A couple of weeks ago, after our baptism service, a family member of someone getting baptized approached me. He hasn’t been to church in a long time and he grew up Catholic so I had no idea what to expect from his feedback. As we began to interact, I asked him how the service was and he just said after a long delay, “I’ve never seen anything like that.” I asked him to explain what he meant and he talked about everything from the room, to the music, to the way we talked about real-life stuff and obviously this baptism thing! He wasn’t criticizing, it was almost like he was in shock of something like this.
It’s so hard today to create genuine moments of awe and wonder and when you see it or experience it, the feeling is unmistakable. I’m so glad that he was invited to check out Eastern Hills and this better life in Jesus -- it’s already changing his thinking and approach. Those moments only happen when someone takes the initiative to invite someone to experience what we get to share together every week.
Something that can become common to us is like nothing your neighbor, coworker, family member or friend has ever seen. Your everyday experience at Eastern Hills can be a once in a lifetime experience for them...if you’ll invite them.
Christmas is such a unique time of the year to make those invitations. People close to you are actually HOPING you’ll invite and include them to join you. Don’t just hand someone an invite card or ask them to come to church, as them to attend Christmas Eve services WITH YOU!
And one more thing, if you call Eastern Hills home, even if you’re bringing someone, would you attend one of our Sunday services (9:00 am or 11:00 am) or our Monday night service at 6:00 pm? We know that the services on Tuesday, December 24, will be overflowing and we want to make as much space as possible. Monday night at 5:00 pm, we will have dinner and some great experiences for families to enjoy as well.
This Christmas, you can provide an invitation to someone to come WITH YOU and who knows...maybe at the next baptism service you’ll be watching that person who you’ve given up on or they’ve given up on faith, make a personal faith public!
Merry Christmas and let’s celebrate Jesus’ birth with some new friends this year!
Pastor Phil