Why Do We Have Friends & Family Sunday?

Great question: First, what is Friends & Family Sunday? Also a great question. Friends & Family Sunday is a title given to Sunday's where we focus MORE on inviting Friends and Family to church.

So, on these Sundays we invite our church to invite people they know to come to RCC for a week. We bribe you (incentivize?) with free cafe drinks, we usually have some kind of special or unique refreshment, and we even tweak the sermon to make it a  bit more gospel-centric in nature. All in all, we try to a make it a great Sunday for anyone who is joining us for the first time, the same way you would if you were having guests over to your home for the first time.

Here is the trouble: aren't we supposed to always be reaching out to the people we know with the message of Jesus? Can't we invite our friends and family to church ANY Sunday? The answer to both of these is a resounding YES. However, we believe having these unique Friends and Family Sundays creates a space for opportunities that might not otherwise happen. Here is why:

1. As much as many of us love Jesus, we are often so distracted (shame on us :( ) that we forget about His mission for us (the church): We exist to help people find and follow Jesus. So, Friends and Family Sunday is a great way to remind ourselves of what we should already be doing in our day to day lives. Many of us, myself included, need reminders. 
2. It doesn't just remind us, this event challenges us and spurs us on to do what we know we must to be doing. Think about it like this: When I was in high school, the amount of girls being asked out by boys skyrocketed during homecoming and prom season. This is because those events beckoned boys to step up and overcome their fears of rejection! Lets face it, if you ask, you might get rejected. To this I say, "Oh' well, no one will every say yes unless you ask, and everyone you don't ask is an automatic no." 
3. It gives us an excuse to invite people. Some of us feel weird making an ask. Even though many people will come if only someone would ask them. Having an "event" gives us a reason to ask people. For some reason saying, "Hey it's Friends and Family Sunday at my church, you should come to Church with me this Sunday!" seems less awkward then, "Hey, want to come to church with me on Sunday?" Those of you who are normal (not me) don't like awkward situations, so this gives you a little bit of help. 
4. You know we are not going to be speaking about "in-house" topics that won't make any sense to your guests. You know it and I know it; we don't skirt around issues at RCC. We truly try to preach all of the Bible. Not just stuff we like, stuff that is popular, or stuff that we can all agree on. On these Sunday's we do not get into the deeper stuff, because if you don't have a foundational understanding of your Christian faith, the deeper stuff is kind of hard to make sense of. 

All this said, now is a great time to begin making a mental (or physical) list of people you could invite to church this Sunday. Once you get your list, pray for those on your list and go make your asks. They can not say yes to a question that is never asked of them. Remember, people want meaning in life. They want peace. They want joy. And you know how they can get get all of this and more. Go and ask. Then, keep living a life that reflects the meaning, peace, and joy that Christ has provided for you and all of those who choose Him as their Lord.