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1 December 16, 2012, Advent 3 Inviting Page 1 of 6 3 Advent 2012 December 16, 2012 Zephaniah 3:14-20; First Song of Isaiah; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18 Father Adam Trambley Inviting This morning, you see a bunch of inserts in your bulletins. Those of you who have been here the past two weeks know that the ushers have some pens if you need them, and that we are going to do some work today. So far this Advent we have looked at Godsightings and at welcoming, engaging and connecting. Today our focus is one very straightforward form of personal evangelism -- inviting people to join us at church. Then next week, we will look at how Mary and Elizabeth exemplify a gracious welcoming of guests where they worship God, care for people and grow as Christians. Also, next week, we will not have cards with exercises during the sermon, which will relieve some of you and perhaps disappoint others. Perhaps the most common reason people give for visiting a church is that someone invited them. As a parish, we are inviting people to join us in a variety of ways. We have an inviting web page with an invitation on it. A huge banner hangs outside our door saying, We re expecting you. Beginning today, we have a series of thirty second radio spots airing on WPIC letting people know that if they want something more than holiday glitter this Christmas, they can join us for Christmas Eve services. But more effective than any corporate invitations are personal ones. For most Episcopalians, one of the easiest ways we can invite people more deeply into a relationship with God is to invite them to church. Usually part of that invitation involves us sharing some way that God is important in our lives, but none of us are expected to be Billy Graham. We are not required to save people s souls and we are unlikely to singlehandedly convince people to repent of their sins, accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and set them on a godly, righteous and sober life. If you can, definitely go for it, and know that you ll be teaching an evangelism class here next week. But what God needs most of us to do is to find people around us where God seems to be stirring, and invite them to join us where we are. So we bring them to church where they can experience God, where they can use their gifts to serve others, and where they can be part of a community that will love and support them. Such invitations are effective Episcopalian evangelism, and God can use them to transform lives, both the lives of the guests we bring to church and our own. The first question you probably have is who you could invite. Take out the sheet in your bulletins that says Oikos Diagram. We could probably call it something better, but the people who created it called it an oikos diagram, so I did to. Oikos is Greek for extended household, so our oikos is all the people that our lives encompass, including close friends, coworkers and relatives. On the page, you see YOU are in the middle with different circles around you. I d like you to think about six people who are part of your Oikos, who you see on a regular basis who don t go to church or who don t seem connected with God in any way. They could fall into the categories of co-worker, friend and relative, but maybe you have twelve siblings and six of them don t go to church anymore, or six guys on your softball team who are struggling and could use God in their lives. Take a minute and write down some names. Pause for a minute or so.

2 December 16, 2012, Advent 3 Inviting Page 2 of 6 Ok. Think about all of these names being a potential congregation here at St. John s. If God granted us to reach all of them, we d have five-hundred to a thousand people here every week. That would be neat, and it is not impossible. So what s the next step? While we are always able to ask anyone if they want to come to church with us or to share a story about God with them, we might want to start by figuring out where God is already working. God brings people into a deeper relationship with him. He places the desire in people s hearts to draw closer to him, and he arranges things so that those people have the opportunities they need. The privilege he gives us is occasionally to be the instruments he uses in his saving work. So who do we look for? We look for people who have become aware that their lives have an emptiness that they aren t able to fill on their own. Maybe a young family that is stressed out by the many emotional and financial demands of small children. Maybe an older couple that got burnt out at a church earlier in life, but feel a desire to reconnect. Maybe a recent widow whose life has been turned upside down and is looking for stability, peace and comfort. Maybe someone who is going through a serious illness. Maybe someone who has recently moved and needs a supportive environment. Maybe someone who needs support overcoming an addiction. Maybe people who see tragedies like the shooting in Connecticut and don t know what to do. They may not know that those children remain eternally in God s loving arms. They may not know that resurrection always triumphs over death in the end. They may not even know that they can pray, much less how to pray, or to be able to come together like we are this morning and offer prayers for the victims and their families. I m sure this weekend you have met people in such circumstances. If you are with people, having those difficult conversations or seeing people in their pain, God may have specifically put you in their life at this particular time. You can help them to take the next steps toward God s grace and healing. If you are able to identify such people in your life, even before you talk to them, you can pray for them. We want to ask God to be powerfully at work in someone s life if we are going to invite them, because we are much more likely to be successful if we are working with God then if we are working on our own. In the bulletin, there is a prayer card. In the first blank, you can write the name of someone you want to pray for, and you can put your own name in the second blank. We are praying three prayers here for them to find a deeper relationship with Christ, for St. John s to be used in that, and for us to be able to do what God wants us to do. We pray for ourselves so we are ready when the time comes. I know sharing faith and inviting people can be hard work if it was easy, we wouldn t need to preach about it. If and when you fill out the prayer card -- and you can get more if you want them in the future you can do one of two things with it. First, you can take it home and pray it until God answers. Second, you can drop it in the collection plate or give it to us, and discreet prayer ministers at St. John s will pray for you and the person you want to invite. We won t stick the name in the bulletin or say it out loud Sunday morning, but we ll have folks praying. In a minute, we ll pause and you can fill the prayer card out, but I want to talk about two other pieces first. In the bulletin you have a sheet that says I think I can do this On that sheet are various ministries specifically geared to inviting, welcoming and hospitality. The first ministry is to pray for people to find God through St. John s. This includes names from the prayer cards, but also

3 December 16, 2012, Advent 3 Inviting Page 3 of 6 generally lifting up that intention to God. Other ministries include being available Sunday morning to sit with a newcomer or maybe go to lunch with a visitor after church. That way if you are bringing someone to church, you can call us and we will have people ready that can help you make them comfortable when they get here. Then, we are always looking for people to take welcome bags to guests or to be greeters in the sanctuary. One other new ministry we will begin in the New Year is to host coffee hour by greeting people in the lounge, serving coffee, and generally making people feel at home. Vestry is also looking at some ideas to freshen up the lounge a bit. I d encourage you to think about whether you might be called to any of these ministries and drop the card in the collection plate or give it to me or Tina at your convenience. Finally, you see a stamped envelope with the word Blessings on it and a small notecard that says, Counting my blessings Thinking of you. Over the last two weeks, we have ended by getting up and sharing with others in the congregation. Today we are going to stay seated, but share at a greater distance. I m going to invite you to think about someone in your Oikos network who you might like to invite to church sometime and send them this card. I ll give you a couple minutes to write a short note inside, and you can address it here or at home and drop it in the mail. The idea is that this note provides you a way to open up a conversation later. Here are some suggestions of what you could write. Dear Joe, In church today we were thinking about our blessings, and I thought of you. Merry Christmas. Love, me. Or Dear Lucy, when they asked us in church who we would want to share our blessings with, you came to mind. Love, me. Or whatever. If you want, you can write, The preacher said to send a note to people who needed to be in church and you are at the top of my list, if that would be helpful. Feel free to blame me. But be honest and say something about doing this in church and you want to bless them or they are a blessing to you in some way. That opens a door to a conversation. They have a reason to ask about your church, and you can answer and invite them. So say a prayer, ask God to guide your mind and pen, and take a few minutes and fill out your note card, as well as the prayer card and volunteer sheet if you want to.

4 December 16, 2012, Advent 3 Inviting Page 4 of 6 Oikos Diagram is taken from Organic Church Planter s Greenhouse by Neil Cole and Paul Kaak. Copyright 2003.

5 December 16, 2012, Advent 3 Inviting Page 5 of 6 Note card cover:

6 December 16, 2012, Advent 3 Inviting Page 6 of 6 Thanks to Randy Beck and SCP Group for printing the materials for this Advent sermon series!!

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