Invite a Friend - 2

With ‘Invite a Friend’ day approaching October 16^th, I wanted to challenge you as I am challenging myself to invite a friend or two to church.  Last week, Freshly Bru’d gave some specific things to say in terms of how to invite a friend.  This week I want to focus on ‘why’ we should invite a friend.

First, we want our guests to connect with a Biblical community to witness how we worship God together, serve one another and love one another.  The church is the bride of Christ.  It is not to be messed with, minimized, put down, ignored, underrated or negated.

We ought to love the church as Christ loves the church.  We know that there are so many things that the church can do, and Biblical community is one that it does best.  Church is a hub for spiritual discovery and growth and we want guests to engage in that.

Second, we understand that guests will get the invitation to follow Jesus through the sermon and our general community environment.  We all want our friends to hear about God’s love through Jesus and experience that.  Can you imagine heaven seeing one of your unchurched friends there because it all began with your invitation?  Wow!

Third, we believe what we have at First Free will meet their deepest needs, help them grow, rest, learn, gain passion and strengthen their life direction.

I once heard a pastor say, “I have never seen an empty seat get saved.”  I happen to believe he is right.  We ought to invite people with the intention of them hearing the gospel.  Every filled seat represents a person reached.  Every empty chair represents a person yet to be reached.

If I had it my way, every time we open our doors we would be at max capacity.  This Sunday you will receive 3 personal invitations to use to invite your friends.  Use them.  Cindy and I have at least three we’ve already invited.  I hope everyone will be challenged to do the same.

Blessings,Mark "The Bru" Brunott
P.S. One of the greatest curve balls that we will experience in life is ‘death.’ We all have lost loved ones.  We all know what it means to grieve.  This Sunday morning at 9:15 and 11:00 we will examine how to grieve and discover hope in the process.