You're Invited

 

 

 

As Christmas comes each year so comes the conversation of “church”.

 Those that don’t attend regularly make a special effort to go to Christmas Eve service with the family. It’s a special time filled with nostalgia and sentiment. Yet in between those memories of Christmases of the past is usually a quiet tug; a pull to step back into that thing called “church”. 

This is where the turmoil can begin. The questions, the concerns, that battle. “But it’s been so long”, “I don’t know if I can make the time again”, “I don’t know how to start.”

Half the battle in people’s minds is wondering if they “belong” at church again. And what church do they belong? Where do they even jump back in? Is it that church they saw advertised on the billboard? Maybe the church they pass on the way to work each morning.

A side note to all of this is a question that I so often get this time of year from  congregants....”How can I serve this season?” “How can I help my community?” “Does the church have any neighborhood service opportunities?”-We do.

We have gift giving trees and food collections along with events geared to engage and serve our community. 

But there is another way to serve that is powerful yet not as often resourced.

Invite someone to church.

Invite someone to join you during the Advent Season.

Invite someone to come with you to the Christmas Eve Candlelight service.

Invite someone.

It’s not complicated or detailed. Jesus used three words when inviting people to himself. He said “Follow Me”

We can say “Come with me.”

Help to make that choice to come back to church, that much easier for the person wondering if they even should. Help them to not only know they “belong” but that they are welcomed and invited.

I hope you try these three words this Advent Season. They are more powerful than you can imagine and more needed than you know.

“Come with me.”

 

-Pastor Patti