Easter this year is April 24th . . . roughly 5 weeks away . . . or 41 days to be exact. Most churches will experience an influx of visitors much like Sundays that neighbor the Christmas holiday. Many of us may think it's a bit strange that popular culture thinks these are the best, or most appropriate, two Sunday's to "visit" church while they can casually ignore the other 50. If that really is the thought process of our mostly un-churched friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers then it may just be the opening in the gate we need to walk through to "Get to Yes." Meaning if these indeed are the 2 Sundays a year that our culture is open enough to entertain the idea of attending church then perhaps it's our duty to ask and invite. It may be our best chance to "Get to Yes."
Having been in some form of sales nearly my entire life I'd like to share a few thoughts and ideas on "Getting to Yes" over the next few days. For those of you that are shy about sales . . . or think that "sales" and "church" should never be co-mingled in the same sentence let me say this: the "art of sales" is simply mastering the "art" of asking" the best question at the most appropriate moment. That's why most of us are quick to run from loud, pushy, obnoxious, over-the-top, sales people.
Regardless of what homespun wisdom may believe; What you say IS just as important as HOW you say it. But before we get into all the semantics let me share with you a great concept from Outreach Pastor Scott Bixby.
Begin With Prayer.
Scott introduced the idea of PI2 to Northridge Church a few years ago. That is; Pray, Invest, and Invite. Pretty simple equation, so for today let's start there. Let's start by building a list of people in our lives that we are Invested in. That is, put together a list of people that we rub shoulders with on a regular basis. While it may be easy and tempting to populate our list with those that seem most approachable, let me encourage you to put those seemingly least receptive and most in need at the top of your list. Remember, God has often chosen those least likely, least popular, and most broken, to accomplish His will.
For now let's simply pray for wisdom, courage, receptive minds, soft hearts, and open gates.
"do not be anxious about anything, but by everything in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God." (Philippians 4:6 esv)
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