Gr. 6-12 - Gracepoint Community Church
Gr. 6-12 - Gracepoint Community Church
Gr. 6-12 - Gracepoint Community Church
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(Continued from page 3)<br />
WHO WILL YOU INVITE<br />
INTO YOUR HOME?<br />
As I write this, the balmy mid-May weather has given<br />
way to unwelcome showers. However,<br />
I know that warm weather and warm evenings are up<br />
ahead!<br />
That means barbecues and the glorious opportunity<br />
to hang out with family, friends and neighbours.<br />
It‘s a great time to be invitational<br />
by throwing more red meat on the grill and fostering<br />
friendships! It’s a great time to cultivate connections<br />
by practising hospitality. It’s a great time to extend<br />
your friendship circle and sphere of influence by<br />
inviting people over!<br />
WHO WILL YOU INVITE TO JOIN<br />
YOU AT THE KINDLINGS?<br />
The last Monday of each month we host the<br />
Kindlings at Belle’s on 32 nd avenue in South Surrey.<br />
It’s an evening of great food and drink<br />
and lively conversation as thoughtful talk radio<br />
comes to supper! We open the doors at<br />
6:15 for dinner service; at 7pm<br />
we record a show, in which I moderate and facilitate<br />
conversation amongst a panel,<br />
which addresses a different topic each month. Then,<br />
if you choose, you can raise questions or address<br />
comments to the panel.<br />
It’s a chance to ignite a conversation or a chance to<br />
eavesdrop on hospitable, imaginative ideas that<br />
matter. Our podcasts (www.thekindlings.ca) are<br />
heard and downloaded across the planet.<br />
But right here in Surrey the Kindlings event is a “third<br />
place.” It’s a great venue and forum for<br />
pre-Christians and Christians to meet. It can only be<br />
a third place if not-yet-Christians are welcomed by<br />
hospitable Christ followers. For the Kindlings to be<br />
third place community, you need to be invitational!<br />
Who will you invite for supper? Who will you invite<br />
into the conversations?<br />
WHO WILL YOU INVITE<br />
TO ALPHA?<br />
ALPHA is tailor-made for people to explore the claims of<br />
Jesus in an unpressured way over a meal.<br />
It’s a place for people on a spiritual quest to explore and<br />
kick the tires.<br />
It’s a course where no question is too simple and no<br />
question is too hostile! As we look to run our ALPHA<br />
courses in the fall, why not think and pray about who you<br />
can invite? We don’t want ALPHA to be a night out for the<br />
already convinced. Let’s pray and invite our pre-Christian<br />
friends, family, and neighbours. Let’s see the impact of a<br />
simple invitation!<br />
WHO WILL YOU INVITE TO EXPERIENCE<br />
WONDERFAIRE?<br />
Wonderfaire is a great place for kids to have a blast<br />
and discover God’s love and God’s purpose. It is a<br />
wonderful opportunity to make an eternal difference<br />
in young lives. Encourage your kids to bring their friends.<br />
Be invitational and let your neighbours know that<br />
Wonderfaire is on the horizon.<br />
WHO WILL YOU INVITE TO JOIN YOU AT<br />
GRACEPOINT ON A SUNDAY?<br />
You might think people are hostile to religious institutions<br />
and don’t like the church. You may<br />
believe an invitation to a co-worker or friend<br />
would be instantly rejected. The wild truth is that<br />
people are more open and receptive than you think!<br />
Seven years ago, Thom Rainer, in his book, The Unchurched<br />
Next Door, made an astonishing claim.<br />
He asserted that 82 percent of the unchurched are at least<br />
“somewhat likely” to attend church if they are invited. That<br />
is wild! More than eight out of ten of the unchurched said<br />
they would come to church if they were invited. We know<br />
our spiritual landscape is changing, but we can<br />
still find encouragement in recent findings... A survey from<br />
Lifeway Research discovered that 63% of people are<br />
somewhat or very willing to receive information about<br />
a church from a family member and 56% are somewhat or<br />
very willing to receive information from a friend or<br />
neighbour.<br />
(Continued on page 5)<br />
Page 4<br />
LET’S GET INVITAIONAL!