Last night, we had dinner out with my parents.  During the course of our meal at a local Italian restaurant, my dad asked if we were planning on coming to Easter at their house.  We have always had Easter at my parents’ house, except for the few years we lived out of state, and so the obvious answer was “yes!”  While dad didn’t need to extend the invitation because we always come, it was nice to receive an official invite.  It made us feel wanted, loved, and accepted.

So who are you inviting to Easter?   I don’t mean to Easter dinner but rather to Easter worship.  Who have you invited to join your family on Easter morning to remember and worship our resurrected Savior?  Because here’s the truth…while everyone is always welcome every week to join us for worship, an invitation makes people feel wanted, loved, and accepted.  In an article I read recently, it shared that people don’t visit a church most times due to the church’s website, signage, promotions, or events.  They mostly choose to visit a church because someone invited them.  Did you hear that?  People almost never walk in off the street to potentially meet Jesus for the first time without someone inviting them in.

We are gathering in two weeks to celebrate the event and the day that define who we are.   We are gathering to celebrate Jesus as the RISEN Savior.  He defeated sin and death and shares that victory with us.  Isn’t this something worth inviting others to experience?

Many of us live in our own little bubbles where we don’t know or interact with many non-believers.  It’s hard to be the light of Christ to a dark world when we don’t interact with the world much (and I’m preaching to the choir here).  What would it look like to step out of your comfort zone and extend an invite to someone you know is struggling with their faith, has no faith, or is unsure what they believe at all?  What would it look like to leave a HBIC invitation card at the gas pump when you finish or hand one to your server at dinner?

We have something great to share with the world.  We have something great to invite people to join.  Let’s step outside what is comfortable and invite others to experience Jesus!

In Christ Alone,

Pastor Jan