And honestly, I think all of us, especially here in the States, now I know these episodes get listened to all over the world. So some and some of you that are listening right now may be in that culture where you do share a lot. Your how your home has an open door to whoever may come. And that's awesome. That's how God wants us to be. But anybody that's familiar with the Western culture where we live in the United States, it's a whole different ball game here. And there's a mixture of a lot of different kinds of people, is probably the best way to put it in our country. You've got the people that will give you the shirt off their back. I mean, anything that's theirs is yours. And you know that they'll flat they'll make it known. But then there's other people that are just a little bit more not quite as open with it all. They're, you know, they're okay if they know you, or you know, they've if there's a little bit of security there and what they know, they might be willing to do that. And then you got the people that it's an absolute no. I mean, it it would be like uh a huge miracle, you know, if they ever helped anybody. It's amazing all the different kinds that you run into here in our country. And, you know, as Christians, we have to remember that, you know, yes, security is a thing. I totally get that. We live in a world now that's not like it used to be. There's a lot of dangerous people walking around, and we are very wary of people walking up in the dark to our front doors knocking that we don't know who they are, where they came from. So there is a little bit of discretion and some safety issues there that you got to be aware of.

Michelle Moore 24:08

Right, right.

Daniel Moore 24:09

Um, but at the same time, if you do get to the point where you realize this person just needs something, you know, and if you have that to offer, then we're being God's hands and feet at that point. Right. And so, and we can discern that through through pair. I think God will show us in those moments, you know, what it is that we need to do. And, you know, it's it's just something that I think we don't see as often today as what we used to.

Michelle Moore 24:36

Yeah.

Daniel Moore 24:37

And, you know, it's it's kind of disturbing, really. It's it's just not a good thing. And so that's one thing that I've you know, I've learned even as we've done life group. Uh it's it's kind of put me out of my comfort zone a little bit to share what I've got, you know. Uh, we work hard for what we have. I mean, we're in the best place we've ever been in our whole life since we've been married, and you know, God's really blessed us. And it's real easy sometimes to just say, you know, I'm gonna keep that all to myself. I'm not gonna let anybody else get involved.

Michelle Moore 25:06

And I'm totally opposite.

Daniel Moore 25:07

Yeah, you are. And so, and I think that's partially why, you know, I have changed my views on a lot of things. I think, you know, I have you to thank for a lot of that because you do, anybody that knows you, you're a host. You love to serve people. And people closest to us know that. So, so your table, it may become the altar where someone encounters a love of God.

Hospitality Inside Marriage First

Daniel Moore 25:32

So let's bring this into marriage practically for a moment. Hospitality is not just about opening your home to outsiders, it's also about how you treat each other inside the home. Preach it. Preach it. Some couples are excellent at being kind to guests while being short-tempered with each other behind closed doors. You know, we'll smile at company while silently arguing with our spouse through eye contact from across the kitchen. You know, you know the look. Every married couple knows that look. But a truly Christ-centered home starts with how husband and wife serve one another daily. Ephesians 5 reminds us that marriage itself is meant to reflect Christ in the church. That means hospitality begins with honor, patience, gentleness, and sacrifice toward your spouse first. Sometimes hospitality looks like welcoming guests over for dinner. Sometimes it looks like welcoming your exhausted spouse with grace after a hard day. Sometimes the holiest thing that you can do is put down your phone, listen well, and make your spouse feel emotionally safe again.

Michelle Moore 26:32

That's really good.

Daniel Moore 26:33

And I think there's a lot of truth to this here because, you know, we've talked about this a little bit here just even recently. If couples aren't in a position to be able to pour into other couples because they're already having those same problems, they don't need to be putting themselves into a spot pouring into other couples, you know.

Michelle Moore 26:53

That is exactly right.

Daniel Moore 26:54

You need to take care of home first. Because if you can't be at home and exemplify the, you know, exhibit this servant's heart and between each other and you know, have a good, cohesive relationship behind closed doors, then what are we gonna do when we let people come over? Just fake it, you know? It's like I think God holds us to a little bit higher level than that. And as we've been going through this marriage series and we've done other series before already, we've talked about this a lot about how we treat each other. And I think God expects us as you're really a leader. If you're gonna host people and host a life group or that kind of thing, that does kind of put you in a leadership position. And when that happens, I think God expects more out of us. You know, that's just how kind of how I look at that. So we need to make sure that if we feel like we have this calling on our life and this calling on our heart to open our doors to let people come in so that we can disciple them or pour into them, show them Christ's love. We really need to make sure home base is taken care of also before we even attempt that. God blesses that. Yeah, He will bless that tremendously. Go to the next

Millie Deanert And Billy Graham Ripples

Daniel Moore 28:08

one there.

Michelle Moore 28:08

Um, before your home can become a refuge for others, it must first become a refuge for one another. One of the most powerful modern examples of hospitality changing history is the story of Millie Deanert and her husband Carl. They were an ordinary young couple in Pennsylvania when they met a relatively unknown evangelist named Billy Graham. Billy Graham wasn't yet filling stadiums or preaching to millions. He was just a young preacher traveling with a small ministry team, exhausted and operating on a shoestring budget. Millie and Carl opened their home to him repeatedly. They provided mills, rest, encouragement, and a Christ-centered atmosphere where weary ministers could breathe again. And here's what's incredible. Millie didn't know she was helping support one of the most influential evangelistic ministries in modern history. She simply made room at her table. That's the beauty of the kingdom hospitality. You often never realize the internal impact of ordinary obedience. One meal, one open door, one conversation, and one night of encouragement. God can use simple acts of faithfulness to create ripple effects that outlive us.

Daniel Moore 29:32

And could you imagine being her and then seeing where Billy Graham would end up? He literally, if if you research this, and I work at a radio station, and at our radio station we play what we call Billy Graham Minutes. Uh they're a 60-second snippet from his sermons, and they made a little radio program out of them. But if you research into Billy Graham, he is actually one of the most popular, most influential preachers that's ever lived. He has met with the most presidents, he's been to the most countries, he's spoken to the most people. Honestly, there's really nobody else in history that's ever had an impact like Billy Graham did. And you know, how I wonder how that would have w happened if she had said no.

Michelle Moore 30:22

It's very inert. Yeah.

Daniel Moore 30:25

You just never know, you know, just like we talked a little bit earlier about how you never know if you're serving an angel, you know, like the story of Abraham and what happened to him. Now we know Billy Graham wasn't an angel, but he was definitely called by God.

Michelle Moore 30:41

Right, right.

Daniel Moore 30:41

You know, God had a huge calling on his life, and he had Millie right in the middle of that story.

Michelle Moore 30:47

So awesome.

Daniel Moore 30:48

You know, she did not realize at the time what she was instigating and uh the discipleship that was going on there in her home as Billy Graham was, you know, getting older and starting to be more influential and starting to, you know, move into that calling that God put him in. So we never know. You know, it's some of the smallest things that we may really think that, you know, I'm gonna say no this time, it's not that big a deal. Uh, maybe, you know, there'll be another time. Well, you might be saying no to what's in the future could be one of the biggest influences in Christianity in the world that there ever will be. And you know, when you think of it that way, it really just makes you rethink a lot of things and how we respond in a lot of different cases.

Michelle Moore 31:34

And and hopefully when you're thinking of saying no, you've been prayed up on it.

Daniel Moore 31:39

Right.

Michelle Moore 31:40

You know, you're you're not personally um what's where uh uh the human flesh saying no. You know, that's we have to be careful with that.

Daniel Moore 31:50

Yes, we do. And you know, as we continue here, uh there's a little bit more here about Billy. It says you may never preach to a stadium, but your kitchen table can still change eternity. And this is exactly what happened in that story you just shared. The fact that she let him stay with them, eat at their table, that made a huge difference in where Billy Graham ended up later. And as I was just saying, he would eventually preach the gospel to over 215 million people worldwide. Millie herself became a respected Bible teacher and speaker. But part of that story started in an humble home where someone chose generosity over convenience. And honestly, that should encourage every married couple listening.

Michelle Moore 32:34

Yeah.

Daniel Moore 32:35

You do not need perfection for God to use your home. You need willingness. Your couch may be worn out, your house may be small, your kids may be loud, your meals may occasionally resemble a science experiment gone wrong. But God specializes in using ordinary people with open hearts. So good. And you know, I could never even imagine talking to that many people about Jesus.

Michelle Moore 32:59

Wow.

Daniel Moore 33:00

And just and what I don't have here in this, because I didn't put it in there, I'm sure the if we research researched it, we could probably get a pretty good number on it. But I would say that out of that 215 million people that he spoke to, the ones that actually gave their life to Christ is probably a pretty huge number, also.

Michelle Moore 33:18

Oh, I would agree with that.

Daniel Moore 33:19

And honestly, I think he's still reaching, he's Billy's not even here now. He's died and went on to heaven, he's with our savior, but I guarantee you, somewhere some today, probably, or recently, somebody's probably given their life to Christ because of hearing Billy Graham something that he said. And you know, it's I think that's a legacy, is what that is. Absolutely. You know, whenever you can have that kind of impact and continue to have that even after you're gone, that speaks volumes. And, you know, I just I know that myself, I don't ever see myself being that impactful as far as he was concerned, but I do pray that whatever God has instilled inside of me, you know, you and I both, whenever we do our episodes together and everything, we always ask God in our prayers to, you know, open the borders, open the the doors that this podcast will reach whoever needs to hear it. You know, it's like there's so many hurting people in this world, and God's put that calling upon us to try to help, you know, fill some of those voids. And that's a prayer that that you and I have, yeah, you know, all the time is God just wherever this needs to go, and we umbly sit here at this microphone and record all of this and you know, put our life out there on the table, um, hoping that somewhere somebody's life will be changed.

Michelle Moore 34:41

Yes, yes.

Daniel Moore 34:41

And and all of everybody out there that's listening, all of you that are listeners, that should be your desire.

Michelle Moore 34:47

Yeah.

Daniel Moore 34:47

You know, everybody has a testimony.

Michelle Moore 34:49

Absolutely.

Daniel Moore 34:50

It may not be a crazy messed up story like yours and mine. I think everybody has a messed up story.

Michelle Moore 34:55

Yeah, but let's just keep thinking that. Yeah, exactly. Makes me feel better.

Daniel Moore 35:00

Um, but regardless, everybody has a story.

Michelle Moore 35:03

Yes, that's all right.

Daniel Moore 35:04

You know, everybody has that moment that they just about gave up, but something happened and God came in and intervened somehow, and their life was changed forever. And you never know if you share that story with someone, you know, who who that can touch and who that will make a difference in their life. So, do you have anything else to add to this week's episode?

Michelle Moore 35:26

No, this this is good. It's so good.

Practical Takeaways And Closing Charge

Daniel Moore 35:29

And next week we're gonna dig into a little bit deeper. And so, you know, I I think that you know, when it comes to being a servant, there's so many things that fall underneath that category. And this is one of those that I think is overlooked a lot of times. Uh, you know, just opening our homes so that people can come in and just feel the love of Jesus, you know? Um, so you know, hospitality is not about creating an impressive environment, it's about creating a Christ-filled atmosphere. I mean, this is pretty much the essence of what we've been talking about this whole week. There's something deeply healing about entering a home where peace lives, a place where people laugh together, pray together, and make room for others. So, in a culture filled with loneliness, anxiety, division, and isolation, Christian homes have an opportunity to shine brighter than ever. And there's a huge truth in that because how many people nowadays hurt and have issues. There's so much going on. Satan is on such a rampant attack on so many people. And so I think today more than ever, I think Christian homes are needed for people to just be able to come in and just feel the love of Jesus, you know. And the positive thing about that is married couples, we all have a unique opportunity to model this together. You know, when a husband and wife intentionally cultivate warmth, generosity, and grace in their home, they preach a sermon without every stepping behind a pulpit. That's why some of the greatest ministry moments in history didn't happen on conference stages, they happened around kitchen tables. So keep the coffee warm, keep your heart soft, and keep your home available to God because kingdom work often walks through the front door disguised as an ordinary moment. And who knows, the next person sitting at your dinner table may desperately need to encounter the love of Jesus through your simple act of welcome, or at the very least, through your famous casserole recipe that somehow fixes everyone's problems. Well, that's gonna about wrap it up for this week. Don't forget that you can visit our website at marriagelifeandmore.com and find anything that you need to know about our ministry. Everything is there, all the platforms that we're on. Next week we come back, we'll go ahead and do part two of this episode and we will finish this up. I think this has been a really good one. And so I'm excited to get back into this with you next week. Me too. And we'll finish this up. So as we close this episode, remember this hospitality's never been about having the perfect home. It's always been about having an available heart. God has never been impressed by spotless kitchens, designer furniture, or magazine-worthy dining rooms, but he is deeply moved by open doors, willing hands, and hearts that make room for people. The beauty of biblical hospitality is that it transforms ordinary spaces into places where extraordinary things can happen. Abraham simply offered a meal and a place to rest. The widow of Zarepheth shared her last portion of food. Millie and Carl, they opened their home to a young preacher. None of them fully understood what God was doing in the moment. They were simply faithful with what they had. And that's often how God works. Most ministry doesn't happen under spotlights, it happens around dinner tables, in living rooms, on front porches, across kitchen counters. It happens when couples choose generosity over convenience, people over schedules, and service over comfort. Your home may never appear in a magazine, but it may appear in someone's testimony. Years from now, someone may not remember what you served for dinner, but they may remember that your home was the place where they felt loved, encouraged, prayed for, accepted, and seen. And that's kingdom work. So keep making room, keep setting an extra place at the table, keep offering that cup of coffee, keep creating a home where grace is felt, laughter is heard, and Jesus is welcome. Because every open door becomes an opportunity for God to do something eternal. And remember, hospitality isn't inviting people into your perfect life, it's inviting people into the imperfect place where God is actively working. Well, that's going to do it for this week. We pray that your marriage is stronger and your walk with God is closer after this episode. This episode is recorded in the upper room at our Connecting the Gap Studios. This is an extension of Connecting the Gap Ministries, and we pray that you have a blessed week.