"In Luke's Gospel, Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal. The table is where the kingdom breaks in." - Robert Karris

Tables tell stories. They reveal who belongs, who's welcome, who matters. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus transforms every table he touches—turning exclusive dining rooms into kingdom demonstrations, transforming simple meals into sacred moments, making space where there was none before. Through these moments, he shows us what the church is meant to be.

Paul's prayer for the Ephesian church captures this vision perfectly: a community rooted in love, grasping together the boundless dimensions of Christ's love, being filled with God's fullness and living out of it. This isn't about individual spiritual achievement but collective transformation. Notice the key phrase—"together with all the Lord's holy people." We discover the vastness of God's love not in isolation but in community, not by individualistic piety but kingdom motivation.

As we begin this new ministry year, we're returning to our foundational mission: Together, creating space for everyone to discover life in Jesus. Through four meal stories from Luke's Gospel, we'll discover what it means to become the church God calls us to be—a family gathered around his table, where all are welcome, and where the feast of the kingdom is both a present reality and a future hope.