January 10, 2022

Acts 2: 47 (NIV)

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Farmers are indispensable to the growth of crops, yet only God can make crops or churches grow.*

Wouldn’t you like to be a part of a church that the Lord is adding to daily? But where did they find those people who were being saved? Did those early believers sit through an intense training seminar on evangelism techniques? Was a team of church-growth experts called in to build the nucleus of a new congregation? Did they spend their Saturdays going door-to-door in their neighborhoods, leaving tracts on the doorknobs of those who weren’t home?

I honestly don’t know what they did. I suspect that there were as many methods as there were church members. Here is what I do know about the early church: their numbers didn’t grow while they hunkered down in a safe place waiting for persecution to pass them by. As expressed by another writer, "The early church had no sophisticated strategy or public relations campaign for spreading the Good News. Their strategy was simply to go and be Christ's witnesses in the power of the Holy Spirit."*

Here is something I know about membership in the modern church: many people are Christians today because someone invited them to church. In the women’s Bible study group that I facilitate, there are a dozen or more who attend regularly and at least six of those came to know Jesus through someone’s invitation to attend a gathering at the church – not always even a worship service. They weren’t required to learn the plan of salvation or prove their worthiness in any way before they were made welcome. The people who invited them may or may not have been wise and knowledgeable; they just cared enough to issue an invitation – often more than once.

If you were raised in the church like I was, perhaps this writer’s words resonate with you: “In my upbringing, the Christian witnessing experience was unnecessarily complicated.”* Yes, it is important to know what you believe and why. You should always be ready to share your testimony. You should trust the Holy Spirit to speak through you when you are faced with a witnessing opportunity. But don’t panic – the Spirit knows that sometimes an invitation to attend a church function is the first step in soul-winning. Don’t make it harder than it has to be! And never underestimate the power of a friendly invitation.

Ordinary people can become extraordinary evangelists simply by telling what Jesus has done for them.*