On the last Sunday of a five-week series called “Lost & Found,” Adventure Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky invited everyone in the room to come forward and pick up a bracelet. Write the name of someone in your life who is far from Jesus on the inside, and wear it on your wrist.
Lead Pastor Brad McMahan was still setting up the moment from the stage when a 6th grader got out of his seat and headed straight for the bracelets. He knew exactly whose name was going on his. His mom was right behind him.
They’re brand new to Adventure. About a month ago, a man in one of the church’s LifeGroups invited the mom to come to his group. She accepted and showed up. A few weeks later, she recommitted her life to Jesus. Her son found community in the student ministry and now brings two or three other students with him every week. An invitation to a group led to a family coming to church, and Jesus took it from there. And now they were the first ones on their feet, ready to do the same thing for someone else.
The family’s story is Alignment, Awareness, and Activation lived out. The three ideas the “Lost & Found” series had been teaching for five weeks.
Brad told the congregation that the bracelet sits on the same place you check your pulse. Your heartbeat sits close to the name of the person you’re seeking.
Over 125 bracelets were picked up that Sunday. By Monday morning, Brad was getting texts from people who weren’t there asking if there were still bracelets available.
But the bracelets and the series were just the starting line.
Adventure also built a permanent space in their church called “Seek & Celebrate.” It’s a wall where people write the name or initials of someone they’ve invited and a brief story of how they made the invitation. The focus isn’t on how the person responded. It’s on the “act of inviting.”
As Brad puts it: “It’s not our job to change anyone. It’s our job to get people and Jesus in the same room.”
Other people read the stories, get ideas, find encouragement, and make invitations of their own. Adventure’s goal is 100 Seek & Celebrate stories every month. Invitations are the lead metric. The celebrations will follow.