Reach a Million for Jesus?

Boy Band, Take That, may have had over 45 million records sold... written 'a million love songs'... and even have 1.8 million followers on Facebook, but the million dollar question is...

Reach a million for Jesus? Admittedly, this is a big question and a big challenge, but before we unpack it further, let's remind ourselves of last month’s blog... Anna encouraged us to get ready for Christmas early, in order to leave space in the festive period for friends and family. I must confess…I’m an early bird when it comes to Christmas and start buying things when I see them from the summer onwards. I’m writing this in October and at the risk of annoying you…I’ve already written my Christmas cards! You see, growing up in a family of six, Christmas was a busy time. Even as an adult, I’ve been known to spend Christmas Eve wrapping Mum’s last-minute presents and putting up her cards!

The end of November has long been my deadline for Christmas – partly due to my teaching days when December meant students had exams and I had reports to write; partly because one of my children was due on Christmas Day; and partly due to how busy the Christmas period was when I worked as a Children and Families Pastor (one year I was involved in 23 nativities)! Basically, if my family Christmas wasn’t organised by the end of November, it wouldn’t happen!
 
As we begin the eleventh month of 2024 (can you believe we're nearing the end of 2024 already?!), Santa Claus appointments are already in short-supply, Christmas Dinners are booked, and it won’t be long before the Panto season kicks in (oh yes it will)! Personally, the start of November means looking ahead to my Christmas prep, not to mention a huge community event on Nov 30th!
 

How are things with you? What does your November look like? There is a risk if we don’t get prepared in time, that we will miss the opportunity given to us (rather like the five foolish virgins in Matthew 25). We need to have the wisdom to think ahead, to plan and prepare and to be ready - not for an appointment with the bearded man in the red suit, but more importantly, to serve the King of kings.
 
As Anna suggested last month, rather counterintuitively, sometimes the more we plan and prepare, the more we’re able to be spontaneous and make the most of the mission opportunity that Christmas presents. Here at Hope for Every Home we want to reach every home in the UK, 69,000,000 people, with the Good News about Jesus by the end of 2038. That’s a huge vision and Christmas is the biggest opportunity we have. That's why this year we’re aiming to reach over 1,000,000 for Jesus... and we need YOUR help!

Here are 5 simple invitations for you...

1. Invite a Neighbour for a Cuppa:
If someone knocks at your door… will you be inviting them in for a cup of coffee – eager to spend time with them, sharing Jesus with them? Or will you be thinking about all the jobs that need doing?! To make your life easier, why not have some Hope Christmas magazines around your home, to give away? They’re a great conversation starter and this year we’ve got features about the Brit Award winning artist, Raye; the Olympian and ex Strictly star, Adam Peaty; as well as Anne Hegarty, from The Chase; not to mention real-life articles including the story of a lady called Sheena, from Bournemouth, who has become known as ‘The Joy Lady’ in the midst of her son’s death… what an incredible example. With competitions and festive fun, there’s something for everyone, and all for 25p per copy (+ P&P) available from the Hope Shop now! You never know what a cuppa could lead to - it could be one in a million for Jesus!

2. Invite Someone to Journey Through Advent with You:
Perhaps it's worth thinking a little more deliberately about the opportunities available to us and how we will meet them. How can we point our way to the King of kings rather than the Christmas bargains aisle?!
 
‘Countdown to Christmas Hope’ takes people on a daily, interactive Advent journey. With things to read, think about, make, do, watch, and listen to (via QR codes) it really is a great ‘hand-to-hand’ giveaway to non-Christian friends who are interested in our faith. This daily devotion is linked to a Facebook group where people can be part of the CTCH community, posting responses to some of the questions, craft and other challenges; and it signposts people to their local church, to help them stay connected post-Christmas. ‘Countdown to Christmas Hope’ is great value too …it’s FREE - just pay postage and packing! We’d love to see it get into as many hands as possible so if you want to order in bulk, talk to us and we’ll see what we can do! 

So who could you invite on the journey? Who could you reach for Jesus this Advent?

3. Invite Jesus through Neighbours' Letterboxes!
 
If like me, you need a reminder, the last date for second class posting is the 18th December, and the last date for first class is 19th December! So, what are you posting this year? If you’ve not bought your cards yet, we can help you! Our first two cards link to the beautiful ‘Gift of Christmas’ book, with bespoke nativity themes, available as a pack of 10 for £4.50. Then we have five more exciting LEGO Christmas cards, which tell the story of the first Christmas and come in packs of 5 for £3.

If you’re not really into giving Christmas cards, can I encourage you to reconsider - even just one card for one friend? They really are a great (and easy) way to share the Good News this Christmas, and perhaps even reach one million for Jesus?

4. Invite the Gift of Jesus into Hands

Present buying, wrapping and giving is a huge part of Christmas (I love how Jesus showed us the BEST gift ever, when he gave himself to the world at the very first Christmas!). I wonder if you give anything to your neighbours (or non-Christian friends/family)? I give out homemade marmalade alongside a wooden tree decoration with the words: ‘love, joy, peace, hope’ as a tag. But sometimes I want to give my neighbours something extra. This year, that something ‘extra’ are ‘The Gift of Christmas’ and ‘Jesus to the Rescue’ books.

‘Jesus to the Rescue’ tells the Christmas story in our God’s Big Story series, which use Happyland toys to tell different stories from the Bible. Each book comes with a free animation, action song, toddler group and all age resources. It’s £3 for individual copies but as little as £1.50 when bought in bulk - perfect for church and toddler group giveaways!

‘Gift of Christmas’ is designed to be a Christmas gift book which gently takes readers though the background to many of our familiar Christmas traditions…and gently points people to their origins in the Christmas story. Alongside the book, there are FREE downloadable resources, including slides and printable activities to help you use ‘Gift of Christmas’ at a church outreach service or with schools. Available from the Hope Shop for £3 per copy but if you are buying in bulk there are special deals available.

Could your church give Gift of Christmas away at services and events or to local schools? As Tesco says... every little helps (towards reaching a million for Jesus)!
 
Talking of events…

 

5. Invite Friends to Meet Jesus

The Lego Christmas cards mentioned above are linked to our Lego Christmas Story trail. The 6 posters are all you need to run a Lego Christmas trail in your church or local community. Each poster features a different character from the Christmas story. Scan the QR code using the camera on your phone and, by the magic of augmented reality, the picture on the poster comes to life as the character tells their story. There’s even a download to accompany the Lego Christmas trail which explains how it works and different ways it can be used. It’s the perfect resource to share the Christmas story with families at a Messy Church, Crib service, high street event or even when you are shining your light (see below)! Available for £29.95 including postage from the Hope shop.
 
Last year ‘Shine Your Light’ saw over 70,000 Christians take to the streets to share the Christmas story with local communities, and reached 150,000 people. This year, we’re doing it again! Christians and churches across all denominations are invited to ‘Shine Your Light’ as part of Christmas community outreach events, during the weekend of the 13th-15th December.

Once you’ve done ‘door to door’ mission with magazines and cards, and ‘hand to hand’ mission with ‘Countdown to Christmas Hope’… perhaps this could be a local community Christmas event you can invite people to ‘face to face’? This year we would love to mobilise 100,000 Christians to share the light and hope of Christmas through story and carols to as many as possible! We’ve even taken the strain out of planning -  just download the free resources by - simply registering here.
 
As I wrap up, here's the million dollar question again...

Can we reach 1 million for Jesus?

Perhaps one or more of these 5 invitations resonate with you and even excite you to go on a missional adventure with Jesus this Christmas? With your help, we can share the message of HOPE wrapped up in the Christmas story this December. Every magazine, Advent devotional, gift book, Christmas card and festive event counts. Every Christian sharing their light counts. Every home counts. And every lost sheep counts. Please help us reach them for Jesus, so we can answer the million dollar question with a resounding "YES!"