The Gift of Invitation
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is when Jesus invites Andrew and his brother Peter to come and follow him. After Andrew and Peter accept Jesus’s invitation, Jesus walks a little further down the shoreline and invites James and his brother John to follow him. They all readily accept the invitation to follow Jesus and as they say, the rest is history. I wonder how many times those disciples reflected on that moment, the moment that changed everything. Just for a moment think about some of the things you were invited to that you will forever be grateful for.
I was invited by my best friend to come to a youth camp when I was 15. That camp was the beginning of a long conversation between God and me about the direction of my life. That youth camp changed everything for me. When my wife Karen was 22 she was invited to go to a college graduation to see her cousin graduate. Little did she know she would meet her future husband that day and it all happened because someone invited her. I’m so glad they did!
Speaking of Karen, she is one of the best inviters I know. She is not afraid to invite people to anything she believes will ultimately bless or benefit them. Have you ever thought about inviting someone to church but decided not to because you made an assumption? You assumed they were too busy, or not the church type or any number of excuses that might mean turning down your invitation. It’s always possible that someone might turn down our invitation but it’s also quite possible they will accept our invitation. Inviting someone to church has the potential to change their future forever. I think most of us are willing to invite people to something we think is important. A fellow pastor recently invited me to a seminar taking place at his church. I accepted his invitation and I’m so glad I did. It turned out to be a great seminar. He could have easily thought to himself, “Steve is a busy pastor and he’s probably too busy to come to our seminar.”
We should not be in the business of making up people's minds for them. Remember God is at work and we never know when someone will be open to an invitation.
Let me present an exciting invitation opportunity for you. Soon, we don’t have a date yet, our auditorium will be finished. Our newly renovated auditorium is a fantastic opportunity to reintroduce ourselves to our community. For the last five months we have been barricaded in various places on our campus which means we were not visible to the public. We put signs out Sunday but with all the construction going on presenting our church to our local community has been challenging. Details will be forthcoming about an actual relaunch happening sometime in November or early December. We plan on making invite cards for you to hand out to your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, or even your enemies, they need Jesus too!
I hope you will get into the spirit of inviting people to Pacific Life Church. Your invitation could change everything for someone who is far from God.
Stay close to Jesus,
Steve