What a week! We started it off with Icemageddon and we end it with the Inauguration of a new President. I encourage you to take a moment to pray for President Trump and his administration (no matter what your politics or thoughts are about Trump, his positions, his nominations, or his approach) because the Scriptures command us to pray for those in governmental leadership.
We are in a series here on the blog about The Riverwood Way. This week we come to the second item - "...Invites."
In today's post, I want to invite you to do several things, but before I do, let me take a moment to talk about invitations themselves. Invitations are powerful. An invitation says to someone, "I like you! I enjoy your company." That's why we invite people over for dinner, or to a party, or to go out for coffee, or to go fishing with us.
This is why we want to have a culture of invitation at Riverwood. An invitation means we extend someone grace. It means we value them because God values them. And because we like them, we invite them into the Riverwood family.
Here is the last paragraph of "...Invites" as found in The Riverwood Way:
"Inviting people to follow Jesus can take different forms. We invite people to serve with us, to hang out with us, to be part of a small group with us, or even to partner with Riverwood. We are a community of invitation."
So let me practice what I am preaching...
...to invite someone to this Sunday's "Grand Opening" at the Waverly Area Veteran's Post. It's going to be a GREAT Sunday singing together, praying together, seeing some families dedicate their kids to the Lord, and kicking off a new teaching series that will help us see Jesus through the entire Bible.
...to Membership Class on Saturday, Feb 4. This will be a great opportunity for you to hear about the mission, vision, and history of Riverwood and how you can partner with your church family to help the mission God has given us to continue to move forward.
...to use the RightNow Media videos to help you grow spiritually or equip you to serve in an area of ministry. (If you don't have a log-in for RightNow Media yet, [bspam mail="[email protected]"]send me an email[/bspam].)
...to read the Bible everyday. There are reading plans on the Give & Grow Table every Sunday (as well as here on our website) that can guide you to read the entire Bible in one year. However, if that seems overwhelming and daunting, we will have a different reading plan available this Sunday that will track with our His Story series. It will enable you catch the overarching story of the Bible without reading every verse.
But lastly, I invite you to simply live out a culture of invitation. Invite people to your Growth Group, invite them over for dinner, invite them to watch the Super Bowl with you, invite them to a movie, or invite them to coffee. Simply invite people into the regular rhythms of your life. Doing so is one way to bless them and love them like Jesus would love them.
So this week, while our country panics about ice storms or about a new President, let's be the people that choose to invite others to find and follow Jesus.
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We are on a mission to help people love like Jesus loved and live like Jesus lived.
It doesn't matter to us if you:
No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, we want to help you become who God has created you to be.
