Do you need Bible verses to consider for your hospitality committee devotions?
Or are you looking for a list of welcoming bible verses for your greeter ministry?
These 14 Bible verses on welcoming the stranger remind us why hospitality matters in the life of the church. They can guide your volunteers as they serve, and help shape the heart of your congregation’s welcome.
14 Scripture Verses for Hospitality Committees and Greeter Teams
The following list of bible verses comes from the New Revised Standard Version
- Deuteronomy 10:19 You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
- Leviticus 19:34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
- Matthew 5:43-44 You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy’. But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.
- Matthew 25:40 Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brethren you did it to me.
- Romans 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
- Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
- Acts 10:34 Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
- Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them.”
- 3 John 1:5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the friends, even though they are strangers to you; they have testified to your love before the church. You do well to send them on in a manner worthy of God; for they began their journey for the sake of Christ, accepting no support from non-believers. Therefore we ought to support such people, so that they may become co-workers with the truth.
- Luke 10:27 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.
- Hebrews 13: 1 Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
- Colossians 3:11 In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.
- Matthew 25: 35 I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
- Romans 12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Coaching Reflection: Let Scripture Shape the Welcome
These verses remind us that hospitality isn’t simply a friendly gesture. It’s a spiritual calling.
Encourage your greeters and hospitality team to let these Scriptures shape their attitude and actions. Use one verse at a time in your volunteer emails, devotionals, or pre-service huddles.
If your team wants to strengthen its sense of purpose, take time together to discuss:
- What does it mean to “welcome the stranger” in your local context?
- How can your hospitality reflect the love of Christ?
- Which verse most speaks to your team’s mission this season?
No matter how you use them for your hospitality ministry, allow the Scriptures to shape the attitude of your greeter volunteers and others who participate in your welcome ministries.
Free Download of these 14 Bible Verses
Download this file for free for quick reference and take it to church.
Related Verses
You might want to check out these additional verses:
Reignite Your First Impressions Ministry
We all want our church visitors to come back. But to get that to happen you need to improve your first impression ministries.
But where do you start?
Get these 7 Secrets to Effective Church Hospitality to give you starting points and ideas that you can implement this weekend.
Editor’s Note:
This article was first compiled in 2007, updated in 2013, and refreshed again with new reflections and a free downloadable version to help your greeter and hospitality teams grow in their ministry of welcome.
How Pastors Refresh the Vision for Your Church Hospitality Team (in 5 Minutes)
Thanks Tony for stopping by. Keep on welcoming people and inviting them to follow Jesus.
I know this is an older blog post but I hope you guys are still maintaining the site. I was looking up some Bible topics for my blog and thought his was a super helpful collection of scriptures.
I know it’s just a paraphrase but since I was a teenager I loved to cross reference with the Message Bible just to shock me out of the familiar passages. I.E.
Colossians 3:11 MSG Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
I like the word inclusion (which I know is loaded in politics lately) because Jesus really did have open arms to all variety of sinful people.
Thanks again for sharing and have a blessed day.
Christ died for every person on this earth. I love what Pastor Will Campbell said, “I believe God made the St. Lawrence River, and the Rio Grande River, and the China Sea and the English Channel, but I don’t believe God made America, or Canada, or Mexico, or England or China. Man did that… Patriotism is the insistence that what we have done is sacred. It is that transference of allegiance from what God did in creating the whole world to what we have done with (or to) a little sliver of it. Patriotism is immoral. Flying a national flag – any national flag – in a church is a symbol of idolatry. Singing ‘God Bless America’ in a Christian service is blasphemy. Patriotism is immoral because it is a violation of the First Commandment. ~ Will D. Campbell 1924-2013
Will Campbell was a radical Christian, a native of Mississippi who was involved in the Civil Rights movement from its beginning and a man when challenged to sum up Christianity in ten words said, “We’re all bastards, but God loves us anyway.”
The good samaritan was Jesus story to answer “who is my neighbour”.All the people who passed by the victim were strangers.The Samaritan who gave of himself was also a despised minority.We should likewise treat people in need accordingly.The problem is that we hear the world’s problems,7 billion of us in desperate need immediately.The focus then should be a close relationship with God, giving us direction how to become involved
You are correct on the one hand that welcoming immigrants is a government policy. National security and accepting immigrants are truly beyond the scope of this article, though verses might be used in forming ideas.
On the other hand, if the immigrant is one’s neighbor, one has the responsibility to be the good Samaritan. One has the responsibility to be loving, welcoming, caring, and gracious, and making sure that unjust treatment is stamped out.
As to the thrust of these articles, they are really aimed at starting a discussion on how to welcome the person not like you at church.
I will not permit rabbit trails into debates on immigration policies on various countries. I removed your comment on Canada to avoid said rabbit trails because simple online searches on canadaian law brings up different results and this is not the place to get into nation specific immigration policies.
Welcoming immigrants or not is a government policy which is formulated on needs and security of the host country.I can understand a christian voting to place a representative in authority for or against immigration, both with legitimate reasoning.No criticism can be levelled here.
Once the immigrant enters he is to be treated and welcomed as a fellow citizen. It is assumed the immigrant would follow the rules of that country.
What has changed is many immigrants, fleeing his home country because of warfare, violence, religious intolerance works to implement the same condition that brought about the problems in his home country.
Unfortunately authorities that voted to bring in immigrants discard their responsibility to follow up on the behaviour of the immigrants.
You are most certainly welcome. Thanks for passing by.
Thank you
@Nathan It’s quite a tension to both a). Welcome the Refugee and b). Protect national security. That would be true for any nation state and its leaders. These verses are good to add to the discussion as one formulates how they will act to do justice and love mercy while walking humbly before God.
I used this as research for a paper I wrote proving to my fellow Christians that we cannot possibly behave like Christ if we deport illegal immigrants, and that we cannot possibly behave like Christ if we are going to deny refugees. Great material and to find these verses all in one place… thank you! I urge pastors to do sermons on this topic!
Pat:
These verses are not directly aimed at welcoming refugees to any country, but the principles can be the same.
We are called to love and serve.
THe first two OT Versus above might be very appropriate to the discussion for refugees. How to balance that with issues of national security is a modern debate that needs to be considered in how to live out the tension between open welcome and security.
Since there is so much on the internet about refugees coming to America I thought maybe this was directed to us to welcome them here because many of us do not agree with them coming. So I looked up verses for non believers. 2 John 1:9-11Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. 10 If there come any unto you,and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God Speed. If this is not the point I agree For all others I agree.
Hey Stan,
I just want to encourage you bother. You will not find a perfect church. It is not your job to fix the church or pastors. God wants to use you to serve and use the gifts he has given to you in your local church to help encourage the believer and make disciples of all men. Don’t allow your frustrations to keep you out of the church. Instead of fault finding ask God to connect you relationally with the others he has surround you with in the church. If there is something morally or ethically wrong than leave the church and find one that you can support. Don’t sweet the small stuff. Stay focused on the bigger picture. The church isn’t there to do everything the way you think it should be done. The church is there to make disciples and encourage the believers so that they can do God’s work thought the week and impact the world they live in with the Hope of the Gospel. Bless you brother!
I like verses for my faith grouth
I was ask at church to be a Emcee, I said ok but I have never been to a home coming before and not sure what I’m suppose to do as a Emcee at church. Please help me do not know what to say or do. Scared but willing to do it.
Great website
Thank you! Be blessed and share it with your friends via Facebook, Pinterst, or Twitter.
Great verses. I’ll definitely write some of them down and I’ll try to remember them. I know that some day they will help me. If you need some encouraging bible verses, read that article http://hardquotes.com/moving-quotes/encouraging-bible-verses-believe . They inspired me so much.
Thanks for scripture!
Mega thanks!
Tweeted to several thousand who follow @MakeLoveYourAim, #PrayerCareShare and other sites connected to LOVER2020.com
This is such important information Chris, thank you for your ministry. I just sent a copy to the pastor of the church we just quit going to. Maybe he’ll read it.
As another note I think some pastors are focused on their retirement package and won’t deviate from the authorized denominational script for the week for fear of upsetting the denominational hierarchy.
We don’t have a church to go to now because they all seem to be following the script and are not dealing with the reality of today’s world. I feel like the Lord is going to shake up the Christians in America like he is in Iraq and elsewhere in the world. The days of American dominance in the world and missionary leadership is drawing to a close. Home groups are the backbone of the growing church and persecution fuels the growth.
Thank you for the ministry the Lord has called you to.
Love in Christ,
Stan
Hello all, I am looking for ideas from you as to what format or different welcomes that you use/say to your visitors. I’m talking the formal welcome that you may give before the entire church congregation. We’ve done many things, such as, start with a scripture and then thank them for choosing to worship with us. But it would be interesting to see what other churches are doing in regard to a formal welcome/greeting to the members and visitors.
There are some members of our Hospitality Ministry who struggle with doing the formal welcome because they feel they don’t know what to say. It also is a struggle for some to just stand before the crowd.