Tomorrow afternoon at 1:00PM my youngest daughter will be getting married. I'll be doing double-duty. First as father-of-the-bride I'll be walking Kimberly down the aisle. Then as pastor of her church I'll be officiating at the ceremony.

 
In the weeks leading up to the wedding there has been a lot of focus around our household on invitations. The bride-to-be and her betrothed have done their best to get the word out to everyone in order to let them know that they are invited to join them on their special day. They have published an invitation in the church bulletin to let the ERBC family know that they would love to have them attend. They have also mailed out invitations to those who live out of area and wouldn't see an announcement that appeared in the worship folder.

As I was thinking about invitations I thought about how important they were in the ministry of our Lord. Of all the people Jesus healed, 40 individuals are specifically mentioned in the New Testament as having been cured by Jesus. Of those 40, 34 of them did not make their way to Jesus by themselves; they had help in finding Him.

Likewise, most people who find their way to Jesus for spiritual healing today don't find Him on their own. They have the help of a friend, neighbor, co-worker or family member. Sometimes it is nothing more than a simple invitation that helps them find Jesus.

We see this principle in action in John's gospel. After Andrew began to follow Jesus, "The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah' (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus..." (John 1:41-42).

As I've looked at the guests that we've welcomed to our church over the past several months one thing has impressed me. Coming to worship is much easier for the person who already knows someone in our church, especially someone who invited them to come.

Consider the person who feels the need for worship, is open to God, but hesitant to enter a strange church. They need someone they know to invite them and maybe even bring them to church. Having that someone changes everything. It means that they have a host to help them. They feel less like an outsider. They can be comfortable enough to focus on God's presence in worship.

When was the last time you invited someone to worship? Many people today are willing to come and see what Jesus is all about; they just haven't been asked lately.

This weekend when we gather for worship we'll be looking at the power of an invitation and specifically at how "My Invitation Can Change The World." I hope you'll be with us and I hope you'll invite someone to come along with you.

Embracing the journey,
Pastor Rick