We're in a brand new series called "Explore God" and we've encouraged "everybody invite somebody". Why? Because we want everyone to experience their best life and we believe that happens when people are in a relationship (not religion) with Jesus.
But inviting can be intimidating. We try and take a lot of the intimidation out of the equation by making the services easy to understand, comfortable, casual and easy to navigate for the person who is new, seeking, or skeptical.
Although we try to take some of the intimidation away it can still be scary, or difficult to know when to make the invite. Just remember, you're not inviting them to something you don't think it important or good or valuable. We never would think twice about inviting someone to a game, or a concert, or a shopping trip.
One thing that can help is to look for cues (we got these cues from Andy Stanley - www.northpoint.org). Cues are little trigger's that when we hear them they can remind us to make the invite. Here's a couple cues to be listening for:
"things are not going well" . . . "we're really struggling financially", "we don't know what to do with our daughter", "I don't know if our marriage is going to make it". These are cues that the person is struggling and searching and not experiencing their best life.
"I'm not prepared for . . ." "we weren't prepared for how challenging this job was going to be", "I wasn't prepared for how much this move would affect my family", "we weren't prepared for the diagnosis". These are cues that someone's life is in some turmoil and they often are missing the peace that Jesus can bring.
"I'm not from here . . . " this one might mean that they don't have as many connections as you might think and they could use the community that The Journey could bring.
Let these cues trigger a habit. This is your cue to invite someone to the Explore God series THIS week. Not only invite them, but sit with them. Maybe even grab lunch with them after, if you know them fairly well.
I know you want others to experience their best life & maybe these cues will help you make that all important invite. Lets "everybody invite somebody" this month and see what God will do.
We are praying for you, and praying for those you invite. We promise to do everything we can do to make them feel comfortable, encouraged, and honored in their seeking process.