The Power of "Please Come"
Updated: Feb 18
My son and his sons played football for the Tomball Titans. I coached the offensive line, and he coached the defense, having played linebacker in college. My only credential was having coached basketball 100+ pounds ago. The head coach had told me he was going to be joining our coaching staff with his sons in tow at the end of summer voluntary workouts, he was a pastor, and he was going to plant a church. Months later, at the end of the season, I shook his hand and said, "Good luck with the church plant". I think this was the only time either of us mentioned anything church related. He replied "Please come".
Who says THAT, "Please come"? Why not, "Would love to see you there sometime", or "If you're ever in the neighborhood…" or "You should come check us out". I would have never considered honoring any of those invitations. But "Please come", I told my wife I needed to go. And I told my wife she and our two kids didn't need to go. The head coach, who originally told me the defensive coordinator was going to plant a church, was a great guy, a spiritual man, but his faith tradition was different enough from ours I doubted we would ever regularly attend his church. I assumed the church plant in questions would also be a part of the same tradition. Nothing wrong with it, just not what we were used to.
As I said, I liked the guy. I had learned to respect him as a man, a coach, and a dad. I felt obligated, but in a good way, to honor his request even if there was no way I'd show up again with my family. Besides, we had recently decided to start going back to church and had attended like four out of five Sundays. I went, one Sunday afternoon to the small original community center off main street in Tomball, TX. I was wrong. Those people, that church, was not in the tradition of the head coach. In fact, it was so much like my own faith heritage I thought to myself, "These are my people!" I was puzzled, surprised, and even a little excited. Their minimal website contained a doctrinal statement. Their sending church's robust website had a bigger one. Everything about them I could see, hear, and feel made me feel at home. When my wife asked, "How did church go?", I simply said, "It was good, we should all go next week." Three or four weeks later, my 8th grade son said on the way home, "This is our new church isn't it, Dad?" "Yep", is all I remember saying.
Eight years later, the church has moved 2.5 times, has grown to 2,000 church partners, and I have started by fifth year on staff. The power of invitation had been totally lost on me until that handshake I shared with Brandon Guindon, Senior Pastor of Real Life Ministries, Texas. Brandon, like Jesus, knew to whom he was submitted, from whence his authenticity and authority came from. Jesus simply said, "Follow me…" and our world was changed (Matt 4:19). I am still growing into the power of invitation, as I grow in submission to King Jesus. For therein lies the power of invitation.
That handshake changed everything—not just for me, but for my entire family. Brandon's simple "Please come" wasn't just an invitation to a service. It was an invitation into a community where authentic discipleship happens. But here's what I've learned in my five years on staff: the power of invitation only works when it's backed by the power of transformation. You can't invite people into something you haven't experienced yourself.
For Ministry Leaders
Are you equipped to extend invitations that carry the same weight as Brandon's? The Residency trains leaders to create the kind of authentic, disciple-making communities people can't help but invite others into. Because when you're being transformed, invitation becomes natural—not programmed.
Ask yourself:
When people experience your church, do they think "These are my people?"
Are you creating a culture worth inviting others into?
Do you have the confidence to say "Please come," and mean it?
The difference between a casual invitation and a compelling one isn't in the words—it's in the authenticity of what you're inviting people into. Brandon could say "Please come" with such conviction because he knew what we would experience when we got there. He knew the transformation that happens when broken people encounter Jesus in authentic community.
Your Next Step
If you're sensing that holy discontent—that there must be more to creating inviting, multiplying communities—The Residency might be that missing piece you've been searching for.
The Residency isn't just about learning discipleship principles. It's about experiencing the kind of transformation that makes "Please come" the most natural invitation in the world. From calling to confidence, from theory to transformation—this is where ministry leaders learn to create disciple-making cultures that people can't resist joining.
For Church Members
The power of invitation starts with you. Who in your life needs to hear "Please come"? Not to a program, but to a community where transformation happens.
Think about the authenticity that made Brandon's invitation so compelling. It wasn't manufactured or scripted—it flowed from someone who had experienced what he was inviting others into. That same authenticity can mark your invitations when you're part of a community where real discipleship is happening.
P.S. The January 2026 cohort starts soon. Ready to learn how to create communities so authentic that "Please come" becomes the most natural invitation in the world? Because when you're confident in what you're building, every invitation carries the power to change a life—just like Brandon's changed mine.
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