Actually, "The Power of Invitation" was the sermon title for Sunday, March 30, 2008. It was based on the Scripture texts of Mark 16:14-16 and Luke 19:1-10.
Mark 16, of course, records a post-resurrection appearance of Christ in which He issues the Great Commission. Each of the other gospels, as well as Acts, also record this Great Commission: Matthew 28:18-20 (the most familiar), Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21, and Acts 1:8.
Luke 19, on the other hand, is the story of Zacchaeus and his conversion. To him, the invitation was given and he responded in faith.
Today, the invitation is also given: the invitation to come to Christ in repentance receiving the salvation that He so freely offers through His death on the cross. But, we who believe also have the invitation to join Christ in His mission - to be as it were, His hands, His feet, His heart to those we meet each day.
The choir sang a wonderful older anthem by Eugene Butler that expressed this Great Commission by quoting the text from Mark, "Go Ye into All the World." This is expanded with the quote from John 15:12-13 about our need to love others as Christ loved us and the great passage of strength and comfort found in John 14:1.
Let us then respond to Christ's invitation: yes, to salvation, but even beyond that to love as He loved and to know His peace in this world.
Blessings,
Richard
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