INVITE

When we look at the life of Jesus, we don’t see Him spreading His message about the coming of the kingdom of God through billboards, bumper stickers, or mass mailings. No. He spread his message of hope and abundant life through his everyday relationships and encounters with people. In fact, the accounts of Jesus’ life are filled with the many encounters that Jesus had with individuals or small groups of people throughout His lifetime.

In one instance, Jesus planned a dinner party with Matthew, His newfound friend and disciple (Matthew 9:9-13). Matthew invited all of his tax collector co-workers along with his other shady-charactered friends so that he could introduce them to Jesus. We believe that in this story, Jesus was setting an example for us to follow; it shows us the importance that Jesus places on relationships when introducing people to Him. And so throughout the year we plan several events that we call Matthew Parties. Matthew parties are relationship-building events where we encourage you to introduce your friends to Jesus and the body of Christ (the church).