Why is June the perfect opportunity to invite friends to an event?

The National Weekend of Invitation takes place next month, and it’s not too late to plan an event and invite people to Christ, says REACH’s Mark Greenwood.

Book an Indian restaurant, plan a guest service, do a summer community barbecue, have a baptismal service (outside if you are brave), hire Costa coffee (other coffee shops are available), have a banquet with an after-dinner speaker.

With the National Weekend of Invitation scheduled for 15-17 June you have just enough time to be able to get involved with this great evangelistic initiative which the REACH department is supporting. Let’s join lots of other churches doing invitational events.

If you’ve read the previous two REACH articles (it’s not too late to read them if you haven’t) you will have read about Big Yes, Little Yes, Healthy Maybe as well as REACH guest writer Michael Harvey (Back to Church Sunday) writing about this wonderful opportunity to invite people along to an event where they can hear about the Christian faith in some way.

I love that passage in John 4 where the Samaritan woman at the well meets Jesus and as a result, she invites her people: “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” Reading further, in verse 39 it says, “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.”

When you read further to verse 42, they say to her, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.”

There is much about this passage that inspires me, not least right here. The woman invited the Samaritans to come and see for themselves what she had seen for herself. They came and they did see for themselves! I love it!

When we invite people to events it’s a great way to help people see for themselves what we have experienced. So many people come to faith by a friend inviting them along to an event; it’s still a great way to complement and supplement your personal faith by sharing with your friends.

At this year’s Elim Leaders Summit, the REACH department launched a new framework for evangelism which takes into account the culture we find ourselves in. We want to help local Elim churches take the contacts they have and help them on a journey to discover Jesus for themselves.

Here in the REACH department, we believe that three levels of events are important:

Big Yes Events

The gospel is clearly presented and people are given an opportunity to become Christians. We would still encourage you to give Little Yes and Healthy Maybe response levels in these meetings as there will be those who aren’t ready to make a full commitment to Christ.

Little Yes Events

An opportunity for people to investigate the Christian faith. These can be courses like Alpha but they can also be standalone events. It’s not a ‘heavy preach’ of the gospel but there is enough in there to clearly explain the Christian faith.

Healthy Maybe Events

A low level, perception-changing event where people are encouraged to take a closer look at the Christian faith. As we approach the National Weekend of Invitation in June, why not have a think about what kind of event is appropriate for you. Whatever type of event you decide on, make sure that you have other events planned on the calendar and have some publicity available to invite people along.

It’s really important to link them all together. Could you begin to plan towards having Big Yes, Little Yes, Healthy Maybe events as your ongoing rhythm of evangelism?

Could you use 15-17 June as the launch pad to actively create an evangelism journey for your friends? Over the coming year, the REACH department will be creating and promoting a bunch of resources to enable you to do this.

If you’d like to talk about this, please contact the REACH office. We’d be delighted to help you plan your events.

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