Get In The Word – Invite!

Pastor Mike Cosper finished out the BC series yesterday, preaching Jonah. It’s a great sermon for anyone who knows someone who doesn’t know Christ (which, likely, is all of us). The devotional went through Jonah a couple of weeks back, and you can find that here. Jonah is a perfect book to meditate on for a week. It’s only four chapters and you can read the whole thing literally in 5 minutes. I encourage you to read this book a few times this week. Be on the lookout for how different things will stand out to you with each reading. This is the perfect opportunity to learn the valuable lesson that the Word of God never grows stale.

Pastor Mike spent some time urging us to be proactive with the precious good news we have as Christians – that Christ has made a way for sinners – but not to try to drum this up in ourselves for we are bound to stumble and grow discouraged. (What should we do, then? Listen in and hear Pastor Mike’s thoughts). That fear of stumbling (fear of being judged, mocked, persecuted, etc.) can be a real hindrance to proclaiming Jesus to people. We can feel inadequate to the task of saving people (which, honestl, we are – only God saves) and we can struggle to find that first step to evangelism (that scariest of Christian callings). We could never preach a sermon to a friend, they’d think we were ridiculous. We can’t possibly be evangelists.

Consider this. If you had season tickets to the Colts or to Actors Theater, you would love to invite your friends. It’s so easy. You have this thing you do every week and you’d love it if they could come along. Your first step to proclaiming Jesus to a friend of relative can be as simple as just inviting them to church. You can’t preach a sermon? That’s ok, Sojourn’s pulpit preaches 5 every Sunday, just invite someone. You attend most every week and it means a lot to you, so just invite someone along. It’s so simple. ‘If you’d like to come to Sojourn, I’ve found it very rewarding and would love for you to come.’ The worst they can say is, ‘No, thanks.’ Or they could say, ‘Sure,’ and then you’d have a softball gospel conversation starter. ‘What did you think of the sermon?’

It may be uncomfortable, but that’s ok. We all long for comfort, that one thing that, if all else fails, will sustain us. It’s a problem if that one thing is anything other than God. But as a Christian, that one thing is Jesus Christ and the approval He won for us before God. That never perishes, spoils or fades. With that kind of enduring comfort, we can certainly endure the momentary discomfort of inviting someone to church.

Invite a friend to church, and your community will make sure they hear the gospel.