Easter will be here
in 12 days. This time of the year is one of the greatest seasons for growth in
the life of the church. It also provides us an opportunity for our own
spiritual growth and renewal. I would like to encourage you to do three things
to provide you the experience of spiritual growth and renewal. Hopefully, you
will start today.
The first thing is to renew. Take this time of the year to examine your own personal life. Is there an area where you need spiritual renewal? Ask God to renew that area in your life. Make a concerted effort to intensify your spiritual growth. Do a spiritual inventory on yourself. Is there anyone against whom you hold a grudge? Is there an area where you have not put God first? Have you failed to seek the lost for Christ? Are you secretly pleased over the misfortunes of others? Have you robbed God by withholding His due of time, talents, money? Are you in anyway careless with your body? Do you have any personal habits that are not pure? Are you dependable and honor your word? Do you listen to unedifying radio or T.V. programs? Are you thankful? Are you taken up with the cares of this life? How is your conversation with others? How is your attendance in church? Do you submit to your leaders? Do you give your best at work?
Get alone with God for an extended period of time – look into His Word as you answer these questions. I read the accounts of Jesus’ last week on earth and it always renews me.
The second thing I want to suggest to you is to invite someone to join you at the Easter services. Sit down and make a list of five to ten of your unchurched friends. Make a commitment to pray for each of them each day before Easter Sunday. Call them, email them, text them, Facebook them, visit them, do whatever it takes but make sure that you take personal responsibility for inviting them. Statistics show that 80% of people who visit a church for the first time come because someone they knew invited them.
Third, connect them to the church. If you invite them and they come it is your responsibility to help them connect to the church. Introduce them to others, sit with them in church, follow up with them the following week. The simple truth is that unless people connect to other members of the church within the first few days after their visit, they are unlikely to come back.
Join me in these three things and let’s see what God will do. (Ephesians 3:20)
Blessings,
The first thing is to renew. Take this time of the year to examine your own personal life. Is there an area where you need spiritual renewal? Ask God to renew that area in your life. Make a concerted effort to intensify your spiritual growth. Do a spiritual inventory on yourself. Is there anyone against whom you hold a grudge? Is there an area where you have not put God first? Have you failed to seek the lost for Christ? Are you secretly pleased over the misfortunes of others? Have you robbed God by withholding His due of time, talents, money? Are you in anyway careless with your body? Do you have any personal habits that are not pure? Are you dependable and honor your word? Do you listen to unedifying radio or T.V. programs? Are you thankful? Are you taken up with the cares of this life? How is your conversation with others? How is your attendance in church? Do you submit to your leaders? Do you give your best at work?
Get alone with God for an extended period of time – look into His Word as you answer these questions. I read the accounts of Jesus’ last week on earth and it always renews me.
The second thing I want to suggest to you is to invite someone to join you at the Easter services. Sit down and make a list of five to ten of your unchurched friends. Make a commitment to pray for each of them each day before Easter Sunday. Call them, email them, text them, Facebook them, visit them, do whatever it takes but make sure that you take personal responsibility for inviting them. Statistics show that 80% of people who visit a church for the first time come because someone they knew invited them.
Third, connect them to the church. If you invite them and they come it is your responsibility to help them connect to the church. Introduce them to others, sit with them in church, follow up with them the following week. The simple truth is that unless people connect to other members of the church within the first few days after their visit, they are unlikely to come back.
Join me in these three things and let’s see what God will do. (Ephesians 3:20)
Blessings,
P.S. Are you burdened? Facing some kind of trouble or tribulation? Do you wish you could experience peace in the unsettling times in which we live? Join me this Sunday in worship at 9:15am and 11:00am and discover how you can experience peace in an unstable world.
