You prayed.
God revealed.
You invited.
They attended.
What's next?...
In the weeks leading up to Easter we encouraged everyone to pray and invite ONE person to Easter services this year.
You responded and our Easter service and Egg Hunt attendance numbers were through the roof. We had hundreds of new families who heard the good news of Jesus' sacrifice and His resurrection.
Now, our Easter events have concluded, and we aren't any less passionate about Jesus' mission, right?
We are always striving to reach the world for Jesus one person at a time and to create biblical disciples in relational environments...Easter was just the catalyst to start a new intentional relationship.
In other words, we might've gotten our ONE to come to church, but that's just the first step, so what's next?
This week's blog posts focuses on five intentional things each of us can do to continue to reach out in love and continue to develop relationships.
1. Stay Connected
Call, text, e-mail, Facebook, carrier pigeon...whatever it takes to keep up the relationship, it's worth the effort. Find a way to engage and maybe have a cup of coffee and love them right where they're at.
2. Pull a "JP" (that's code for "Jim Putman," since he's famous for this move)
Offer a hug or even one of those man handshake, half-hug, shoulder slap things, and ask them how they're doing. If they happen to answer, "good," or "fine," you step in closer, look them in the eye and ask again, "no, how ya doing?". Then stick around to hear their answer.
3. Give Grace
I always say, "Grace is like gravy, you gotta pour it on thick." Relationships involve people. That means they are messy and crowded and complicated. They involve feelings and history and perceptions and wounds... we all have a story. But God has a bigger story, and we are all blessed to be a part of His great, big, glorious story. We can love well, because He loved us first, right?
4. Invite
Continue to invite them to church with you. Invite them to home group (if you don't have one, get one. We can help.) Talk about what you loved about last week's sermon, and ask if they need to process what they heard on Easter weekend. A gentle, warm, welcome and open invitation into real, honest relationship is usually well received.
5. Serve in Love
Maybe it's a meal, maybe it's help around the house, maybe it's an invite for dessert and game night - listen well and serve. I've found there's great love to be found in a generous ear and gentle words. Just love them like Jesus does.
What's the bottom line?
Love God and love others and you'll do great. =)
You responded and our Easter service and Egg Hunt attendance numbers were through the roof. We had hundreds of new families who heard the good news of Jesus' sacrifice and His resurrection.
Now, our Easter events have concluded, and we aren't any less passionate about Jesus' mission, right?
We are always striving to reach the world for Jesus one person at a time and to create biblical disciples in relational environments...Easter was just the catalyst to start a new intentional relationship.
In other words, we might've gotten our ONE to come to church, but that's just the first step, so what's next?
This week's blog posts focuses on five intentional things each of us can do to continue to reach out in love and continue to develop relationships.
1. Stay Connected
Call, text, e-mail, Facebook, carrier pigeon...whatever it takes to keep up the relationship, it's worth the effort. Find a way to engage and maybe have a cup of coffee and love them right where they're at.
2. Pull a "JP" (that's code for "Jim Putman," since he's famous for this move)
Offer a hug or even one of those man handshake, half-hug, shoulder slap things, and ask them how they're doing. If they happen to answer, "good," or "fine," you step in closer, look them in the eye and ask again, "no, how ya doing?". Then stick around to hear their answer.
3. Give Grace
I always say, "Grace is like gravy, you gotta pour it on thick." Relationships involve people. That means they are messy and crowded and complicated. They involve feelings and history and perceptions and wounds... we all have a story. But God has a bigger story, and we are all blessed to be a part of His great, big, glorious story. We can love well, because He loved us first, right?
4. Invite
Continue to invite them to church with you. Invite them to home group (if you don't have one, get one. We can help.) Talk about what you loved about last week's sermon, and ask if they need to process what they heard on Easter weekend. A gentle, warm, welcome and open invitation into real, honest relationship is usually well received.
5. Serve in Love
Maybe it's a meal, maybe it's help around the house, maybe it's an invite for dessert and game night - listen well and serve. I've found there's great love to be found in a generous ear and gentle words. Just love them like Jesus does.
What's the bottom line?
Love God and love others and you'll do great. =)
