-fist let me say welcome back. We haven’t had “Drink Deep” like we normally do in a while, so we’re glad you’re here and we’re glad you had a safe summer.
-today we want to talk a little bit about something different. It’s not going to be as Bible based as usual. Partially because the focus of today is not really you. It’s other people.
-next week we are taking an entire day to tell others about Fire & Water. In the morning we will be sharing with the adults who we are and what we do. In the evening, we will be having a fun night and although we want you to have fun, the reason we do it is not for you. We do it so you can bring your friends, people who don’t normally go to church or don’t feel comfortable going to a night where we “talk about the Bible”, but they are willing to come to a fun place and have a party, and maybe even win an iPod touch.
-the purpose of next week, of the Back To School Bash is to help you invite your friends to church and help you introduce them to other people who follow Christ and possibly even to Christ Himself.
-but that can be hard. I’m sure we all know people we’d like to bring to the Back To School Bash, but they just don’t want to come out or they don’t show up or whatever it is.
-so tonight we’re going to talk about that, we’re going to help you look at this whole idea of being invited to church from the other side of the coin, what people hear from you when you invite them.
-and we’re going to look at two things tonight, information and invitation.
1. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE
-now I know what some of you are thinking. Invitations have information. Troy sends us e-cards or puts things on the website or facebook, it’s all nice and inviting. Well, yes, but not really.
-here is the difference:
-information is simply stating what is happening or what you need to know. I always use a movie as an example. Despicable Me is a funny movie. It’s playing at the theatre on 96th Street this Friday at 7:30.
-okay, that is information. It’s not a ton of information, but you know what movie is playing, you know when and where, you even heard that it’s funny. But at no point was it an invitation.
-an invitation would be like this:Would you like to go to a movie with me? Notice there was very little information. You don’t need to have information to invite someone, although it helps. They would probably ask me what movie, when, where, all the information next. But for me to invite someone to a movie, that’s all I need to do; actually invite.
-see? They’re two different things. Just because you give someone information doesn’t mean you have invited them. You can invite someone without giving information. But now that you can look at the difference and see what is what, here’s the big question:
2. WHICH ONE ARE YOU DOING?
-I know this, I have seen it first hand. People seem to think that by giving information they are inviting someone. By simply stating the facts they are somehow letting the other person know they are invited. Guess what? You’re not.
-I want you to think of the last time you talked to someone your age who does not go to our church about Drink Deep, our Sunday nights here. What did you say? “We have youth group at our church Sunday night.” Great, that’s information. You didn’t invite them. “We meet at our church on Sunday nights, we have food, have fun and we learn about God.” Again, great information, you still haven’t invited them.
-now go to the Back To School Bash. “Hey, at my church Sunday night, we are having a big party before we start school. We’re going to have free food, huge party stuff, and someone’s going to win an iPod touch!” Do you know what your friend is probably thinking right now? “Man, that sounds like fun. I wish my church did stuff like that.” or “wow, that’s cool. Too bad I don’t go to church.”
-you didn’t invite someone to church. At most you made someone feel left out even more because now they’re missing something fun and cool.
-to make someone feel a part, you have to invite them. “Sunday night we’re having a big blow out for our last Sunday before School starts. We’re going to have all sorts of stuff, tons of people will be there, someone is even going to win an iPod! It’s going to be awesome, would you like to come with me?
-see, that’s an invitation, and too often, people here are not inviting their friends to church. They are simply telling people about our church, and they don’t understand why their friends don’t want to magically show up. So we tell them how awesome whatever it is we are doing is, but still not inviting. So now your friend feels like they are missing out on something and you don’t want them to be a part. If you did, you would invite them.
-people will not just show up based on information. If you are at school and you hear someone talking about going to a movie, you don’t assume that means they want you there. You don’t just show up and say “Hey, heard about this movie, let’s sit together!” Awkward.
-people do not respond to information. The statistic is this, if I were to give 100 people a flyer, a piece of information about our church, 2 would show up. 2. Out of 100. That’s why in your mail you get four thousand pieces of junk mail, because they have to send soooo much for it to work.
-2 our of 100. You know that people are twice more likely to just walk in the church because they drove by it than if I were to give them a piece of information. That’s how little people feel invited by information.
-now here’s the other part of that statistic. If I were to invite 100 people to church, tell them I would sit with them, be their friend, not leave them alone but do my best to make church a good experience for them, surveys say that 90 of those 100 people will show up. 90! They asked 6 million people what would convince them to go to church and 5.4 million people said someone inviting me and going with me.
-now I want you to think for a minute, think of everyone you’ve ever invited to church. Did you say what you are inviting them to, tell them you will go with them, maybe even pick them up, and that you would sit with them? Most Church people, we don’t say that!
-in my time as a youth pastor here, I’ve even seen people show up, they don’t know anyone, they were invited to church by a fiend who didn’t even show up themselves! Think of how awkward that is, especially if you did not grow up in church and didn’t know what to expect!
-we can’t assume that our friends think the same thing about church as we do, even the ones who go to church already. If they liked church, they would be going. Obviously they either don’t like church or they don’t know enough about it to give it a try.
-and that’s where we can step in and help them find out who Jesus really is, how God loves them and how they can get to know God and enjoy spending time with Him, alone at home and here at church.
-as a little plug, after the Back To School Bash, we’re going to do a series called “Why We Do What We Do.” It’s about church, why do we sing, why do we hear someone talk, most people in church have no idea, imagine how most people outside church feel about it. So here’s a chance to invite them to learn more and for all of us to get a refresher course.
-but here’s another thing. Many people don’t like to invite because it’s harder. It’s way easier to email someone information and then wipe your hands and say “Well, it’s up to them and God now.”
-Um, no. Not really. It’s actually up to you.
3. WE’RE TOLD TO INVITE
-unfortunately church has turned into the Field of Dreams. You’re probably all too young to remember that movie, but in it this farmer is told to build a baseball field. And when he asks why, who’s going to play on it, he’s told the same thing all throughout the movie: If you build it they will come.
-we seem to think that’s why people come to church. Build a better building and people will show up to be a part. Build a better program and people will somehow magically know about it and literally not be able to keep their car on the road, it will steer itself into the church parking lot because of how awesome what we’ve built is.
-now tell me something, when was the last time you went somewhere because they built a nice building? Did you hear about a restaurant repainting their restaurant and think “I have to go their, they repainted!”
-and the reason we think that way, we know it doesn’t make sense, but there’s one big reason. It’s easy. If we admit it’s not working, we’d have to try something else, like inviting. But that’s more work. That’s different. That’s change. That can be uncomfortable. No, we can’t do that, let’s just sit here and believe that since we built this church people will just come over and visit.
-it’s a good think Jesus didn’t think like that:
**Mark 16:15 -> 15Jesus said to His followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone.” (NCV)
-notice it doesn’t say “Jesus asked His followers.” It doesn’t say “Jesus suggested to His followers.” Jesus told us to do this.
-so if you are a follower of Christ, and only you can answer that, then this is something you should be doing. Just like if you say you’re in band, at home you’re supposed to be practicing. If you say you’re on cross country, you’re supposed to be running and eating right by yourself. If you say you are a follower of Christ, you are supposed to be inviting people to come to know Christ, telling them about His love.
-that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to invite them to church. There are many ways to be tell people the “Good News”. But if I were to ask you right now how you’re doing it and you can’t answer, then you’re probably not doing it.
-the problem is we seem to think that church is for us. Church is designed for us to come and be served.
-but think about it for a second. The church is called the Family of God. If you are having a family dinner, what do you do? Do you come in whenever you feel like, sit down, tell mom to serve you dinner, take your order. If the food’s not quite as you’d like it, maybe complain, fill out a comment card, and then when you’re done get up and leave the mess for someone else?
-no, that’s a restaurant. When you’re at home with your family, you serve. You set the table. You help cook or help clean up, you scrape your plate and put it in the dishwasher. You thank whoever cooked for the meal.
-so the question is, what is church to you, is it home with family or is it a restaurant? If you want a hint, here’s what Jesus said about an Old Testament Scripture:
**Matt. 9:13 -> 13”Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.” (MSG)
-see, church is not designed for you. It’s designed for you to grow and learn, yes, but it’s also designed for you to be a part of, to be serving at, to be helping with. It’s designed for your friends, for people who don’t know Jesus so they can come to know Jesus.
-like when your friends come over for dinner. Usually the first time they don’t cook, they don’t do the dishes, everyone’s really polite. But as they start to have dinner with you more and more, they become a part of the family, and they start pitching in.
-that’s how church is supposed to be run. It’s not about us and what we want. Instead it’s for our friends to hear about Jesus.
4. WE DESIGN SUNDAY TO HELP YOU
-that’s why we do things like this on Sunday. We purposely design Sunday so two things happen. One is you can learn about Jesus and be serving Him. But two, so your friends can be a part and feel comfortable.
-like the Back To School Bash. That’s not for you. I’m glad you want to come and have fun, that’s part of it, but the real reason for the Bash is not for you. It’s designed for your friends, so they can come to church and get used to the idea of what this building is and who we are without feeling intimidated or having to do “churchy things” they’ve never done before like pray or sing Crowder songs.
-so if it’s designed for them, we need to be inviting them.
-think about what would happen if other places did this. I know some people, and some of you do too, who have worked at Disneyworld. A great place, lots of fun. But what if the people who worked there said, “Hey, this place is awesome, I love my job. But you know what, let’s not tell anyone. Let’s not invite anyone. Only we will ride the rides, and without all those other people our jobs will be easier and the lines will be shorter. We won’t invite anyone to visit, it will be our secret and will be for only us.”
-sounds stupid, doesn't it. Especially when you think about all the work that went into it and how that whole place is designed for visitors, it’s designed for lots of people. They didn’t just build rides, they built hotels, they have restaurants, they have transportation systems, they designed it for the rest of the world to come visit and have fun.
-church was designed for the rest of the world to come visit and learn about Jesus. The Back To School Bash is designed to be a fun place you can invite your friends to. Think about all the money and time and effort that is spent on that one night. Think about how “churchy” it is. just by looking at it, what’s the purpose of that night?
-so then we need to live up to that purpose. We need to be doing what we can to be inviting people to come on out.
-very few people who come to the Back To School Bash will instantly right then and there want to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and join the church. But they may want to be invited back. They may have fun and want to come again.
-and then it starts all over again. “Man, I had fun at that Back To School Bash. I wonder what else they do. I wonder if they will ever invite me back.”
[SMALL GROUPS]
-here’s my challenge for you. Think of three people, three friends you can invite to the Back To School Bash. You can do more if you want, but start with three. What are you going to do to invite them? Will you give them a ride? Or will you leave a message with information on their facebook page?
-let’s start getting into the habit of being an inviting place, a place where people know they are welcome and we want them here.
