Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is a time for everything. Every year Earlwood Anglican sets aside a month for evangelism. So as ‘Outreach October’ approaches, it is now a time to invite. Our vision for outreach at Earlwood Anglican is ‘as easy as P.I.E.’; Prayer, Invitation and Engaging in gospel conversations. So to begin, please be praying for the Lord of the harvest to pour out His Spirit and move hearts to want to hear more about Jesus.
While moving people’s hearts is God’s domain, our job is to invite people to hear more about Jesus. Now some might think a pandemic is hardly the time to be inviting people to church. Yet what if a pandemic is actually the best time to invite?
To begin with, we’re not inviting people to walk into a strange environment, at a strange time, to be surrounded by strange people who are suspiciously happy to see them. Rather, we’re inviting them to watch a YouTube video, from the comfort of their own home, at their own leisure. This is about as soft an invitation as Christians will ever get!
Furthermore, in the Bible God routinely sends disasters upon his creatures to stir them to return to Him. We cannot be certain of this in the case of COVID without a word of prophesy. Yet surely a global pandemic reminds people we are not in control of this planet. This is about as favourable an opportunity as Christians will get to ask non-Christians to consider God.
One final encouragement is that our Christianity Explained course this term has half a dozen non-church members in it. Why? Because church members invited them along, and they said ‘yes’. So why not give it a go? Pray about who you could invite, then give them a ring, or text or email, and ask them if they’d like to look into Jesus this October. For now is the time to invite.
