What if you could change the rest of someone’s life by inviting them to church? Would you be brave enough to ask? My life was changed forever by someone who had the courage to invite me. I have met so many people over the years who would have NEVER walked into a church on their own. Most of the time without even realizing it, they were waiting for someone to invite them to church. Some are afraid of how they might be received when they walk into a church and others are fearful of what to expect. A friend to greet them at the door is a HUGE incentive to take the big risk of stepping foot into a church. I want to encourage you today to invite others to your church. If you aren’t attending church ask your friends and find a church body that you can feel at home with. 

 

Today I am going to share a little bit about my story to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and ask someone if they would like to go to church with you. It is hard to reach out to people when you don’t know where they stand spiritually, but it is so important. Be brave, God is right there with all of us when we step out in faith.

 

I hope my story will show you that you have NO IDEA what kind of an impact you might have. I was not raised in a Christian home. I briefly attended church as a young child and my mom had been raised in a religious home, but I didn’t know anything about God. I kind of believed there was a God, but didn’t give much thought to him. By the time I was in high school, my friends all had different religious beliefs and wanted to convert me to their belief system. I got really tired of listening to them argue over whose faith was right. So one day I decided I would put an end to it for good and declared myself an atheist! This isn’t the SCARY declaration it was back in the early nineties, but back then I might as well have told them I ate bats for breakfast. That was the immediate end of that discussion. After that, they steered clear of any talk about faith. My evil plan had worked perfectly and I was quite proud of myself!

 

Being an atheist quietly became more comfortable for me to believe over the next couple years. However, my fiance’ (who later became my first husband) became a born-again Christian while I was away at college. I didn’t care what he believed at first, but then he wouldn’t stop badgering me about it. I had friends at college that were frequently inviting me to church and I REPEATEDLY turned them down cold. Then one day I decided I didn’t know enough about God to argue with my fiance’. I decided the only way I was doing to learn more about God was to go to church and gain ammunition for my arguments! That is the ONLY reason I went to church…to be able to argue better. I accepted my friends’ invite to church and away we went. I had ZERO idea what to expect and as we approached I realized I was quite terrified. I would have NEVER gone by myself. Long story short, over the next few months my plan completely backfired! I became a Christian and gave my life to the Lord at the age of nineteen. The pressure from my fiance’ coupled with my friends’ invitation to church literally were the earthly pressures that led to my salvation and changed the trajectory of the rest of my life.

 

I often look back on that time and wonder why my friends’ EVER invited me to attend church with them. I wasn’t mean, but I am sure I told them in no uncertain terms that I had NO interest in EVER going with them. Yet they kept asking me. I ponder whether I would have had the faith to continue to ask someone like me back then. I still think about it now. I remind myself often how unapproachable I must have been, seemingly one of the least likely people to ever step foot in a church….and yet they didn’t give up on me. They pursued me….just like Jesus. We need to pursue people like God pursues us, even when we are at our worst. Perhaps ESPECIALLY when we are at our worst! Read “Give Grace to Others Like God Gives to Us” for more on seeing people how God sees them. 

 

I hope my salvation story gives you some encouragement to be the person who invites others to church no matter how many times you get rejected. Maybe the very next time will be the time that they were going to accept your invitation. Don’t get discouraged; their life transformation is worth it. Keep inviting them, even if it’s years. Pray about it, look for opportunities and step out in faith. It matters. Their salvation matters. We all need to be brave, share our faith, and invite others to church. Be part of the story of someone’s life being FOREVER changed for Jesus!

 

Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”