What would you do if you only had a few hours to share My heart with this man? - By Matt Berry

That was the question the Holy Spirit asked me, now almost two years ago. I had woken up like any other day, poured a cup of coffee and sat half-awake with the intention to connect with God. I read some Scripture, I prayed aloud, and then I waited in the stillness for Him to speak. (This blog introduces a new book by Matthew Berry, a CLU student.)

My thoughts began to drift and then finally settled into a vision. I was sitting at an airport bar. Next to me, a man who had been my traveling companion on the last flight. His heart had been touched by the Holy Spirit and he wanted to know more about Jesus and life in his kingdom.

Our flights had been delayed, and a perfect window of time had opened. I had just a few hours to give him the most important details about life with Jesus, before our paths diverged and we took different planes back home—likely never to see one another again.

That vision, and the question, “What would you do if you only had a few hours to share My heart with this man?” led me to write Invited: A Simple Guide for Connecting with God.

Invited is a guidebook, a field manual for the modern-day seeker. It is designed to make God’s invitation accessible to ordinary people with a desire to connect with God. This book is primarily written to people who don’t attend a church or listen to Christian radio. Pre-COVID, you’d find them sleeping in on Sunday morning or grabbing brunch or getting ready for the football game—ordinary people who work full-time jobs, love their family, go to school—but who also have this curiosity for something deeper and a hunger for meaning in life.

This is a book about following Jesus, and so it would be considered a discipleship resource for many. However, I’ve discovered that many “Christian discipleship” resources mostly focus on acquiring the right facts (i.e., building the right theology), but don’t equip people for living life outside their head—where the proverbial “rubber meets the road.” It’s not designed to be a comprehensive guide on theology, there are many good resources for that. This is designed to give them the most basic tools for a life of following Jesus.

Here's what readers will discover in Invited: A Simple Guide for Connecting with God:

• What following Jesus can look like in today's world
• That God wants to connect with you - you've already been invited
• A simple-to-apply technique to hear from God when you pray (even a six-year-old can do it!)
• How to overhaul your perspective and start living a faith-filled life
• Questions to help you reflect on where you're at in life, and then take meaningful action
• Access to a free companion video course to be your guide
• ...and much more.

These are tools to grow into, not topics to check off a list. They’re essential principles that anyone can put into practice, whether a new believer or seasoned saint. We can learn from them again and again.

Are you desiring a resource that will connect you with God’s heart? Invited provides practical guidance, heart-warming stories, and encouragement to trust Him more completely.

Do you know of people who are spiritually open, perhaps even curious about Jesus, but haven’t yet made a decision to follow Him completely? Invited is a simply written, non-intimidating resource that presents a Jesus who calls out to us, seeks to find us, and all for the sake of creating beauty in our lives.

Check out Invited: A Simple Guide for Connecting with God.