3 Reasons You Should Invite Your Friends to Church, by Sebastian

If you're reading this, hopefully you have friends. Or at least you have acquaintances, neighbors, co-workers and other humans you interact with every day. And if you're a Christian, God's main mandate is that we represent Jesus to these souls. We're certainly called to do this every day, but Sunday morning is a special, worshipful time where you could and should invite your friends to church.

My friend Joey Sforza gives us three short but important reasons we all should:

1. You get to host in a God-centered and loving community. Hosting and entertaining is great! You certainly should have friends over to your home, but when you bring them into your faith community, they get to experience the love of Jesus through the pastor's sermon, the greeter's welcome, music and the interaction with other Christians they'll meet. That's a glorious thing.
2. You'll hopefully break down any fears they may have of church and God in general. God loves people! And it's unfortunate that His people, the church, have not always done a good job representing Him. And many outsiders feel ALL Christians are the crazy-eyed haters the media portray us to be. Bringing your pals to church with you will show them that you and your church are not this way. This is certainly a win, especially if it brings them closer to salvation!
3. They'll get to clearly hear a gospel sermon. It's so crucial that we talk face-to-face with our friends about Jesus, but often these conversations can be interrupted by the busyness of life. While in church, you and your guests will be able to sit under great Bible-teaching without interruption. They'll be able to soak everything in, and hopefully you can answer any question they may have about Jesus, salvation and new life in Christ.

 
Now, here is a unique opportunity. We are only a few days away from Jaime Jorge’s Healing Music Concert at Oak Harbor First United Methodist Church. And I just can’t emphasize enough the amazing opportunity this is for reaching out beyond our walls and inviting strangers or friends to a uniquely uniting evening of music. I challenge you to pick up more tickets/invitations this week and share them. Let’s not make this testimony and music evening an exclusive event for ourselves, but let’s fill our sanctuary!

The concert is free and is designed for people of all ages and denominations. It will feature music ranging from favorite hymns to contemporary praise songs. Please know that seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis, so make sure you grab your tickets/invitations available at the office. Tickets/invitations are not to limit anyone’s entrance, only to promote and keep track. Centennial Hall will be available in case we overflow the Sanctuary.

Remember, bringing your friends to church is a win all around. Have you prayed about who to invite this coming Sunday?
 
 - Sebastian