You Y’all will be my witnesses.

3 WELCOME & INVITATION

We will help you share your faith— together as a community.

Our witness for Jesus is often stronger when it’s spoken and lived out as a family— the body of Christ.

    • This series highlights 4 key practices.

    • Each practice is deeply rooted in the life and ministry of Jesus.

    • These practices move the gospel deeper into our communal life. They also provide a magnetic, life-changing witness to the world around us.

LET’S REMEMBER A KEY TERM

BODY LIFE WITNESS

“Whenever someone who is not a Christian encounters the gospel as it is spoken and lived out in the communal life of a group of Christians.”

OVERVIEW

  1. Watch - Madison and Chandler (Welcome) 4 min

  2. Discuss - Sawubona 5-7min

  3. Explore - The Bible’s Welcome and Invitation Stories 2 min

  4. Pray and Connect - Imaginative Prayer Experience, Luke 19:1-10 15 min

  5. Watch - Tyler’s Story, 5 min

  6. Workshop - Sharpening your welcoming skills, 7-10 min

Today’s Practice

Welcome & Invitation

▼ Watch together

Madison and Chandler

Madison and Chandler are college students in Boston with roots in Texas, Arkansas, and Germany. They will get us started at the beginning of each practice we are learning together.

Sawubona!

— a Zulu Greeting

▼ Read

translation: “I see you!”

More than words of politeness, sawubona carries the importance of recognizing the worth and dignity of each person. 

It says, “I see the whole of you—your experiences, your passions, your pain, your strengths and weaknesses, and your future. You are valuable to me.” 

▼ Take 5-7min and discuss as a group

Think about your own life. Share an experience where you felt seen and welcomed by another person or group of people. How did that feel?

The Bible is full of welcome and invitation stories.

▼ Read this section aloud.

There once was a father who ran towards his son, the one who squandered the family inheritance. . .

The Prodigal Son
Luke 15:11-32

High up in the sycamore tree sat a short and greedy man. He had no idea who would come into his home that day. . .

Jesus and Zacchaeus
Luke 19:1-10

There he was— the one called Lamb of God. John the Baptiser said he wasn’t even worthy to untie the strap of his sandal. But people gathered around him with curiosity and questions. Jesus, the Lamb of God, responded with an invitation. “Come and you will see.”

“Come and see” soon echoed off the lips of those first followers.

Jesus and the first disciples
John 1:25-51

There once was a dinner party. In came a sinful woman who cried on the feet of Jesus. She used her hair to wipe up the tears. She could not stop kissing his feet.

A sinful woman forgiven
Luke 7:36-50

▼ Stop here and read.

Let’s now do a deeper dive into one of these stories of welcome and invitation.

▼ Read and take 15 mins on this section

An Imaginative Prayer Experience

Jesus and Zacchaeus Luke 19:1-10

Imaginative prayer is a method of prayer in which you imagine yourself as present in a Gospel scene, stepping into the story and encountering Jesus there.

▼Directions

  1. For each reading below (first, second, third), slowly read the passage aloud. Between each reading pause for reflection. Rotate who is going to be the reader each time.

  2. With each reading, imagine yourself as one of the people in this story. Imagine everything that happens through their perspective. Tap into all of your senses and take note of the sights, sounds, thoughts and emotions.

Jesus and Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-10

▼Read together

Context

As a tax collector, Zacchaeus worked for the oppressor of his fellow Israelites. He would have been a despised person in his community and considered an outcast.

He extorts people for a living. He lies and steals to line his own pockets. He intimidates and threatens.

And yet…Jesus wants to have dinner with him. 

▼Begin the imaginative prayer experience.

First Reading: CROWD

Put yourself in the scene. Imagine you are one of the crowd members watching this encounter.

  • What do you observe? What are you thinking, feeling? What are you noticing about Zacchaeus? The crowd? Jesus?

  • Example: “I notice a person up in the tree!” “I hear the murmurs of the crowd as Jesus talks to him.” “I feel the glare of the crowd on Zacchaeus and Jesus.”

  • Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

    1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

    5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

    7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

    8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

    9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

***Take 30 seconds to write down your observations.

Imagine yourself as Zacchaeus in this story. Take in the atmosphere around you. What do you notice? What are you thinking, feeling?

Second Reading: ZACCHAEUS

  • Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

    1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

    5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

    7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

    8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

    9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

***Take 30 seconds to write down your observations.

Third Reading: HOUSE GUEST

Imagine yourself as one of the house guests, along with Jesus, Zacchaeus invites to his home. Take in the the atmosphere around you. What do you notice? What are you thinking, feeling?

  • Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

    1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

    5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

    7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

    8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

    9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

***Take 30 seconds to write down your observations.

Discuss together

▼After the imaginative prayer experience, discuss these final questions as a group.

  • Describe your experience with imagining yourself in this story. What stood out to you? (Reflect back on your notes)

  • The story of Zacchaeus invites us to see the radical welcome of Jesus towards outsiders. Where have you seen that kind of welcome in your own Christian community? What has hindered that kind of welcome?

  • How does our understanding of our own brokenness and need for forgiveness effect our invitation and welcome of others?

▼ Watch this 5 min film together.

Pay attention to themes of welcome and invitation.

The power of welcome & invitation

Faith in God was all but lost after 20 surgeries. But then Tyler got an invitation from his friend Chris.

Workshop 

▼ Read and spend a final 7-10 mins on this section.

SHARPENING YOUR OWN SKILLS


Hold onto today’s stories of welcome and invitation as you answer the questions below.

You will work alone for a few minutes and then share as a group.

  1. What are the components of an invitation that would make you want to say “yes”?

  2. Write down 2-3 people in your life who need to experience this kind of welcome and invitation. 

  3. Brainstorm 1-2 ways you can demonstrate the welcome and invitation of Jesus to these people. 

  4. Need help? Check out: How to Make Meaningful Invitations.

Next time we meet

Why was Jesus always getting so close to people?

Jesus, the Word, became flesh and lived among us. He “closed the distance” between sinful humans and a holy God.

The Bible tells us that when Jesus closed the distance, he came full of grace and truth. What does this mean for us and the way we treat outsiders?

Next time, we will dive into the practice of Closing the Distance.

Last, but not least

YOUR VOICE MATTERS

A diverse group of students and Cru staff designed what you just experienced. We need your help to continue making it even better.

Will you take just a few minutes to evaluate THIS PRACTICE?

Thank you!

What is the Gospel?

the essence of the good news story we share

  • God loves us and made us for life with Him

    • We were created to know God personally and live in His love as part of His family.

  • Our Sin Separates Us from God

    • By choosing our own way, we’ve broken our relationship with God and can’t fix it ourselves. Sin infects all of our key relationships.

  • Jesus Brings Us Back to God

    • Through His death and resurrection, Jesus paid for our sin and offers forgiveness and new life.

  • We Respond by Faith and Join His Family

    • We receive Jesus by faith. We begin by turning from our old ways, admitting that we need Jesus to forgive us and bring us into his new way.

      He gives us His Spirit, makes us part of His people, and calls us to share His love with others.