. . . inviting people to church pt.2 . . .

Last week, I shared some first steps for inviting people to church. They are more about how to prepare yourself than the actual invitation. Today is a little more prep.

One of the things that happens in our church world is we truly believe in Jesus - we believe his life, death, and resurrection were a gift so we can have abundant life both here on earth and in the afterlife. However, we often don’t know how to talk about how God has worked in our lives.

So, step THREE this week is, know your story. It is so important to know how God shapes our lives. If we step back and reflect, we can see here and there very obvious times when we know God was with us. However, we are not very used to looking for God in our everyday lives. We know, at least we say we know, that God is with us all the time. We talk about the Holy Spirit flowing through us, but we don't often know what that looks like... so how do we do that?

Step FOUR: lead or join a Life Group. These groups are designed to help you identify where you see God at work in your life's story. They are designed to help us acknowledge the "nudgings of the Spirit" as we like to say. They are laid back groups where you can talk with ease about your faith without feeling judged. One of the first steps toward talking about your faith with others who may not know Jesus yet, is talking with people who already share your faith.

Here's how Life Groups work:
1. You meet either every week or every other week. The goal is to meet at least twice a month.
2. Eat a meal or a snack together - eating together is the best way to bond with others.
3. Keep things confidential.
4. Ask a series of questions that help you focus on God:

• How is it with your soul? Or where have you seen God in your life?
• How are you connecting to God (fasting, journaling, praying, reading Scripture)?
• What are your successes or struggles in that?
• How can we help you?
• How is God nudging you or what is God pointing out to you?
• Who do you want to fill the empty chair?

I hope this is helpful.