A Gift From a Friend: Priceless

Have you ever had a friend give you a gift that you were not expecting to receive? How did you feel? Were you embarrassed? Did you want to give your friend something back in return? How could you do that graciously, especially if the gift meant something special to your friend or had a great value attached?

Well, Someone has given you a great gift. He gave His life for your salvation. Jesus is that friend, of course. We have an idea for something that you can give Him back in return. At the same time, you can give a friend here on earth a gift even MasterCard would call “priceless”: the gift of eternal life.

January 27, 2008 will be the first Invite A Friend Sunday in the Diocese of New Jersey. The entire Diocese– all 160 parishes! - will participate in this great event to help the “unchurched” (meaning the 80% of the American population who are not associated with any organized religious groups) feel comfortable enough to try to attend one of our services. You will play a major part because you can be a “bridge to God” for a friend who no longer attends church, or never did in the first place.
Think about it. You probably have regular contact with six or seven people who have only been to church for a wedding or a funeral during the past 6 months, if they’ve been at all. These are the people who would never think to attend a Christmas church service, much less an annual meeting!

We call them your “circle of contacts.” These are the people that become your circle for sharing the good news of everlasting life through Jesus. We can suggest at least eight categories: Neighbors; hobby and recreation friends, like your fishing buddies or quilting ladies; co-workers (be careful here not to stop on corporate toes, but let people know how happy you are in your church, and make them feel comfortable asking you questions); personal friends; contacts in clubs and organizations, like the Red Hatters; relatives; newcomers to our community; and families with new babies. You may not know someone in each category, or you may know more than one person in a particular category. That’s okay. These are just general guidelines. Pray for your contacts daily, and ask God to send the Holy Spirit to you. As you pray for your friend, ask God to reveal a need in his/her life which may give you the opportunity to tell your friend how your faith sustains you.

Rely on the Holy Spirit for help. Don’t think that you need to do this alone. Remember how God sent the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost to help His disciples? Ask Him to help you now.

Be prepared to answer some hard questions. Start by asking yourself some, such as: what prompted me to visit this congregation when I was looking for a new church home? Was it just because it was Episcopal? Why did I become a member of Holy Spirit? What is special and unique about our congregation that would appeal to guests? What would someone new to our congregation receive by becoming one of us? What would our congregation gain by inviting friends to visit with us for worship and other activities? Do I really want new people in our congregation (be honest with yourself. Why or why not?)? Would new people be welcomed in our congregation?

I would answer the last question with an unqualified “yes.” We have learned to greet strange faces and welcome them to coffee hour, or to the altar rail. We must continue to seek them out at the “Sign of the Peace.”

We have a lot to do in the next few weeks leading up to Invite A Friend Sunday. You will receive lots more info as the weeks pass. Please begin now to consider who might benefit from an invitation issued personally by you. As Episcopalians, we will definitely “step out of our comfort zone” when we begin to speak about our faith. But if you begin to prepare now, and drop a few hints occasionally that you are willing to discuss your faith if anyone has questions, you may open the door for others to reach out to God through you.

Now that’s “paying it forward” in a big way! What a great gift to give your friend– at no charge to you! Truly a “Priceless” gift!