I am no stranger to inviting people to come events I know about. In fact, many of you probably get annoyed with all the invites I send you, I love getting people connected! While the eagerness I have to connect people "within" the church is great, I've been feeling convicted lately about why I no longer have that same eagerness to connect people "TO" the church. There was a time, not too long ago when I was constantly inviting people to come to church with me. One week, I invited almost everyone I knew from one particular group of friends I had and 7, (yes 7!!!) people came to church with me that night. We took up an entire row at the Porch and I was so excited to have them there to hear the message. It was the night JP played the song from Salt and Pepper, you know what I'm talking about :)
This past Thursday I showed up to play tennis with a friend of mine. There was a big group of us and they organized people according to their skill level. I was super excited to play, and as I eagerly awaited the organizer to call my name, he went through the entire list and accidentally left me off! At first I was a little upset, I had driven all the way out to the court and I wasn't going to be able to play. Well, there was another lady who also got left off that night. I offered to play singles with her and the gentleman who was organizing said "I don't think that's a good idea, you are a 4.0 player." That was his nice way of letting me know this other lady was not quiet at the same skill level I was. We got on the tennis court and I quickly realized we weren't going to be playing much tennis. So, I started talking to her and getting to know Ms. Thelma, and boy was she a treat :) Such a sweet lady. We started talking about Jesus and I ended up inviting her to church with me. We didn't exchange contact information, honestly I didn't even think twice about it until I showed up for the 530 service at church this past Sunday and there she was!! How exciting it was to see her. God used that opportunity to help me realize that I have been lacking, big time in the department of growing his Kingdom!!
Jesus urges us to "Go into the world and preach the gospel" (Mark 16), to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28). I know when we think about witnessing sometimes we feel insecure or inadequate. I've been there before, many times. I definitely hope we can all get to the point that it just comes so naturally to us that we don't even think about it. But until that time comes, there is one thing I'm sure we can all agree is not to difficult to do... Invite them!! Invite them, and they will come! I was overwhelmingly surprised when I just extended the invite one week and 7 people ended up accepting that invitation. Just last night I was having a conversation with someone I have been friends with for a while and I realized I had never invited them to come to church with me. Well guess what? Not only is the person I invited coming, they are bringing a guest!
So, I encourage you friends, set a goal for yourselves to invite 1 person to church with you this week. Seek God and ask him who He wants you to reach out to this week, and be faithful when He gives you an answer. Because trust me, He will give you an answer.
Happy fishing!!
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