A couple summer's ago, we went with Jen's family to Virginia Beach for a few days. They had trained life guards on their tall white lifeguard stations every 100 yards or so. The beach was packed and the waves were strong. We were all hanging out on the beach when we heard the whistles blow. We watched the lifeguards jump off their station perch and go running toward the water.
Then we saw the man struggling, a hundred yards out, caught in a rip current but trying to swim straight in. We watched him bob up and down. The lifeguards brilliantly swam with the rip current and reached him quickly, rescuing him from what would surely be a drowning while thousands of people (like us) watched from the safety of the beach. When the lifeguards came back, we all gave them a rousing ovation.
This Sunday we begin a brand new series Finding Your Way Back to God. We believe that everyone was made for a relationship with God, but the truth is that so many people are drowning in life. They are going under and grasping for hope. We are called to be the lifeguards. We believe we have the answer for what they are searching for, even if they don't know it yet. We believe our best life is found in relationship with Jesus, and we believe that everyone spends eternity somewhere based on what they do with Him.
In our last series: Come and See, we really were encouraging all of us to not just stand on the beach while we watch people flail for their lives. We need to be the lifeguards who jump into the water, swim the current of what God is already doing in that person and help rescue them.
We recently talked about CUES (You can watch the message here). We said if we listen to the cues that other people give, we'll know who to invite (who may be drowning). We associated those CUES with 3 "Not's". Things are NOT going well, They are NOT prepared for something, They are NOT in church.
If you see those cues this week, invite that person to join you for our new series "Finding Your Way Back to God". It was designed especially for them!!
Use Facebook to invite people - when your friends see you mention the series and invite them, and then they see another friend do the same, it can encourage them to take that step. You can even just share some of our Journey facebook posts this week!
Use the Business cards we have at church and pass it along.
Or send an "e-vite". You can even personalize the message to them. Check that out right here!
It's not about growing a bigger church to be bigger, it's about a search and rescue mission. It's refusing to just watch from the beach and hope. It's being the lifeguard who dives in to help rescue those who are drowning. Listen to the Cues, they'll tell you Who.
Who will you fight for? Who will you invite? Who needs to find their way back to God? Invite them right here!