12 Reasons to Invite Someone to this Easter Sunday
Easter is this Sunday! It’s a big deal for us as followers of Christ. It’s the day that Christ overcame the power of death, and that gives us our hope for a future with Him. This is a great day to invite people to check out Highland United Methodist. (With some help from Pastor and blogger David Lidner) here’s 12 reasons why you should invite people to church this Sunday:
82% of people invited to an Easter Service say they will likely attend.
Two words: Free Coffee
Only 2% of church members invite an unchurched person to church
When they come with you, it looks like you have groupies.
35% of people would be likely to attend a church if they knew people there “are like me.”
You might be inviting them to the place they belong.
7 out of 10 unchurched people have never been invited to church.
If you don’t invite them, who will?
2% of people who attend church will do so because of a church advertisement compared to 86% who attend because they were invited by someone they know.
You might be inviting them to the place they belong.
They are looking for a church that is involved in the community.
You inviting them to Easter could be the most important invitation they ever receive.
There are A LOT of people who would come to church on Easter Sunday if they were simply invited. I know, from personal experience, how hard it can be to take that step and make the invitation. But, I also have to ask myself two questions: Do I really care about this person? Do I really believe in the Resurrected Christ?
If I really believe in the Resurrected Christ and if I really care about this person, how could I not invite them to hear the story that could change their life now and their forever too?
I think I understand why we don’t do it. It’s because it feels like we’re confronting them. It feels that by saying they need Jesus we can see things in their life that need to be fixed. It’s the same reason we don’t say something to someone we love when they’re dating someone that is bad for them. We don’t want to offend them.
But, isn’t it more offensive to let someone marry a person who is probably going to hurt them in some way? And isn’t it more offensive to know the truth that can set someone free from the bondage of sin and not share it? I think it is.
Because we love God so much, we can’t not invite someone. Instead of inviting someone because we don’t want them to get the “bad stuff” that’s coming if they don’t, we invite because our love of God is so overwhelming that we can’t help but share it with the people around us. Instead of being motivated by guilt because the pastor is begging me to invite someone, I’m motivated by my love for the person I’m going to invite.
How we make the invitation is just as important as the fact that we actually make it. If we’re serious about inviting someone to Easter, if we believe they need Jesus, if we believe people need a place to belong, then we don’t want to waste our invitations. We don’t want to invite them in an unloving manner, flopping down an invitation on their desk while they’re going to the bathroom, sending out a mass email, etc. We should invite them in a manner that matches the level of care we have for them--using a face-to-face conversation. See you Sunday!
