What I Didn't Get to Say on Sunday (04/12/2026): Alive at Work (PT. 1)
Want to go deeper? This blog expands on the message preached on April 12 at GracePointe. Watch the full message at https://gpnaz.church/media.
The Hatfields, The McCoys, and the Table
Alive at Work | Week 2
For over a century, the Hatfield and McCoy families turned the Appalachian hills into a war zone.
They fought over hogs. Over land. Over a love that crossed the wrong bloodline. They buried children and brothers and kept the ledger running. The feud didn't end because one side won. It ended because both sides grew exhausted from burying people they loved.
On June 14, 2003, more than 100 years after the worst of the violence, descendants of both families gathered and signed a formal truce. Two sides that had defined themselves by hatred of each other chose to share a history instead.
They sat down at the same table.
Jesus said something that should stop us cold: "Many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 8:11)
Not a metaphor. A meal. A real table with real seats, and people from every nation, every background, every history of conflict, seated together. Ancient Jewish teaching describes this as the great Messianic Banquet, a lavish feast prepared by God for all peoples. Isaiah saw it coming: "The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain." (Isaiah 25:6)
The Hatfields and McCoys got there by exhaustion. God is preparing something better. A table where the wolf and the lamb don't just tolerate each other. They feast together.
And here is what that means for your Monday.
Our salvation isn't just for us. You are not just a recipient of peace. You are an ambassador of the kingdom that is coming. Every act of integrity at work, every moment you extend grace to someone who doesn't deserve it, every Monday you show up carrying something the world can't produce on its own, you are announcing that table. You are sending an invitation.
The feud ends. The table is coming. And right now, in the in-between, you are one of the people holding the invitation out to someone who doesn't yet know they have a seat.
Walk in like you know it.
They fought over hogs. Over land. Over a love that crossed the wrong bloodline. They buried children and brothers and kept the ledger running. The feud didn't end because one side won. It ended because both sides grew exhausted from burying people they loved.
On June 14, 2003, more than 100 years after the worst of the violence, descendants of both families gathered and signed a formal truce. Two sides that had defined themselves by hatred of each other chose to share a history instead.
They sat down at the same table.
Jesus said something that should stop us cold: "Many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 8:11)
Not a metaphor. A meal. A real table with real seats, and people from every nation, every background, every history of conflict, seated together. Ancient Jewish teaching describes this as the great Messianic Banquet, a lavish feast prepared by God for all peoples. Isaiah saw it coming: "The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain." (Isaiah 25:6)
The Hatfields and McCoys got there by exhaustion. God is preparing something better. A table where the wolf and the lamb don't just tolerate each other. They feast together.
And here is what that means for your Monday.
Our salvation isn't just for us. You are not just a recipient of peace. You are an ambassador of the kingdom that is coming. Every act of integrity at work, every moment you extend grace to someone who doesn't deserve it, every Monday you show up carrying something the world can't produce on its own, you are announcing that table. You are sending an invitation.
The feud ends. The table is coming. And right now, in the in-between, you are one of the people holding the invitation out to someone who doesn't yet know they have a seat.
Walk in like you know it.
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