My first invitation to serve in a church came when I was 24 years old. The invitation had taken four years and two churches, but it finally came, just not in the way I was expecting.
I was attending an old school Baptist church, and they needed someone to fill in and teach the senior adult Sunday school class. I’m not sure how many candidates had said no up to this point, but eventually they landed on me.
I was so excited about being asked that I said yes before even thinking about what I was getting myself into. These people had years of church going, Bible study, and Sunday school experience. What in the world could I teach them?
Truth is I probably didn’t teach them anything, but God used them to teach me a great deal.
I had many other opportunities to fill in and teach at that church for all different ages, and I’ll forever be grateful that they extended an invitation to serve.
We often underestimate the impact of an invitation. I think it’s because we rarely get to see the full result, or we’re so often turned down.
Regardless of the reason, I believe there are five invites every Christ follower should always be given.
- An Invitation to Grow – Salvation isn’t the end of a journey. It’s the beginning. Each of us grow at different rates and in different ways, but the foundation of growing closer to Christ is found in an active prayer life and reading and applying the scriptures to ourselves. We can’t expect to become like Christ if we’re not spending time with Him.
- An Invitation to Serve – Serving allows us to become the hands and feet of Jesus. I believe Jesus can be described in many ways, but above all He was a servant. Serving puts our faith into action and allows us to share Christ’s love with others.
- An Invitation to Community – One of the core values of my church is “You Can’t Do Life Alone.” You’re made for community. We’re always stronger as a team than as an individual. We should surround ourselves with those on the same journey who can strengthen us along the way.
- An Invitation to be Generous – Perhaps this is the one invitation that gets rejected the most and at such a high cost. You reap what you sow. If you want blessings to come your way, you should look to be a blessing. An invitation to be generous is an invitation to trust God as our provider.
- An Invitation to Invite Others – Do you remember what it felt like when you gave your life over to Jesus? No other feeling comes close, except when you invite someone else to church and they experience that same feeling you had.
If you think about it, our entire faith is predicated on an invitation, an invitation to follow Jesus wherever He may lead us. I hope he will lead you to keep extending invitations.
I would love to hear your invitation stories. Share them in the comments below.
