A great story from Easter

We had a huge "win" on Sunday! A lady who teaches at Madison Elementary came with her husband on Sunday, their first time at TF. Erin and I are friends with them because she was Erin's student teacher two years ago. She and Erin had had several conversations about church and we'd even invited her a few times, but they had never accepted the invitation. She's Tait Theel's teacher and Rachelle had invited her a few times, too.

Last Thursday I went over to Madison to invited her again and we ended up having a great conversation. She told me she has a lot of questions about God; seemed very eager to talk more.

Well, they came on Easter and loved our church! The husband went on and on about the music and the media we used. He was so impressed by the service. They promised to me they'd be back. I'm leaving out a lot of great details, but that's the story in a nutshell.

3 Observations

1) Relationships matter She was open to our invitation because of the relationship she and Erin (and myself to a lesser degree) had built. It's about building relationships, loving people, encouraging them to take steps toward God and if they come to church - great - that's icing on the cake. But the top priority is loving and serving people.
We must build relationships with people! In whom are you investing?
But after we've been investing, we must take the risk and invite. People can't respond unless we extend the invitation.

2) Our service is connecting with the disconnected The husband went on and on about how much he liked the music. Our music, media and even the preaching is connecting with the type of people for whom we've designed our worship - young and unchurched! For more on this, read here.

3) It takes time and persistence Erin and I had invited them to church several times over the past year but Sunday was the first time they responded. I know many of you invited neighbors and coworkers to Easter, but don't give up! Keep investing in them and when the time is right, invite again! It takes time and persistence. Stats show that it can take up to 13 invitations before a person responds.

The "Love and Logic" Sunday with Laura Murphy on April 29th is another GREAT time to invite someone to TF.

Thanks for making this a church that connects with the disconnected!