We are in the middle of the Summer of Revival where we meet outside every weeks at 9am to give praise to God. Lot's of old time revivals were held outdoors and so we are following in that tradition. In our case, part of this is out of an abundance of caution in order to keep all of our members safe. Yet, there are other reasons and one of those is that there are people that are scared to walk through church doors but they are willing to come worship outside or come and stay in the safety of their vehicle. We have the opportunity to invite people to become part of the church for the first time or for them to come back home and be part of the Body of Christ. We should be inviting people all the time and pray that some may accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour in midst of attending. I just heard a member of our church say that whenever Billy Graham was close by her mom would get a friend who had yet to accept Christ and invite them to go to Crusade. This church member would drive her mom and the friend(s) to hear Billy Graham. Now I am not saying we have the same feel as a Billy Graham revival but the opportunity to be in worship and to give praise to God and accept Christ is always available when we gather in the name of Christ. If they were willing to drive many miles to go and hear a speaker they had heard many, many, many times before just so that one person may know the freedom that comes from accepting Jesus, can't we invite a person to join us a couple miles down the road?
And this Sunday we have the Hyssongs that are coming to lead music and worship for us. They are award winning musical artists that we have been blessed to host many times. They sing music that is powerful but they also preach through story and the music and offer Christ to people. You should invite people to this concert, the pastor isn't preaching a sermon, and they don't have to step through a church door. For some people that removes an obstacle that stops them from taking their first steps to be part of God's family and to receive Christ. Even better than inviting is telling them you will pick them up and bring them to the outside concert/Revival. We need to be serious about finding ways to reach people for Christ and this pandemic has offered us extraordinary possibilities to offer people the Good News of Jesus.
I also want to remind people that no matter what happens in the news, unless there is a stay at home order, we will be worshipping at the Promised Land at least through September. We might need to make it in your vehicle only worship if things take a turn for the worst but we will still come together and worship. And of course, we will still be live streaming and recording the services too. And unless there is a hurricane or major weather event we will be live-streaming from the Promised Land. That means if it is raining we will be there and you can sit under the Pavilion or stay in your vehicles if you come for worship. I realize that if it a pouring rain kinda day there might not be many at all that show up but you can be assured that if you come I will be there to lead the worship.
This weekend we will have the collection boxes out for your tithes and offerings to the church. You will also have the opportunity to support the ministry of the Hyssongs and you will be directed to where you can give money to support them on Sunday morning. The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on music ministries that normal play at churches so any donation you can make to them will be greatly appreciated by them.
Sooo....go ahead invite someone to come and have their soul revived. We never know where people are with the Lord so this invitation might offer them the opportunity to be saved by Jesus and give them hope in the midst of this chaotic world. That is a great gift that you should want to offer to everyone you know.
May God's peace be with you,
PH
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