We might not feel we can accomplish great tasks, but there is something all of us can do. We can invite those with whom we have contact during the week to worship with us on the Lord’s day. This certainly does not require a great deal of effort, and the ability to invite others is within everyone’s capability. There is power in suggestion, and suggesting that one worship with you may bring about wonderful results. We should never underrate the power of suggestion. Think about the suggestion that the captive maid made regarding a prophet in Samaria who could heal Naaman of his leprosy. “And she said unto her mistress, Would God my Lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! For he would recover him of his leprosy” (2 Kings 5:3). This suggestion set the wheels in motion that eventually led to the healing of Naaman, who was a leper. I personally have known of a simple invitation to worship that was accepted and, in time, brought about the conversion of a precious soul to Christ. The prevalent attitude of many is that it will do no good to invite another to worship with them. With most people, the invitation will be ignored, but that should not keep us from continuing to make the effort. To feel it will do no good is to admit defeat! That is just exactly what Satan desires for all of God’s children to feel.<\/p>\n
Rather than thinking about inviting someone to worship with us, we often have thoughts and actions that conflict with doing so. On numerous occasions, I have mentioned the account of a Christian boasting that, in anger, he spoke to an individual and, as he described it, “telling him off and putting the person in his place.” They took delight in relating the circumstances. A Christian hearing what was said calmly made the observation: “In the scenario, did you invite the person to worship with you on Sunday?” You know the answer! That was no doubt the farthest from the mind of the person speaking in anger. The concern was telling the person off without regard for his spiritual welfare. The moral of this story is that we should labor to keep our behavior in such a manner that it might be consistent with us inviting others to worship with us.<\/p>\n
Think of the statement made by Paul in Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me<\/em>.” Again from Philippians: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death<\/em>” (Philippians 1:20). He speaks of magnifying Christ in his body. We should strive to live in such a way that others can see Christ in us. We should live in such a way that our behavior would be consistent with asking someone to worship with us. We may gloat in having told someone off, but something else usually happens. We have turned someone off in influencing that one to worship with us: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 5:16).<\/p>\n A young Christian was stopped for a traffic violation. You may be assured that this was not a joyful part of her day’s activities. No one gets a thrill at being apprehended for a traffic violation. When the officer gave her the citation, she was humble and apologetic. She knew that she was wrong and accepted the consequences. When she received the ticket, she replied with an invitation to attend a gospel meeting that was in progress. Who would have thought of her at such a time doing this? But she did it! Guess what followed? The officer accepted the invitation and came to the meeting. It wasn’t long before he and his family were converted to Christ. This happened because a Christian thought of a person’s soul and, in a trying circumstance, acted in such a way as to adorn the gospel. What if she had angrily told the officer off and acted in an unbecoming manner? Doubtlessly, in such a mood she would never have thought of inviting him to attend the meeting. Furthermore, what would he have thought of one behaving in such a manner as being spiritually minded? “Only let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel<\/em>” (Philippians 1:27).<\/p>\n A couple was in close embrace dancing in the nightclub. The girl asked the boy if he was a Christian. He replied in the negative and added, “If I were a Christian, I would not be here doing this.” If Christians were being arrested, would there be enough evidence in your life to find you guilty? We need to keep our lives pure so that we can consistently show that Jesus dwells within us and invite others to worship with us!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bobby K. Thompson via The Old Hickory Bulletin, Jackson, TN We might not feel we can accomplish great tasks, but there is something all of us can do. We can invite those with whom we have contact during the week to worship with us on the Lord’s day. This certainly does not require a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[836],"class_list":["post-97306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-invitation"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29089,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-hypnosis-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":97306,"position":0},"title":"Is hypnosis wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is hypnosis wrong, or does it depend on the environment and person doing it? Why is it wrong for a spirit-filled Christian? Answer: Hypnosis, as defined by the\u00a0Mayo Clinic\u00a0is: Hypnosis, also referred to as hypnotherapy or hypnotic suggestion, is a trance-like state in which you have heightened focus, concentration\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54614,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-my-friend-leave-her-husband-so-she-can-worship-the-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":97306,"position":1},"title":"Should my friend leave her husband so she can worship the Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Brother, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. This question is regarding my colleague. She was born in a Hindu family but accepted Jesus in her youth. Her parents did not allow her to marry a Christian, so she married a Hindu, concealing the fact that she was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54389,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-the-collection-in-i-corinthians-161-2-really-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":97306,"position":2},"title":"Was the collection in I Corinthians 16:1-2 really worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The church I attend teaches that the collection in I Corinthians 16:1-2 is not part of the worship service. They say Paul commanded that to help the church in Jerusalem, not to worship by giving. What is your comment about that? Answer: The same giving is discussed in II\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66636,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happens-if-someone-makes-a-mistake-during-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":97306,"position":3},"title":"What happens if someone makes a mistake during worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you so much. May God bless you for the amazing work that you do. I find it hard to switch from one act of worship to another, especially when I believe the one leading has made a mistake. For example, one Sunday, during the Lord's Supper, the one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66875,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lessons-from-a-leper\/","url_meta":{"origin":97306,"position":4},"title":"Lessons from a Leper","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zack Lee Naaman was a very successful man. He was commander of the Syrian army, held in high esteem in the eyes of his king, a victorious\u00a0general, and a mighty man of valor. However, he had leprosy. His story can be found in II Kings 5. Naaman heard through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44869,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-non-christians-worship-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":97306,"position":5},"title":"Can non-Christians worship God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Should a Christian invite his neighbor (who is not a Christan) to \"come and worship with us\"? I believe I can and should invite him to come and attend with us, but a person who is not a Christian can not worship God as the Bible commands. A person\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97306\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}