A Commitment to Invite

It’s the great commission — go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). We are commanded by Jesus to reach out to friends, neighbors, family members, and even people we meet in the supermarket, inviting them to meet Jesus.

Over the centuries, an effective and less intimidating way to share the Gospel is to invite people to church.

At Northgate, most of us are here because we love this church. We love life in this church, from weekly services to groups, volunteer opportunities, and socializing between services over snacks and coffee, talking with one another.

“I love this church, and so when other people come and they love this church and they say, 'I felt so welcome the first time I came to your church,’ or ‘I found this,’ or ‘I connected with God in that way,’” says Pastor John Keller.  “When that happens, it tells me that it felt like home to them.”

Many of those at Northgate will say that was their experience when they first came to Northgate.

We often hear people say, when they’ve missed a weekend, “I missed being here,” to which they receive a response, “Yeah, I miss it, too, when I’m not here.”

Being here is how you draw closer to God.

So, what possible reason would you have for not sharing with people you care about what you’ve found at Northgate?

“When there’s an amazing play in a game, I want to tell people about it,” says Keller, a die-hard Red Sox fan.  “In a Red Sox game, we were playing the Blue Jays, and a guy hits it to the deep center field 400 plus feet, and the outfielder falls, somersaults, and then catches it backwards. It was incredible. I’m telling you I showed that play to everyone in my family. I was like, 'You're going to watch this play, we're going to watch it, pay attention or we'll run it again,’ right? I want them to see it.

"If I see a great movie, I want to tell you about the movie and try to convince you to go see this great movie. If I listen to a great podcast or see a great show, I'm doing the same thing. I’m going to share it until people are sick of it.

"So when I find a church that my family loves and where my family is loved as well, a place that has given us an environment to grow more and more and become more and more like Jesus, I'm going to share it until people are sick of it.”

We need to commit to inviting people. Don’t worry about the seats. If we need more seats, we’ll figure it out. That is a good problem to have.

Peter says when we're living differently, when we're living with hope, people are going to take notice, and when they notice, they're going to ask about our hope. When they ask, we need to be ready to give an answer. In 1 Peter 3:15-16, he tells us in our hearts to rever Christ as Lord. We should always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope inside of you. You must, he says, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

So, here's your obligatory reminder not to be a jerk on Facebook.

God will provide opportunities for you to share the Good News, so be ready to point them to Jesus and be ready to invite them to Northgate so they can connect with Jesus and share in the hope you’ve found through faith in Jesus Christ.