An Invitation

"Your R.S.V.P. is greatly appreciated!" We've all seen these 4 letters (R.S.V.P.) at the end of an invitation, but what do they mean?

Officially…these initials stand for the French phrase "repondez s'il vous plait" which means "please respond." This means that the host/hostess would like to know whether you plan to attend his/her party. And technically, when R.S.V.P. is written on a personal invitation, it isn't an optional request. It means you must inform the host/hostess whether or not you will attend.

Maybe it's me, but in So. Cal., does anyone actually respond to anything? Sure my wonderful bride does, but does anyone else? Come on, really! These days many seem to function with the idea that if something better comes up, I won’t be there, but if it doesn't, then you can certainly count on me for your gig. This "keep your options open" mentality wears at the very fabric of commitment.

Think of the very first Christmas when Mary was invited to be the mother of Jesus, what if she said to the angel, "Let me think about it; I'll have my people call your people."

God's been in the invitation business from the very beginning of time. In fact, this weekend we're kicking off a brand new series titled, "The Invitation." We can learn a whole lot from each person who was there that very first Christmas.

So consider this your personal invitation. I'm letting you off the hook, you don't need to R.S.V.P., but it would be great to see you and some of your friends this coming weekend at The Crossing.

Tim Celek
Lead Pastor
The Crossing