The Power of an Invitation

As a child I always enjoyed receiving mail.  I must admit the best mail for me was when I received an invitation to a party.  The invitation meant that someone else wanted me to be at their special event.  The parties I attended were always fun because it felt like my presence was important for the celebration.  The special feeling remains the same for me as an adult.  I still like receiving an invitation in the mail: party, wedding, or special gathering.


The other interesting thing about an invitation is that people reorganize their schedules to be at events they are invited to attend.  The invitation is seen as something different or special that was not to be a part of their life before the invitation was made.

For years the church has taken for granted that people want to be a part of church naturally.  For the most part this has been true, yet our culture is changing quite a bit.  Our country has less people naturally coming to church on their own.  It still happens, but not as frequently.  It is not enough for a church to offer welcome and hospitality once people arrive, even though this is still vitally important.

We are now called in the church to be "intentional inviters".  Jesus invited disciples to follow him.  The church is invited to ask people to join them in the journey of faith and be co-followers of Jesus.  An invitation means that they are sought to be a part of a community that could increase its value by their presence.

Rush Creek has a long history of welcome and hospitality.  Rush Creek has a long history of being a place for people to heal and find renewal from a scarred church past in another location.  I am inviting us to add to that long history a legacy of inviting people to the events that means so much to us as a church.

Invite people to a Bible Study.
Invite people to join you in an outreach project.
Invite people to a fellowship event.
Invite people to join you in worship.

If you invite someone to join you go the extra mile and offer to pick them up and take them with you to the event with you.  Make 2014 the year of the "intentional invitation" to grow our church.  Our church has an awesome story of worship, study, service, and fellowship.  Share the story with others and let the love of God take over.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Dr. Chris Wilson

Rediscovering Simplicity

Texas was hit badly by the recent storms as ice has covered most of the roads and homes.  This is not the norm for us and because of this we are prone to stay indoors.  We stay indoors because of safety primarily.  The indoor hibernation can create quite a stir within us.  We get antsy to get out.  Typically, we are so on the go we don't know what to do with ourselves when we are not on the go.

Days like this are a good reminder of reclaiming a simplicity to our lives: reading a good book, board games with the kids, time for quality conversations with family, or even some prayer time with God.  We can look at days like this as chaos or we can look at them as gifts of time in a world the seems to be in constant demand of us.

We all need moments of rest, faith, and family.  Jesus, throughout his ministry, gathers people around tables for food, fellowship, and deepening of relationships.  The ice storm is the perfect excuse for time around the table with loved ones.  It could be a table for games and fun.  It could be a table for food and nourishment.  It could be a table that is simply the bread and cup that Jesus shared with his disciples.  Tables are transformative places.  Tables are places that all are to be welcome and including.  Tables are supposed to be places of love.  Let the spirit of the church be in your home during this cold storm spell that has hit our city.  Let the table in your home be of the same spirit we find in our church that invites us to remember, be loved, and urges us to seek renewal within us.
Let the time in your home these few days be an real opportunity to rediscover the simplicity of life, family and faith.  May God strengthen you and warm the depths of your soul.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Dr. Chris Wilson

Finding Your Song--Finding God

Our emotions ebb and flow throughout the day.  Emotions are dictated by our level of energy, the circumstances of the moment, the level of stress in our life, and the degree to which we determine our self-worth.  All of us need something to help us through the tough moments when we need inspiration.

I have always found the gift of music to help me find an inner song to lift my spirit when I need it the most.  That song can come from a variety of genres.  I enjoy all kinds of music from classical all the way to rock.  I like many of the different types of music along the whole spectrum of music.  I will hit 'seek' on the radio scrolling through music until the right song emerges.  We instinctively know when the right song is being sung we need to listen to in the moment.  Maybe it is a song of reflection, or one of high energy, and possible one that you have not heard before but the rhythm of the song suits your ears.
I can recall songs vividly to particular moments in my life when I needed those songs the most.  I remember songs related to crisis moments, celebration moments, key events in my faith journey, and songs that simply fill my soul with joy.

I give thanks for the variety of music styles that I enjoy.  It is easy to like a particular kind of music and only listen to that genre.  When this happens we miss out on the gift of what other music forms have to offer to us.  We miss out on gifts that can speak to us in significant junctions in our life journey. 

The same can be said for how we understand God.  We can tend to put God in a box and expect God to act and behave in specific ways.  The best conception of God that we have is only a small glimpse of who God can really be in our lives.  We need a wide variety of perspectives of how God can be informative and inspirational in our life.  The Bible offers so many metaphors for how God can be known to us.  No metaphor is perfect, but every metaphor is helpful: source, sovereign, rock, cloud, fortress, fountain, shelter, light, judge, defender, mercy, might, shepherd, father, mother hen, etc.

When we limit God we limit how God as a song can meet us when we need it the most.  Let the breadth of God be wide and deep enough to be the song that cares for our soul.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Dr. Chris Wilson