Brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! It's so good to see you. Those of you who have brought your Bibles with you, won't you open up to the very end of Matthew? Matthew 28 sits right there before Mark. I'm reading from Matthew 28, verse 16 and following, the last paragraph of the Gospel:

"Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee , to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them." It was after Jesus had risen from the dead, and He was about to rise into heaven. "When they saw Him they worshipped Him, though some doubted. Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age." The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Well, dear friends, on these weeks we have been studying five guiding stars for the faithful Christian. I was very impressed by our scouting presentation this morning and by Mr. Putnam's words, and I was very touched by the fact that all those scouts recited all those values that scouting holds dear. Those are the guiding stars for the scouts, and I salute that.

We're talking about guiding stars for Christians. These weeks we've been asking the question, "What on earth are we doing for heaven's sake?" In other words, how are we acting out our Christian faith? How can we tell if we're faithful Christians? I'm suggesting five guiding stars that guide us along, that we strive for, in order to become faithful, active Christians.

Now today, we are on star five. I'll tell you what it is in just a moment. But, before I do, please be sure to be with us next week, because next week I'm going to tie this whole thing together. I'm going to show you how everything we do in the church – everything! – from crafters to ushers to greeters to trustees is related to this constellation of five guiding stars. So please come and hear this conclusion to the series.

And I have a little homework assignment for you. The homework assignment is to take a look at what you're doing in the church. You might be serving on a function or you may be a regular attender, or you may just be starting to get involved in the church, and see which star your activity falls under. Now, there may be more than one. But principally, it will be one of the guiding stars. Please be thinking about that for next week.

Let's review quickly. There are five stars in the shape of the cross. The number one star is worship. Coming to church on Sunday, saying "Lord, I'm here; I'm here to bless you." I heard a story when I was a little child, and it has stayed with me all these years. It seems that there was a worker in a London mill. Every morning he passed a church, and he'd stop in for just a minute. He was a simple sort of a chap. He'd go into the church and say, "Hello, Lord. Jimmy is here," and then he'd go off to work. One day the pastor of the church noticed that he hadn't come by for a while, and he inquired about him. He went to see Jimmy's family, and the family said, "Yes, Jimmy has gone to the Lord. But just before he passed away, he told us that he'd had a vision. He saw Jesus, and he heard Jesus say, "Hello, Jimmy. Jesus is here."

We come to worship, to show our faithfulness to the Lord.

The second star is to grow, to become deeper and stronger Christians through prayer and study and reading.

The third star is to care, the star of service. It's as natural for Christians as anything can be. We have a heart for helping people. And when we help people, we follow the star of caring.

The fourth star is to give, to share. We support our church, because our church is a mission. The church doesn't just support missions; the church is a mission. The church reaches out to its community to bring the good news of Jesus Christ.  And if this isn't a mission, I don't know what a mission is! We give, we share, we help our church.

Here comes the fifth star: the fifth star, the center of the cross, is the star of outreach. The star of outreach leads us to welcome and to invite. We worship, we care, we share, we welcome and invite. I think this is the sweetest star, because this is where people contact people. There is a saying, "God has no grandchildren. God only has children." And our faith is just one generation away from extinction, except if we tell the story and invite people to come and be blessed and meet Jesus Christ. So it is upon all our hearts to become welcomers and inviters.

What does it feel like to be welcomed? Jonathan Swift once said, "Tact is the fine art of making the people that you're with feel at ease." Isn't that great? To welcome means to make people feel at ease, accepted, and important. It's a great feeling.

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you feel welcomed, wherever it was you went? Or the people that came to you – was there a big welcome for them? I'll bet there was. It was for me. I went to my niece's house down in Lakewood . I walked in the door and felt a burst of welcome. I hadn't seen some of those folks in almost a year, but there were hugs and hellos. I was carrying a big Tupperware container with rhythm instruments, and one of the littlest kids looked at me and remembered and said, "Music! Are we gonna play?" And I said, "Yes, we are." It was a wonderful time. I hope you felt welcomed.

Somebody here today needs to feel your welcome. Only you can do it. Only you have the smile that somebody needs. Only you have the word of acceptance that somebody needs. Someone may shake your hand this morning, and for them, it may be the very handshake of Christ. We are called to be welcomers for Jesus. It's a beautiful thing. It's a wonderful opportunity. Let people know that this place is safe. It is affirming. It is a blessing to everyone who comes through its door.

The second part is to invite. Now, welcoming is for people who've come through the door; inviting is for people who haven't come through the door to Christ. People in the world need Jesus Christ. Amen? Amen! And maybe they just need a word from you, to invite them a service, to Christmas Eve. If you meet someone who doesn't have a church home or somewhere to go on Christmas Eve, invite him to come with you. You never know how Christ may be speaking through you.

I'm going to take a chance. By a show of hands, is there anybody in church this morning, is there anybody who got into church or who got back into church because someone invited you to? Look at the people who have raised their hands. These folks might not be here today if someone hadn't spoken the word of invitation. Could we be the inviters? You never know when Jesus will be calling us to do just that.

Last question: why should we? Why invite anyone? Two reasons – because Jesus wants us to, and because the world needs Jesus Christ and we need each other. I'm going to take a leap into an area that I don't know much about, so I'm going to need your help – football! I'm so sorry; I was born without an NBA molecule or an NFL molecule. But I've chosen to fail at that in hopes of succeeding at something else. So, football. How many people are on one team? Eleven at a time. Can more play if they want to? No, only in a church game. Eleven players on each team, two teams on the field, different color costumes for each team.

Imagine this: what if you had one football team with eleven players and another team with one player? You've got eleven gentlemen ready to charge and one person holding a ball. Can you imagine what that would be like? Could any of us do it? We need each other. We need to be part of a team. And I tell you this, folks, there are people in Belle Mead and Hillsborough and Kendall Park and South Brunswick and surrounding areas who need to be part of a team, who are fighting against life alone and need Jesus Christ to be a winner.  They need you! They need your smiling face and your affirming presence. That's why we do it, because people need Jesus Christ, and Jesus needs you to be an inviter.

Won't you think about it this week? Maybe God will call you to say, "Come to church with me this week, won't you?" Or come to this event or that event. You'll be an inviter for Him. You'll be following that fifth star.

So, I invite you to say this with me: "As a faithful Christian, I will worship and grow. I will care. I will share. I will welcome and invite."

And may God bless you as you follow these stars and find fulfillment in your faith. God loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.