Be The Fruit

Did you invite someone to church this week?

by Bill Blair on 19/03/08 at 5:40 pm

It is my understanding that there is still a high percentage of people that accept invitations to church.  Given that this Sunday is Easter Sunday I figure that there are a few of you who have invited someone to come to church with you this weekend.

Easter Sunday is a good weekend to invite someone to church for a number of reasons.  First, many people have a desire to go to church on Easter who rarely go to church at other times.  Many of us joke about how some people only show up at church on Easter and Christmas, but if that is the case we might as well work with it.

Second, the gospel is likely to be preached.  Although I am sure some preachers try, it is hard to get around talking about the resurrection on Easter Sunday.  If you have to talk about the resurrection then you have to talk about the cross.  If you have to talk about the cross then you have to talk about sin…  I just had an interesting thought:  What do liberals preach on Easter Sunday?  But I digress…  My point is that you do not have to worry about inviting a person to come to a service that ends up being the yearly budget presentation.

So if you did invite someone to church this weekend, then I say “good for you,” but I have a question for you.  What are you going to do after you get them there?

I read in Spurgeon’s The Soul Winner a good example of what we should be doing when we get a person to come to church.  He writes how it is a “grand thing when [the preacher] has a number of people around him who say to each hearer, after every service, “Well, friend did you enjoy that discourse?  Was there something in it for you?  Are you saved?  Do you know the way of salvation?”

If a person accepts your invitation and comes to church with you, don’t be afraid to talk to them about what they heard and saw.  Did people get baptized?  Tell them what it means.  Did they hear the gospel?  Ask if they have questions.  Ask if they are ready to be saved.  If your evangelistic tool of choice is inviting people to church then make the most of it by talking about the service afterwards at lunch.

If a person has accepted your invitation, the bridge to the gospel has been built.  So walk across that bridge and change someone’s life.  The door is open, so walk through it.  Go, go and make disciples!