Note from Chuck
Hi Everybody,
It’s been a few weeks since I have written to you. I am excited about this Sunday, and there are three reasons why:
- It will be my first Sunday to preach in three weeks! I love my calling to shepherd and preach the Bible to Crossbridge. So I’m just excited to be back doing that.
- Mark 6:14-29. This is one of the saddest passages in the book of Mark. And it’s not sad for the reasons you might think. Read the passage before Sunday. We will unpack it together. So far my working title is “The Things That Lead to Another: How to push God out of your life.”
- FLOATS ON THE PORCH! This is our second annual “Floats on the Porch Sunday.” Following each service, we will enjoy a time of community building on the porch of 1049 Eldridge over the creamy bubbly of a Root Beer Float. A nice refreshing treat on a hot, summer day and a good appetizer before lunch!
We continually want to be an inclusive community at Crossbridge. If the Gospel is working in us, then it will be propelling us outward toward our neighbors and friends who don’t know Jesus. Not only is this a natural outworking of the Holy Spirit applying the Gospel to our lives but it is also what Jesus has called us to do (Matthew 28:19-20).
Floats on the Porch is an opportunity to introduce our friends to the Crossbridge Community. Many times people need to belong before they will believe, so I make no apology about encouraging you to invite and include people on Sunday!
A recent survey says that 82% of people who say they are not Christians would respond favorably to an invitation from a friend to church! That means that most likely they will not be offended and might even say YES!
The sad thing is that same survey said that 98% of churchgoers will never invite someone to church! Friends, this should not be! If the love of God is a fire in our heart, then we should be opening up our lives and mouths to include people in our community so they might see and hear the life-changing message of Jesus Christ!
So here are four tips that we believe will help you see your friends come to church this Sunday:
1. Pray and ask God that the subject of church would come up naturally in conversation.
I regularly pray and ask God to guide my conversations with people I want to invite to church. I am amazed by how often someone will say, “I’m just praying that God will work it out.” It’s in moments like these that wise people see the open door that God is giving us. It’s very natural to say, “Speaking of prayer, my church is moving to a new location this weekend and I think you’d really enjoy the topic we’re going to be discussing.”
2. Give them an invite card.
The reason we give you invite cards is so that you’ll always have one to give a friend. The invite cards give them all the information they need to make a decision to attend one of our services. This way, they can check out our website and see what Crossbridge is all about and get some of their questions answered.
3. Invite them to lunch after church.
I have used this tip for years. I know it sounds funny, but no one can resist a free lunch. Plus, if they’re a friend, they’d enjoy spending time with you and your family. So invite them to come to the same service you’re attending and then to join you for lunch afterwards so you can talk about the service. It’s amazing how God can use you after a service to reinforce what God has been speaking to them during the service.
4. Pray for them even after they have said yes to attending.
I am amazed at the crazy situations the Devil throws at people when they decide to come to church. Pray that God would wake them up on Sunday, that their kids would behave, that the whole family would come to church, and that their heart would be open to hear God.
I know that God wants to use you to reach your friends and family. Just think, the reason you and I are Christians is because someone reached out to us. I pray we would return the favor by reaching out to someone else and watching what God can do in the life of someone we care about.
See-ya Sunday.
Excited to see what God will do in us and through us!
Chuck
