This past Sunday we watched a video that presented a compelling vision of what our church is all about. I found myself deeply moved listening to the testimonies of people in our community, and the ways they have encountered Jesus through Kairos. Micah then encouraged us toward becoming an invitational community, to think about the ways that God has blessed us through the Kairos community, and how we might invite others to experience this with us.
Don’t you love the feeling of being invited to something? I love to be included—even if I cannot go, I feel so happy when an invitation comes to my mailbox or inbox. Many of us have no problem inviting friends to a social gathering, but when it comes to church, we might start to feel a little tense. Perhaps we don’t want to come across as “pushy” or offend someone. Perhaps we aren’t sure where our non-churched friends are spiritually, or we simply assume if people were interested in faith, they would already attend a church.
But what if a simple invitation was all it took for someone to have a new experience of the Christian faith? Or to catch a glimpse of what it feels like to belong to a community? I’ve heard so many stories of people who attended Kairos for the first time who said they could tell there was something different about this “authentic community.”
As a staff and leadership team, since the New Year, we’ve been praying for our church to continue to grow in becoming a more hospitable and invitational community. Out of this prayer, we want to encourage you to prayerfully consider inviting someone to join us for our Easter worship service. Does anyone come to mind as you read these words? Is there a neighbor or co-worker to whom you could extend an invitation? Do you know someone new to the area who might be looking for a church? Is there someone who might be looking for a sense of community or who might be spending the Easter holiday alone? As we read scripture, Jesus even encourages us to look beyond our circle of friends and go a bit broader–that our love and care for others might go out to people on the margins, who others tend to overlook. If this makes you nervous, know I’m right there with you! Believe me, working in ministry makes you even more anxious to not come across as “pushy.” Yet, as I’ve been praying and thinking about who I might invite, it dawned on me that it always feels good to be invited, and the worst that can happen is that someone might say “No, thank you.” Now that we’ve gotten the worst case scenario out of the way, who knows if your simple invitation could be the start of someone catching a glimpse of who Jesus is? Who knows if someone might feel special just because you thought of them.
Can you think of a better day for someone to experience church than Easter Sunday, the most hope-filled and joy-filled proclamation of our faith? Let’s be a church that longs for others to experience the hope we have in Christ and the joy that comes from being a part of a church community. And together let’s be a church that welcomes with open arms all who walk through our doors as we celebrate that Jesus is Risen!
– Miriam