Back To Church Sunday: Invite Someone!
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church
How many people do you know who “used to go” to church, but just don’t anymore? If you are like most folks, you probably know quite a few. Today there are 320 million people in America and as many as 80% of them identify themselves as Christians, yet only 20% actually attend church from week to week. Clearly, most people who don’t attend church did attend at one time. Many of these people might be willing to try church again, given the right opportunity.
National Back to Church Sunday is designed to be that opportunity—a special service dedicated to people who do not regularly attend church, a time when those who have left the church are encouraged to return and give it another try.
According to a couple studies (one by LifeWay research and one by Barna Research), 82% of unchurched say they would be at least somewhat likely to attend if invited and 25% say that they would be very likely to attend church if a friend would just take the time or make the effort to invite them! Think about that… that’s 1 in 4 of your friends who would be willing to come to church if you, not some stranger, invited them to go with you.
What an opportunity! The sad truth, though, is that only 2% of church members invite an unchurched person each year. I mean, what are we thinking!?
Do we not realize how powerful a simple invitation can be?
A couple weeks ago, while Ashley was at the Women of Faith conference, I had to take all the kids with me to a meeting at the church. Yeshua was hesitant, because he didn’t think there would be any other kids there, but there were. They played together and later that day, Ryan called and said that Aiden wanted to invite Yeshua over to the house to play. Yeshua exploded with excitement. He shouted, “Aiden wants to play with me!?”
That’s the power of a simple invitation.
Jesus knew the power of an invitation.
One day Jesus was out walking near the Jordan River and John the Baptist saw him coming in the distance. So John stood up, nudged his two followers, and point to Jesus saying, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35 NIV). So the two disciples got up and started chasing after Jesus. When they finally caught up to him, they asked him where he was going.
Then Jesus said, “Come along and see for yourself” (John 1:39 MSG). That simple invitation changed their lives forever; they would never be the same. When you invite someone to church, or to a small group meeting, or an outreach event, or even over to your house for dinner—especially if this is someone who doesn’t know Jesus—it has the power to do the same thing; to change a person’s life forever.
In two weeks I’m going to begin preaching a series of messages building up to our Becoming a Contagious Christian seminar. I really hope that everyone here signs up for that weekend seminar, because this course is intended to help you learn how to share your faith effectively and comfortably with people that you interact with everyday. I’m going to give a little preview of what to expect, because the course identifies several different styles or methods of outreach, one of which is very simply the Invitational Style.
This approach doesn’t involve having an intellectual debate about the existence of God or value of organized religion. It doesn’t require you to outline the plan of salvation or explain the gospel message. All that’s required is that you ask one little question: “Would you like to come to church with me this Sunday?” That’s not hard, is it? We can do that. You can do that. Everyone can do that.
In order to help you ask this question more effectively, let me first give you some insight into why most people don’t attend anymore. Everyone’s reasons for leaving or returning to church are different, but let me share some of the most common reasons people give.
#1: TOO BUSY!
The number one reason people say they don’t come to church is that they are too busy. For some people, Sunday is their only day off and they want to have a day to rest. That’s not a bad thing. God commanded that we have a day of rest. God knew that we would ultimately live in this face-paced, high-tech, high-stress place we call the world. By the end of the work week most of us are brain-dead, sleep-deprived, and longing for some rest and relaxation.
What we need to remind people of is that their spiritual batteries need recharging just as much as their physical batteries do. And the truth is—we do what’s important to us. We all have the same number of days in the week and the same number of hours in a day. Jesus said this: “Seek first God's kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well” (Matthew 6:33 NCV). Going to church is kind of like going to the gym. Most people know it’s good for them, that they ought to do it, but they’re just lacking the motivation to fit it into their schedule. We need to remind them that, just like exercising regularly, the benefits of being a part of a healthy, well-balanced church far outweigh the sacrifices.
#2: CHURCH IS BORING
The second most common reason that people don’t go to church anymore is that they think it’s boring. Maybe part of the problem here is that our multi-media culture has conditioned us to require vast amounts of stimuli to maintain our attention; I don’t know, but I can sympathize. I’ve attended churches where the hymns were dull, the prayer were dry, and the preaching dreary. No one wants to sit in uncomfortable pew and be bored to death for an hour.
A lot of churches and Christians respond to this complaint by saying, “Well, church isn’t supposed to be entertaining!” I would say, “Really? Are you sure about that?” Jesus sure was entertaining! The Bible tells us that…
• “the crowds were amazed at his teaching” (Matthew 7:28)
• “the crowds were profoundly impressed” (Matthew 22:33 TLB)
• “the people were spellbound by his teaching” (Mark 11:18 NRSV)
• “the great crowd enjoyed listening to him” (Mark 12:37 NASB)
Jesus was able to captivate and hold the attention of crowds as big 15,000 for hours at a time. If you don’t think church should be entertaining, at least we can agree that it should be interesting and enjoyable.
Now, I don’t claim to be as dynamic or spellbinding as Jesus, but I sure hope I can capture your attention for 25 or 30 minutes. When our worship or preaching is dull, people don’t just think the pastor or the worship team is boring, they think Jesus is boring. He’s not!
Going to church each week should be a joy! If you want your friends to give church a try then you need to show some enthusiasm and excitement about church. Let the people you see on Monday know what a great time you had on Sunday.
#3: UNFRIENDLY
The third most common reason that people don’t attend church anymore is that they feel like church members are unfriendly and they don’t fit in. I think the most overlooked key to growing a church is—loving outsiders the way Jesus did! The first thing people notice about a church is the acceptance and friendliness (or lack thereof) of the members.
Ashley and I experienced that very thing. As most of you know, I grew up in the non-instrumental churches. I always felt at home in the Church of Christ, but after I got divorced and remarried, I didn’t receive the kind of loving acceptance that I had expected. Instead we were often met with spiritual superiority, judgment and a lot of unfriendly glances. I was personally fed up with the legalism and lack of love that I’d encountered and so I was about done with the Church of Christ altogether. But for several months, one of the elders from the Florissant Church of Christ in Saint Louis had been encouraging us and trying to get us to visit the church out there. Finally, we decided to give at shot. Within minutes of walking through the doors, we noticed the warmth, friendliness, and acceptance of the people. We knew immediately that Florissant would be our church home.
We felt the same way when we came to Blooming Grove. But not every visitor here will necessarily feel the same way. The main difference is—you were expecting us. You made an extra effort to introduce yourselves, to make us feel wanted and welcome. The funny thing is—every congregation thinks that they are a warm loving church. But they may only be warm and loving toward each other. If we want people to feel wanted and welcome when they come here, we need to make that extra effort to make them feel wanted and welcome.
The best time to show love to a visitor, by the way, is before they visit. Before you invite someone to church, make sure they know you actually care about them and their needs. If we don’t love people, nothing else matters. The Bible says, “Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8 NIV).
If you love God and you love your church, then make a concerted effort this week to invite your friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors to church with you. And let me give some advice when inviting. Before we send you out there are a few tips you should take with you.
#1: BE SPECIFIC
Don’t say, “Why don’t you come to church with me sometime.” That’s too general and too vague. When you aren’t specific, it’s easy for people to be agreeable but just keep putting it off. SOMEDAY never rolls around; SUNDAY, however, comes along every week. So when you invite people to church, invite them on a specific day. This week we want you to invite them for Back to Church Sunday next week. But if they are busy that day, then say, “How about the third Sunday of October?” That gives them enough time to plan, to mark it on the calendar, and that also happens to be the day I’m planning to begin a new series on the purpose and direction of our church. Also, check our calendar of events and look for people to invite to those specific events. If you’ve got a buddy who’s into hunting, tell him, “Hey why don’t you come check out our Sportsman’s Day event at our church on September 22; it’s going to be really cool!” Or if there is a young couple that you’re friends with (or a family with teenage kids), say, “Hey, if you’re not doing anything Saturday night, my wife and kids are going out for popcorn and a movie at our church, why don’t join us? I saw a preview for this movie and looks really good.”
Whatever you do, be specific and intentional.
#2: BE CONSIDERATE
People don’t like showing up somewhere new, feeling out of place, not knowing where they are supposed to go or what they’re supposed to do. So when you invite someone, offer to pick them up, or stop by their house on the way so they can follow you, or at the very least meet them in the parking lot. That way they see a familiar face when they arrive, they aren’t walking in all alone, you can show them were to go, and you can introduce them to people as your friend or family. It gives people a sense of security to know that you are by their side in this strange place.
#3: BE PERSISTENT
You may have to extend a dozen invitations before someone says yes. That’s okay. If you pick out 4 of your unchurched friends, relatives, associates or neighbors, statistically at least one of them will accept your invitation. You may have to work on the other 3 for a while, but it will be worth it in the end. Remember the parable of the seed, the four soils, and the sower?
Jesus said, “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock… Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” (Matthew 13:3-8 NLT).
Of the four types of soil that the farmer scattered his seed across, only one (25%) actually produced results. But still he scattered the seed everywhere he went. Why? Because the more seed he scattered, the better his chances were of getting a crop.
Look at every invitation you extend as one seed. The more seed you spread, the more results you’ll see!
CONCLUSION:
If, on average, only 2% of church members invite an unchurched person to church this year, let’s be above average! Let’s not be a statistic. One invitation, one question, can make all the difference for time and for eternity: “Will you come to church with me this Sunday?”
INVITATION:
Jesus has any invitation for you, by the way. He says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:37-38 NIV). If you haven’t responded to that invitation, now is your chance…
