(#1577) Day 23. Serve Invest And Invite (27/10/26)

Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily Devotional (currently posted on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) as we continue our 9-week series: Fresh Vision From Jesus' High Priestly Prayer from John 17. 

This week, we continue our three-week focus on John 17:20-26, the third section of Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, where Jesus prays for us to effectively reach those outside of faith.

To watch this devotional, go to:

Please read John 17:20–26.

Think about getting fit. Many people imagine that the key is a few intense gym sessions each week. Those certainly help, but over the long term, it is often the small, everyday habits - walking more, taking the stairs, carrying the shopping, walking or cycling to work - it’s these lifestyle changes that make the greatest difference.

The same is true of evangelism. We can think of it as something we do during a special outreach week or at a particular event. Those times are valuable and often build our faith. But Jesus' vision is much bigger than occasional evangelistic efforts. He calls us to live as His witnesses every day, in the ordinary places and relationships where He has placed us.

Jesus prays:

Helping people come to know Jesus is central to His vision for every believer and for His church.

At CCP we summarise our vision as:

'Bringing People to Jesus: Myself, One Another, Our Community.

When it comes to reaching Our Community, we put it this way:

We are seeking to be missionaries where we are.

We are a church with deep compassion for our community, knowing that God wants to work through us to draw people to Himself.

As salt and light, and as fishers of people, we are called to do good works and to share the gospel thoughtfully and boldly. We live this out through SIV: by ‘Serving’ people, ‘Investing’ in friendships and ‘people of peace’ (Luke 10:5–7), and ‘Inviting’ others into our lives, our church family, and closer to Jesus - especially through Alpha.

Our vision goes beyond our local area: we are prayerfully listening to God about planting congregations and churches in new locations and nations, extending the reach of the gospel wherever He leads.'

SIV (Serving, Investing and inViting) is our simple approach to being a community on mission. 

We Can All Serve

We can all show the love of God, and character of God by serving people. This is not beyond any one of us. And this is essential for building bridges with people. 

We Can All Invest

We can all invest in friendships and  ‘people of peace’ - people who are open and interested in spiritual things - people in whom the Holy Spirit is already working. 

In Luke 10, When Jesus sent out the seventy-two disciples, He told them to look for receptive people - people of peace - and remain with them. They were not to force their message on people, but recognise where God was already at work. Investment involves investing through praying and seeking God - this is essential! But this is to be accompanied by practical action. 

Rebecca Manley Pippert writes:

We Can All Invite

As relationships grow, we can invite people to take another step towards Jesus - An invitation to a church meeting, time with other Christian friends, a Discovery Bible Study, The Alpha Course… ultimately, we can invite them to accept Jesus.  

Every one of us can live this way. Each day we can prayerfully ask, "Lord, who can I serve? In whom should I invest? Who do you want me to invite closer to you?”

Moment To Reflect

We have the privilege of joining Him in His mission by serving, investing, and inviting.

• How are you showing the love of Christ through serving the people God has placed around you?

• Who might be a ‘person of peace’ in your life? Are you intentionally praying and investing in that relationship?

Download the booklet

Below is the link to download the devotional booklet: Fresh Vision From Jesus Prayer. This is a series of 27 devotionals based upon Jesus' High Priestly Prayer in John 17.

This year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of CCP; to watch our anniversary video, please select the link below:

Community Group Study

1. Notices

It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News. 

2. Icebreaker

You might want to use the icebreaker: How has God been speaking to you from His Word recently, and how has this helped you? 

3. Worship together

Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.

4. Study and pray together

Balanced Time Allocation - Please ensure a balanced focus on discussion, SIV (Serve, Invest, and Invite), and prayer so that each section is meaningful and fruitful.

On Sunday, we continued our series, Fresh Vision From Jesus’ Prayer, and continued our three-week focus on John 17:20-26, the second section of Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, where we will see that Jesus wants to lead us in reaching our community with the gospel. 

Read John 17:20–26 together and discuss:

• What particularly spoke to you, challenged you or inspired you from Sunday’s message?

• Our message on Sunday was: Salvation Is A Miracle, And We Are To Co-Work With Him As Spiritual Midwives. In what ways can we co-work with God in seeking to bring people to Him? 

• Jesus prays, ‘I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message’ (John 17:20). If someone expressed an interest in Christianity, how would you briefly explain the gospel to them?

• Prayer and sharing the gospel are both vital. Take a moment to identify and write down the names of the ‘people of peace’ in your life (see the note at the end for help identifying them). Then, commit to praying for them every day, asking God to open their hearts to the gospel and show you how you can love, serve and share Jesus with them.

SIV (Serve, Invest and Invite)

• Have you had any recent opportunities to Serve, Invest in, or Invite someone toward Jesus? Let’s encourage one another by sharing testimonies of God at work through us.

• Pray for the ‘people of peace’ in our lives (see note below), asking God to open their hearts and give us the Love and boldness to share His love as He opens opportunities. 

In our prayers together, let’s pray for a few themes together: 

• Thanks for giving and provision during our recent Gift Days. 

• Continue praying for our upcoming New Ground Sunday on the 8th November - that it would be a great morning that inspires vision for our family of churches. 

• Pray for Little Lambs and Ruth who leads this team - may God give many opportunities to serve, invest and invite. 

• General Prayer: Let’s also pray for one another based on our study, and bringing before God any other needs or requests for prayer.