December 26, 2023

Why Don’t Church Members Invite Their Friends Anymore?

25 minutes

About 80% of your neighbors are receptive to an invitation to church. At best, most churchgoers invite someone once or twice a year. Almost a third of churchgoers never invite anyone. Inviting someone to a worship service or church event is not evangelism, but this invitation is a significant first step to cultural change in your church. What happened to the culture of invitation? Thom and Sam discuss their thoughts on this week’s episode.

The cancellation of outreach programs 30 years ago.

The lack of new equipping mechanisms in the church.

Many churches have lived off the remnants of cultural Christianity for the last three decades.

Transfer growth is more common than other forms of growth.

An increasingly polarized and insular society.

Resources:

One Year Bible

Tyndale House Publishers

California Baptist University Pre-College Credit

Get your FREE eBook, 5 Generosity Megatrends

Good News Neighbor Toolkit

“The Surprising Return of the Neighborhood Church” by Sam Rainer

Invite Your One

“Breakout Churches” by Thom S. Rainer

Get your FREE tool! Attendance Growth Projector

Check out the Church Answers Christian bookstore! Shop curated, trusted resources for Christian life and ministry.

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What Path will your church take through the Bible this year?

One Year Bibles are designed to help readers engage with the entire Bible in 365 days. Whether you’re well versed in the Bible or just beginning your exploration, these Bibles help guide you through a year-long journey of exploration, reflection, and growth.

One Year Bibles are great resources to help pastors encourage their community to be in the Word every day, but they also can help you come together in God’s Word as a community of believers. If you are reading through the same passages you can interact with each other and grow relationships as you read Scripture. It creates a sense of unity, a common goal you are working toward together.

One Year Bibles are perfect for small groups, Bible studies, Sunday School classes, and other connection points

There are two different reading paths for One Year Bibles:

On the Daily Reading Path, each day you will explore a passage from the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs.

The Chronological Reading Path helps you explore the Bible in the order the events took place.

Once you choose which path you want to take there’s even more options:

There are men’s and women’s devotional editions that have short daily devotionals that correspond with the day’s reading. Perfect for couples, marriage groups, men’s or women’s small groups

The One Year Chronological Study Bible is perfect for Sunday school classes, small groups even full church study. Each reading includes a daily introduction and concludes with reflective discovery questions. Throughout the Bible, you will encounter five building blocks that help create a better understanding of the story. Using the easy-to-follow 14-era format, you’ll be guided through the expansive timeline of the Bible.

The One Year Pray for series of Bibles help you as a community intercede on behalf of some of the greatest needs facing our world today. Spend time praying for our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world, for the sanctity of life, or the needs of families. Each of these Bibles have monthly prayer themes and daily prayer prompts to guide you as you pray

There are even coloring and journaling versions for people who are looking for a more tactile way to engage with the Bible

And more options!

There is a New Testament version that is beautifully designed with full-color illustrations on every page, creating a visually rich reading experience

All of the options above are in the New Living Translation which was comprised by a team of 90 Bible scholars. They meticulously translated the original texts of Scripture into the contemporary English, blending scholarly precision with exceptional clarity. The result is the Bible translation that you can trust upholds the highest standards of accuracy while being clearest to read, understand, and apply to your life.

Though we love the NLT sometimes people want to use a different translation. The One Year has that option too with several translations available including the NIV and ESV.

You can see all the options at TheOneYearBible.com

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By Thom Rainer

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