Remember the story about a friend inviting his roommate to a dinner party and the roommate tags along and meets a girl there and these two find out that they are soul-mates and they start dating immediately and they fall in love and they get married and they have four children and they live happily ever after?  (I love that story.)  The whole happy relationship began with an invitation from a guy to his roommate.  The dinner party was happening and the girl was going to be there. But the roommate would never have been there if he had not been invited.  He would never have met the girl if he had not been invited.  He would never have gotten married and had four kids and lived happily ever after if it were not for that simple invitation.

     Kathi and I went to Liberia, West Africa one summer because someone invited us.

     Lots of people came to our wedding because we invited them.

     I put my resume in at Cypress Bible Church because someone invited me.

     I have a friend who went to the University of Idaho because someone invited him.

     Five people went to South America with me for two weeks because I invited them.

Two important things to know about invitations: 

     First, invitations are powerful, they are important, and they are potentially life changing—you never know what God might do through a simple invitation. 

     Second, they are not that hard.

Here is the deal.  We are having a party this Sunday—not a dinner party but a party to be sure.  We are having an Easter party—a Resurrection Day party.  Jesus is going to be presented there.  And, if you invite your roommate (or neighbor or friend or co-worker or relative or golfing buddy or book club acquaintance) he or she or they will be here to potentially meet Jesus and live happily ever after.  (This is not the “happily ever after” of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan holding hands in an elevator at the end of Sleepless in Seattle.  This is the “happily ever after” of being with God in joy and with plenty of meaningful occupations and free from all sin forever—this is the really, real ever after and the really, real happy!)

     First, invitations are powerful, they are important, and they are potentially life changing—you never know what God might do through a simple invitation. 

     Second, they are not that hard.  You can do this and it might result is someone’s happily ever after.

     Invite some people to the party!