Invite your Neighbour 

 

Thank you for your commitment to obeying the Great Commission here at Fraser Coast Baptist Church by entering Level 3 in the quest towards maturing your faith in Christ. We want to be a church that echoes out a  culture of invitation and we are thankful that you want to help in building that culture. Some people in church though feel that if people wanted to come to church or get to know Jesus Christ then they would already have done it. But nowadays it takes a brave person to walk into a church building on their own or start a conversation about God with a Christian. This is why building a culture of invitation, alongside a culture of welcome and transformation is vital.

When Jesus called and invited the first two disciples, Andrew was one of the two. The first thing Andrew did was to invite his brother Simon. That invitation alone has impacted the world today. Jesus is still inviting and calling people today. A culture of invitation is not new; it speaks of the heart of God who sent Jesus to invite the world into an eternal relationship. And it should be our heart as well but it takes faith. The goal of any purposeful conversation is to lead that person closer to God. For some that may be into a relationship with Him and this is how to do it: Listen to them! Listen to their story, their issues, their brokenness. This is where it all begins. The goal is to then tell them that there is an answer and this is where the good news comes into play. Take for instance this diagram, which you could draw on a napkin if you’re out at a restaurant and this conversation comes:
 
 

You listening to their brokenness has paved the way into them hearing the gospel of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Remember the most powerful way to share Jesus is to give your testimony, sharing what God is doing through you. That leaves the final goal in pursuing God’s design for their life, keeping in mind that process can only begin once they’ve accepted the good news as actual news. The key though is to point them to the boxes on the outside of the arrows and ask them where they are. Are they still in their sin? Are they ready to believe? If they believe, are they pursuing God’s design and purposes for their life. Are they succeeding? More than likely they’re not living out God’s design for their life victoriously and that’s where the invitation to church pops up, which calls them into taking that journey seriously.

Do you see how inviting your neighbour is definitely a move towards maturing your faith in Christ? That is why it is Level 3. However, it truly does depend on how involved you want to get into the conversation with the person you are trying to witness to. It’s a conversation that can remain superficial or it can go as deep as both parties would like it to. It obviously depends on how much knowledge the two parties have. Below are a few simple ways you could invite someone to church today:

 

Encourage them to come to church

One of the easiest ways to build a culture of invitation is to casually encourage the friend you’re talking with to come to church. If they say no, then there’s no harm. It’s that simple!
 
 

Offer them a tract

Even easier than encouraging them to come to church is offering them a tract by saying, “Here, this is for you!” If you’re giving this to a friend, then there would have to be some follow-up conversation to save any awkwardness in presenting the little booklet. However, if it’s a stranger then that’s all it really has to be. If you decide to do this though, please assure that the tract has a stamp on it of the church’s details so the person receiving it knows where to go and get answers to their questions. Or simply, you could follow up your first statement with, “Hey I attend Fraser Coast Baptist Church and I want to invite you to join me on Sunday at 10:15am.” It really depends on what comes naturally for you.

 

Hand them promotional literature

At times there will be promotional literature to hand out either in person or it could simply be a letter box drop. This could be promotional material for special services such as Easter and Christmas. However, the goal is to put this material into someone’s hand so a personal conversation is the preferred way to hand out promotional literature.

 

Commit to recurring invitations

Now, in fulfilling Level 3, you may get discouraged a lot. This could be due to either so many people saying no, or saying yes but not turning up, or turning up once but never again. The encouragement is firstly to remember that they’re not saying no to you personally. You are just the messenger between them and God. Don’t take it personally if they want nothing to do with it. Secondly, think about setting some goals each day, week or month by setting a number of people that you’d like to invite (or reinvite) and work towards reaching that goal. In other words, encourage yourself in other ways by committing to recurring invitations and celebrate when you reach those goals. By the way, don’t just celebrate privately. Let someone else know and celebrate together. Why not let the whole church know? You have no idea how encouraging that could be to the person sitting next to you who might be in a season of discouragement and needs to hear that testimony of God’s faithfulness.

 

Apologetics

Apologetics is giving a reason or defence for the Christian faith and there are two kinds: positive and negative. Positive apologetics involves giving an argument for Christianity. For example, giving arguments for the existence of God or the reliability of the Bible. Negative apologetics involves answering objections against Christianity. For example, answering the problem of evil or suffering. These topics may enter the conversation as you continue to talk to the person you’re trying to invite to church. You could say, “Well, I don’t know the answers to those questions myself but I’m sure my Pastor does and I know he’d be glad to answer them for you.” By the way, you do have the pastor’s permission to say this to anyone that you come across looking for answers. The good thing that comes out of it is that they have to come to church to ask the question.

However, that does not help mature your faith in Christ. Therefore, the desired outcome is for you to research the reasons for your faith and the answers to the many objections people have towards Christianity. The goal is that after a person has finished talking with you, they have no excuse to say no to Jesus because you’ve answered every worry and concern they’ve brought to the table. It takes a lot of research. It takes a lot of study. It takes a lot of courage. But the results are worth it!

There are plenty of resources on the internet but Pastor Tim would be happy to point you in the right direction. All you have to do is ask!