This Sunday is "Come and See" Sunday. It's a great week to invite a friend to church!

We will go out of our way to make the service welcoming to guests. During the liturgy, we explain the service as we move through it, noting how the liturgy is structured, why and when we kneel, cross ourselves, etc. After the service, we'll eat together. There will be food trucks, tables upstairs to sit around, and even popsicles for the kids!

If you've been at All Saints since the beginning, you'll know this sort of invitational hospitality is precisely how we grew. In the early days, the whole church would go to El Fenix after the service, and the church would buy everyone their first drink. +Philip likes to remind us that ASD grew "one margarita at a time!"

This is also how the early church grew (sans tacos and margaritas). Commenting on the rapid spread of the Christian faith, the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate (what a name!) said:

“These impious Galileans not only feed their own poor, but ours also; welcoming them into their agape, they attract them, as children are attracted, with cakes …. See their love-feasts and their tables spread for the indigent. Such practice is common among them and causes a contempt for our gods.”

The love and friendship in the early church wasn't a cul de sac, it was a living stream that flowed out into the city, attracting the watching world like kids to cake! People who were isolated felt in Christ's spiritual body the hospitality that Christ's physical body secured for each of us. As Christ welcomed us into the family of God, the church welcomes others to share in its life. Here's are some jaw-dropping statistics:

63% of Americans say a personal invitation from a friend or neighbor would be effective in getting them to visit a church

8 out of 10 people will say “yes” to a personal invite to church

7 out of 10 unchurched people have never been invited

2% of church members invite an unchurched person to church

Most of us don't invite friends into our church-community because we worry the service will be either (1) inaccessible or (2) unwelcoming. I get it, none of us want to offend our friends. We don't want to push something on our neighbors they don't want. But what the early spread of the church reminds us, is that everyone is hungering for connection. Everyone is hungering for friendship. Everyone is hungering for love. As we do every Sunday, we will bend over backwards to be accessible and welcoming to guests! This hospitality speaks to the deepest desire of each of our neighbors.

To help foster this spirit of hospitality, I would encourage you to do four things. First, consider parking in the lot across the street to create room for families and visitors. Second, if you see someone standing alone, please do welcome them. This is a great Sunday to make a new friend! Third, invite a friend to come with you. You may even offer to pick them up that morning. Lastly, come this Sunday expectantly. Each Sunday, God is offering us more: more of His peace, more of His presence, more of His power.

God will do something remarkable this Sunday. If you don't believe me, come and see!

This Sunday will be especially busy for Come & See. If there are no available parking spots in our lot, please use the parking lot across Cadiz. Our primary parking area experiences its highest occupancy between the transition from our 9:30 to 11 am service.