Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

I make it a daily practice to keep up with what is happening in the world. In the social media world, Advent is proving to be a ‘content rich time’ with YouTube videos, blogs, articles, and events relating to both Advent and Christmas. On Facebook yesterday, I saw an invitation to Jesus’ birthday party. I was the 783,491st person to RSVP yes.

One click later I learned that Alistair Kent of Nottingham, United Kingdom created this event in late September. I also saw that in the time it took me to write the previous sentence and refresh the Jesus’ Birthday Party page, the number of attendees had increased by 331 to 783,822. After typing in this new number, I refreshed the page again and saw the ‘yes’ count was now 783,878. Talk about the right message to the right audience at the right time.

Continuing to explore this page, I discovered the following message, presumably from Alistair Kent:

MESSAGE ABOUT THE COMING OF JESUS

Just over two thousand years ago a baby boy was born. He changed the lives of so many. Even today, over two billion people claim to follow him. A book based on and around him was put into print a few hundred years ago and consistently ranks as the world's bestseller. His name is Jesus. So significant was his birth, that every new day we enter into is a pointer back to that day.

Even though he was still God (the Son), why did he give up all his heavenly privileges and go so low as to become a human being and come and live on this Earth?

• HE CAME AS A LIGHT (John 12:46). No one anymore has to be left fumbling around in the darkness of disillusionment, despair or doubt.

• HE CAME AS LIVING BREAD (John 6:35). Bread sustains our natural bodies, but the bread that Jesus offers sustained our spirits forever.

• HE CAME AS A SERVANT. Not to do his will, but to do the will of his Father in heaven (John 6:38). What an example! Even in his power and might, he modeled servanthood and obedience to us, living a life perfectly in time with the heartbeat of his Father.

• HE CAME TO DIVIDE (John 10:34). There are no grey areas with Jesus. You're either on his side or on the other side.

• HE CAME TO FULFIL (matt 5:17)! There was much debate about the religious laws laid down by Moses. Jesus was not moving the Old Testament goalposts, he merely came to score a New Testament goal.

• HE CAME TO SAVE SINNERS (1 Tim 1:15). That means me, you and everybody else who ha s ever lived or who is living today. His name actually means 'He Saves'. He may have been a carpenter by trade, but he operated in the business of saving lives from the penalty of sin - death.

• HE CAME WITH AN INVITATION for us to turn our lives inside out (Mark 2:17). He didn't address those who thought they were spiritually-fit, but went out inviting ones who knew they were sin-sick.

• HE CAME AS A RANSOM (Matt 20:28). He gave away his life in exchange for the many who are held captive to sin. He paid the ultimate price to see multitudes set free without having to pay a penny themselves.

• HE CAME TO DIE (John 12:27). Every single moment of Jesus' 33 years on this earth was pointing to hour of his death. If he hadn't have died, then we wouldn't be able to live out the life we were originally created to live before sin ruined it all.

• HE CAME AS KING to rule and reign for evermore (John 18:37). No political spin or dictatorship involved. He just came to proclaim the truth and said it as it is.

• HE CAME TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL (1 John 3:8). Sin and sickness, poverty and strife, death and everything else that stands against the people of God have all been dealt with at the cross where Jesus died. The devil has been disarmed.

• HE CAME SO THAT WE COULD LIVE LIFE TO THE MAX (John 10:10). None of this ‘half empty - half full’ stuff. Believers of Christ can experience not only a full quota of life, but a life that overflows into others'.

This powerful message about the coming of Christ was more than I expected to find on an invitation to a Facebook event. And, after copying and pasting the above message, the number of yes responses is 784,030.

Is your congregation, group, or organization using Facebook to proclaim the Good News? If so, has it brought your parish, group, or organization to the attention of people you are trying to reach? Do you have a success story to share or guidelines for use to share?

Finally, have you RSVP’d for Jesus’ birthday party? If so, what number are you?