An Invitation

 Back in 2012, a couple in England booked the Manchester town hall for their upcoming wedding. After they learned that the Queen was scheduled to be in town that same day, the couple wrote a lighthearted letter to Buckingham Palace inviting her to join their party. They were surprised to receive a reply from the Palace thanking them for the invitation – and stunned when the Queen actually made a detour from her original schedule to show up to wish them the best. How's that for a cool wedding surprise..?

Every Sunday, at the end of the service, I always remind you 'to bring a friend'. And I will continue to do so, but I want to acknowledge - for some, it may not be as easy as it is for others. It's one thing to write a letter on a lark to invite someone to a wedding. But inviting someone to join you for a Church service may be an uncomfortable thought for some.

But I'm sure you've all known the kind of person who can talk to anyone, right? People say things about them like, "They never met a stranger." That person is not me. - Not naturally anyway. Yes, I've got a job where I've had to go into a hospital room or a nursing home and meet a person for the very first time when they're lying in a bed dressed in a gown. - But just because I've done it doesn't mean I'm good at it.

And just because my personality doesn't easily lend itself to confidently walking in and introducing myself, doesn't mean I shouldn't do it. So when the preacher encourages you to 'reach out'; and you're told to 'witness' to people; and you're asked to 'evangelize' others. First question many have is…

I. How is it done?

Just the word 'evangelism' makes people a bit nervous. It sounds so intimidating. But it doesn't have to be as complicated and difficult as it may sound. Sometimes it does involve deep theological discussions - but that's not always the case. More frequently, 'evangelism' can be a very simple act. I want us to look at a passage from John, chapter one. It starts with 'John the Baptist' doing the simplest act of 'witnessing'…

John 1:35-51 (NIV)

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. (36) When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" (37) When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. (38) Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" (39) "Come," he replied, "and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

(40) Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. (41) The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). (42) And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter). (43) The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."

(44) Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. (45) Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (46) "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. (47) When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." (48) "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." (49) Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." (50) Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." (51) He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, pointed out Jesus and simply said - "Look, the Lamb of God!" That's witnessing; telling people who Jesus is. And as a result of that very simple statement – two men started following Jesus. The first was Andrew. And I want us to look back again to what our passage said about Andrew in John 1:40-42 (NIV)...

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. (41) The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). (42) And he brought him to Jesus.

The first thing that Andrew did was to tell his brother who Jesus was and then bring him to Jesus. Notice - Andrew didn't convert his brother with an eloquent speech or theological arguments – all he did was bring him to Jesus. Jesus then did the hard part over the next three years of transforming Simon, the rough fisherman with a temper, into Peter the great preacher.

When Peter stood up on the Day of Pentecost and preached his bold message and about 3,000 people were baptized – what do you think might have been going through Andrew's mind? It all started with a simple invitation to meet Jesus. Out of curiosity, I'd like to see a show of hands - How many here today were first invited to a Church service by a family member or friend..?

'Evangelism' or 'witnessing' can be a simple invitation. I want to move a bit further in our passage and look again at another person mentioned, Philip. Philip extended an invitation as well, but it wasn't as readily accepted as Andrews's invitation. Let's jump back to John 1:44-49 (NIV)...

Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. (45) Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (46) "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. (47) When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." (48) "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." (49) Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

Philip's invitation was initially greeted with a bit of skepticism by Nathanael. "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Notice that Philip didn't get defensive; he didn't argue, he didn't jump on social media and rant, he simply said, "Come and see". Philip didn't have all the answers, so his approach was to invite Nathaniel and let Jesus do the convincing – and it worked.

Any invitation, any attempt at 'evangelism' or 'witnessing', any outreach we do – if it's to be successful, it must…

II. Focus on Jesus

We do not have the power to save anyone. We are not, on our own, any smarter, any better, any more righteous than anyone else outside of the Church, or any more qualified to tell anyone how to live or what they should do. We are not - Jesus is!

Colossians 1:15-18 (NIV)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (16) For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (17) He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (18) And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

We have to focus on Jesus! We can do a lot of 'good things' in this world, we can influence a lot of people – but if our focus is not on Jesus – we miss the mark. And as a Church, we have to focus on Jesus.

Now that sounds pretty obvious – but there are some Churches who've forgotten who the Head of the Church is. There are Churches who may be growing and doing great things in their communities, but if they do not keep their focus on Jesus, they simply become a social or civic group and they cease being the Church, the body of Christ.

Activities and community outreach and programs are all very good, however - everything we do must have its purpose in Jesus. Every program, every ministry, every activity must have as its end goal to ultimately point people to Jesus. It says this in John 1:14-15 (NIV)...

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (15) John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'"

We point people to Jesus as He points them to the Father!

I am pleased that we have programs like our youth programs, our Bible studies, our praise team, our fellowship luncheons, and all the many other activities here at Deep River. That's all part of what the Church does – but none of those programs should ever become an end in itself. Everything we do must point back to Jesus or it has no real eternal significance. When programs do point to Jesus – then He can use them to change people's lives!

The things we do inside these walls must point to Jesus, but our lives outside of this building must point to Jesus as well. We need to live as a reflection of who Jesus is.

1 John 4:7-10 (NIV)

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. (8) Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (9) This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (10) This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

If we're going to attempt to invite anyone to 'come and see' Jesus, we need to start by showing them Him in our lives. And yes, living our lives focused on Jesus will be difficult sometimes, and inconvenient, and socially unacceptable many times, and even costly. Learning to live as a representative of Christ 24/7 in order to point others to Jesus is hard – but it's worth it! And we are not alone! And it gets easier as we...

III. Remember the reason

As followers of Jesus, we aren't trying to live lives of great virtue and character and love simply so that people will think good things about us. The challenge is to be completely focused on Jesus, to live out our lives in this world for God's purposes! The reason we meet here is to glorify God – the reason we go out from here is for others. God wants to use us to make a difference in the lives of others.

And if we allow God to use us to invite others to meet Jesus, we can make a difference in their eternal destination…

John 3:35-36 (NIV)

The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. (36) Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.

I understand, as we get wrapped up in the details of this life - we tend to forget that eternity is very real. We make all our decisions and deal with all the drama that affects us today, but we lose sight of God's very real promises. Heaven is real - this life is not all there is! ...But - Hell is very real, too. Those family members and friends who do not know Jesus will not see Heaven. But, if we follow the example of Andrew and Philip and simply bring people to Jesus we can make a difference for eternity.

John wrote this passage, something very real, in Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV)...

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. (2) I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. (3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

(4) He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

That's real! That's not just some dusty old fairy tale - that's the promise of God! That's the promise we look to through faith! That's the promise that makes all of the frustrations and loss of this life bearable! We know that all the pain, all the disappointment, all the injustice that is part of this life - all of that will be made right! That's what's in store for those who follow Jesus! Jesus came with a mission, to make a way to the Father so that each of us could have eternal life!

- But Jesus didn't only make future promises. Jesus made a difference in people's lives in their 'here and now'. When sick people were brought to Jesus, He forgave their sins (to prepare them for eternity) but He also healed them physically. He knew that in Heaven everything will be made right – but He also cared about people's present needs as well.

We are to bring people to Jesus to make an eternal difference in their lives, but we as the Church and as individuals are also supposed to make a practical, useful difference in the lives of people around us – a difference they can see and feel today.

Many times, taking care of a person's physical needs can open the door to them accepting the invitation to 'come and see'. We're called to do more than simply attend a worship service each week. We are also to be helpful to those around us. And we want to remember why we are called to reach out; why we are called to bring people to Jesus - because of both the promises of eternity and the blessings of today.

So What?

According to the numbers – surveys show that less than 5% of Christians in America have ever introduced another person to Jesus. If that's true - you and me, we've got a job to do.

Each week, I ask you to bring a friend – and I want to thank those who have taken me up on that challenge. And for those who haven't taken that step just yet - maybe this is the week? Simply invite a friend or family member who isn't here today to come and see why you're here. There must be a reason why you choose to come. So pray about it, tell them that reason and then simply invite them.

It's quite a bold move to invite the Queen of England to your wedding. But we have an opportunity to invite people to meet The One True King! Who knows, they just might come…