Text-Driven Invitation: Landing the Plane Without Leaving the Text

by Matt Henslee

Years ago, I realized the invitations in my sermons had become a rotation of conclusions I would tack onto the end. They were biblical, but I was lazy...I was mailing it in. In doing so, I really had two sermons. What if my invitations actually came from the text I was preaching? What if my invitations were based on the same substance, structure, and spirit of the text? Well, I'd have a Text-Driven Invitation. "An invitation doesn't have to be an add-on to the text preached but flows from the same substance, structure, and spirit that drove the sermon."~ Matt Henslee

Kindle Edition

Published July 30, 2020

About the author

Matt Henslee was called to serve as pastor of Mayhill Baptist on March 12, 2017, and began his preaching ministry there on April 2, 2017. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Christian Studies with an emphasis in Church Ministry from Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, Texas in August 2006, his Master of Divinity (MDiv) in Theology from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas in May 2017, and just graduated with his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Church Revitalization from SWBTS. Before being called to MBC, Pastor Matt served in a variety of roles in a variety of contexts for over 20 years.

Matt’s heartbeat is for his local church, everyday evangelism, and encouraging pastors in the trenches of ministry in forgotten places. He lives to see churches grow not just in width, but in depth, as they live out their calling to make disciples. He is married to Rebecca Henslee and they have four daughters they adopted in March 2015, four dogs, and a giant elk head on the wall they named, “Cletus.”

Reviews

[Chadwick Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this helpful glimpse at giving an invitation that is text-driven rather than Roman Roads-stuck, Matt does a great job of giving the history & biblical reasoning for invitations that are grounded in the text & help build up the church, as well as providing examples of how he himself has done so through each of the major types of Scripture.

If you struggle to put together that invitation week-in & week-out, or if you just find yourself circling the runway with no safe way to land the plane without crashing & burning, Matt understands your pain, & he helps you to see that this doesn’t have to be the case, nor does it have to take away from the joy of discovery in the writing & preparation process!

If you are looking for a refreshing & honest take on invitation-planning & giving, take some time to read through this book today!

[Bret Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always found invitations difficult. Early on in my preaching, I read R. Alan Streett’s The Effective Invitation. I found it helpful. This book, like that one, offers practical advice on how to “land the plane.” The author has some good advice and decent examples that are easily adapted to a wide variety of Scriptures.

A very quick read!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, concise book on deriving an invitation directly from the text presented when preaching. It could use some practical pointers on how to develop a text driven invitation.