Winning Ways: “A Perfect THEM Day!”

Our Connection Celebration Sunday is a few weeks away. It’s a perfect day to bring a THEM.

As you know, we’re calling 12,000 households within 3 miles of our church building to invite those who are not involved in a church to visit us on Sunday, October 14. We hope to “connect” with 200 households on that day: that’s why we’re calling this our “Connection Campaign.”

In addition to all those telephone calls, though, we’re asking everyone who already attends Hillcrest to bring a THEM to our big day.

A word of explanation: At Hillcrest, we’ve discovered that the most important word in the Great Commission is the word “them”: “Go to the people all nations and make THEM my disciples. Baptize THEM in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach THEM to do everything I have told you” (Matthew 28:19-20, CEV). You can’t say you’ve fulfilled Christ’s command until you’ve reached “them,” so who are your THEMs?

The Bible says, “Let us invite them to come and join us” (1 Chronicles 13:2). At Hillcrest, we teach a six-step strategy for doing this, using the acrostic I.N.V.I.T.E.:

IDENTIFY your THEMs
NURTURE a relationship with THEM
VERIFY their spiritual condition
INTRODUCE THEM to your church family
TELL THEM your faith stories
ENCOURAGE THEM to cross the line of faith

If you’ve been building a relationship with someone in your world, now’s the time to take the fourth step and introduce your friend to your church family. On our Connection Celebration Sunday, October 14, we’ll have one combined service at 10:30am, and then you can sit with your friend at our barbeque lunch after the service. Please note: this is an outreach lunch, so it’s not just for anyone. It’s for our guests, for our Campaign hosts, and for you if you’re bringing a THEM. We schedule other events for church fellowship: this one is for outreach. So, your “ticket” for the lunch is a guest!

You’ll need to let us know you intend to bring a guest because we have to plan seating and serving. So, fill in the “Just One” card in your bulletin this week, or contact the church office (345-3771 or email). I look forward to meeting your THEMs!
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