Preaching The Gospel: Part 6
Invite Someone to Alpha
by Gerald Griffin
Begin with prayer (5 minutes)
Gather together as a Community in a comfortable setting (around a table, on the couch, the floor of a living room, etc.). Have somebody lead a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to lead and guide your time together.
Read this overview (5 minutes)
Talking to our lost friends and family about Jesus can be difficult. But we want to be faithful to Jesus as his witnesses in the world. How do we navigate this tension in our current cultural moment? How do we introduce our friends to Jesus in a way that honors them, listens to their concerns, and holds space for their questions?
One way that we have found helpful is the Alpha Course. Alpha is an open and informal conversation about life, spirituality, and the person of Jesus without judgement or pressure. During the 9-week course we listen to the thoughts and questions of our guests as we explore these themes without the pressured atmosphere that usually comes with these conversations.
This week’s practice of invitation is very simple, but for many of us will be a big step of faith.
Do this Practice as a Community right now (15 - 20 minutes)
Together as a group take some time right now to ask Jesus some questions.
Designate a leader to guide you through these prayer prompts.
First, welcome the Holy Spirit, and ask Jesus to silence any voices that are not from him. Ask that God would still the internal chatter so that you can hear his voice in this time.
Next, ask Jesus to bring to your thoughts a friend, co-worker, or neighbor who you should invite to Alpha. Give plenty of time waiting here for God to speak.
Then, ask Jesus what he wants you to know about asking them. Perhaps ask if there are any insights from the Spirit that he wants to reveal about your friend.
Finally, ask for an open door to invite with your friend. Ask Jesus to give you wisdom, sensitivity, and boldness to ask. Ask for favor with them. Then thank God in faith for what he is going to do.
To wrap up this time, go around your group and share who Jesus brought to your mind. Talk about how you feel about inviting them to Alpha this month. Sharing the names with your Community creates accountability to follow through in the week ahead.
Read over this coming week’s Practice (5 minutes)
The practice for this week is to pray and plan a time to invite your friend to the Alpha Course. This may involve last week’s Practice on hospitality. You may, for example, want to invite a friend to lunch and then bring up Alpha.
When inviting your friend to Alpha ( https://bridgetown.church/alpha ), they would probably feel more comfortable going with you rather than alone. So if you can make it work with your schedule, consider doing the course together!
Also consider the “why” before asking. Based on your experience with this person or in listening prayer, is there any reason they may find Alpha helpful in this season? Have they been asking questions about God and faith? Are they curious about how people can have faith in our modern world?
And then, just ask! Alpha begins this month (September 22, 2021), so ask them if they would be open to taking the course with you this Fall. If that doesn’t work for them, there will be other courses coming up, typically in January and April of each year.
Lastly, continue to pray for your friend and to show hospitality to them no matter how they respond.
Worth through these discussion questions (10 - 15 minutes)
How do you feel about inviting someone to Alpha?
Any thoughts, creative ideas, or feedback on this coming week’s Practice?
Anyone have any cool stories about doing something like this in the past?
Close in prayer (10 minutes)
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