“Invite-A-Friend Sunday — Dec. 6, 2015”

Monday, November 02, 2015

Evangelism matters!

Evangelism is part of who we are. It's a part of the culture for every church who truly follows Jesus. From the very beginning, Jesus told those who would follow him that they would be spreading his message and bringing his life into the world. In Matthew 5, he said we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matt. 5:13-16). It is our imperative responsibility to bring the Gospel—the good news of Jesus—to those who need it most.

When you go to a family's house for dinner, it can be surprisingly easy to feel unwelcome. It's not that anyone in the family wants you to go away, but it can happen if they neglect to be deliberately welcoming. If you are not greeted warmly at the door, if everyone gathers for dinner at the same time but they don't tell you it's time, if someone asks you to move out of their seat, if the family repeatedly tells inside jokes without explaining them to you... It is unlikely you will feel very welcome among them or inclined to get to know them better.

On December 6, we plan to make a deliberate effort to invite others to come to a service and share in worship in a way that is welcoming to them. We want to invite them to our family gathering and make sure they know we are glad they came. That Sunday, the sermon will be focused on the truth (as always), but we will make an especially concerted effort to convey the truth in a way that is accessible to those who are unfamiliar with it. We will make some special efforts to let our guests know exactly what's going on and why we do what we do. We will in no way compromise God's pattern or his truth, but we will do our best to open as many doors as possible for people to see him as clearly as possible. We want to foster an atmosphere where they can receive the full experience of God-centered and truth-driven worship that we offer every week... without worrying that they might be unwelcome among our family!

Plan to invite as many people as you can! Let's all work together to make this a powerful part of the culture of evangelism in our church!

- Dan Lankford, evangelist

Share