Reaching the Lost-Many churches say they want to reach those outside the church but do little to bring them in. Most churches feel that if people want to come, they will come without any prompting. Fifty years ago that was reasonable because most people had church in their background and if they drifted away after high school, they often came back when they had children so the children could have the advantage of a church upbringing but most people today have no church in their background for several generations and have no idea what church is and what it has to offer so they see no need to go. Some churches may make big displays through Madison Av-type evangelistic programs, but they draw very few beyond their own membership because people today are bombarded with Madison Ave advertising and have learned to tune it out. Many churches make no attempt to engage those who come from outside the church for curiosity or entertainment and those who come often don’t feel welcome and don’t stay. The church will not be able to reach the unchurched unless they go where they are and minister to their needs. The mission field is no longer just overseas but is now all around us and every member must be a missionary to those they meet during the week.
Archive for the ‘Pentecost’ Category
Fourth Sunday of Pentecost-June 9
Engage visitors-It takes more than merely recognizing that someone is visiting. Many churches not only fail to recognize visitors, but they also fail to engage them. It is important to engage visitors and let them know that you are glad they have visited. It will inspire them to come back again and maybe become a part of the congregation. They may not live in the area and are only visiting, but they will still appreciate your contact, and will be more likely to visit again when they are in the area. In addition, they may have friends or relatives that live in the area and may recommend your church to them, if they don’t already have a church. Many churches fail to follow up on visitors. If a visitor is not engaged after a meeting and is not visited soon after their visit, they often don’t return, because those people come for a reason. People are looking for a place to feel they belong and if they are ignored, they will look elsewhere. Someone from the congregation should get their name and address and arrange to visit them to get to know them and introduce them to what the church has to offer them so they will have a reason to come back, and not leave it to the pastor. The visit should take place within the following week if possible as it is less effective the longer it is delayed, since they may decide to visit somewhere else the following Sunday, if they didn’t feel welcome. The pastor should actively train visitation workers to visit those who visit the church because a church that ministers to those who attend will grow and the pastor cannot do it alone.
Third Sunday of Pentecost-June 2
Recognizing visitors–Many pastors and church boards tell me that few people visit the church. Yet when I ask about a person or family that I saw visiting, they often didn’t notice. I often visit churches and often leave wondering if I was even noticed. Though the churches are often not close to where I live, they have no way of knowing that. I could be someone who just moved into the area and am looking for a church. Many churches have no way to recognize visitors. The ushers can carry visitor cards and pass them out to those visiting or the church can have pew cards in the pews for visitors to fill out. Ushers are the front line when it comes to visitors. They are usually the first to meet them and are familiar with many who attend church. If they see someone wandering around looking for the sanctuary or the rest rooms, it is a good bet that person isn’t a regular attender. Even though visitors are more easily recognized in Sunday School than in the sanctuary, few Sunday School teachers record visitor information in their classes. As a result, many visitors go unrecognized. In addition, the church can have many activities like Vacation Bible School, potlucks, and visiting singers that attract visitors who have no church home. It takes courage to visit a large group of strangers and if the group does not recognize them and greet them, they rarely come back. Ushers and church leaders need to actively seek to identify visitors during every activity. One declining church I took over as pastor rented their Sunday School rooms to a government poverty program to help pay upkeep on the church. They wanted me to find another source of income so they could get rid of the program. The program drew about fifty people from the local community every week. It took me a while to convince the church to stop trying to chase the people out and begin inviting them in.
Trinity Sunday May 26
Trinity Sunday B-The season of Pentecost occurs during the summer and today is a time when the church reaches out through special ministries to reach those who don’t know God that they may see God’s love and turn to Him. The zeal of the church in its ministry testifies to the presence of the Holy Spirit in it just as the tongues of fire testified to the presence of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost after Jesus rose from the dead. The church’s goal should be to be a witness to God’s love and to introduce unbelievers to the love of God in the hope that they will desire that love and turn to Christ for their salvation. The church’s main emphasis should be to reach out to those around it, conduct charity, and minister to the needs it finds. While these should be carried out all year round, Pentecost should be used to expand the church’s outreach.
Pentecost Sunday-May 19
The Holy Spirit cleanses our hearts like a fire refines gold. As a kid, my brother and I collected the lead tire balances that fell off cars along the road and would melt them in our furnace downstairs. After the lead melted, the impurities floated to the top. We then waited until the impurities burst into flames and burned off so that we would have pure lead before pouring it into molds. In the same way, the Holy Spirit helps cleanse our lives of those things that will hinder our witness through the trials and troubles we experience, and our changed life will witness to the Holy Spirit within us. One day, believers will stand before God and their works will be tried as with fire and those works that bore no fruit will be destroyed, though the believer will be saved. Only those works that produce fruit will remain.
Fourteenth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 27
Dealing with issues teens & Adults One of the greatest needs today is the teaching of Biblical values. Our country was founded on the principle that the government should be by the people, of the people, and for the people. That means that it will be run by the people, will consist of everyday citizens, not career politicians, and shall be geared toward benefiting the people. That requires that the people be informed about what is going on and able to decide what is best for them. The result was a push for universal education so everyone would be educated and for affordable newspapers to inform the people so they could vote intelligently. Up until the 1970’s, the churches, the schools and media were active in teaching Christian values so even those who did not attend church generally supported Christian values and open discussion of issues was allowed and even encouraged. Since then, the schools and the media have become increasingly liberal and have increasingly pushed their views openly and actively suppressed any opposing views. In addition, the church has been very lax in teaching Christian values to its members. Eighty percent of active churchgoers say they want their church to teach moral values, especially those regarding the family. Since they don’t understand Biblical values, many who attend church today hold liberal views while continuing to give lip service to the Bible. Young people who once received Christian values in school are increasingly being indoctrinated with liberal values and persecuted when they question them. The church must actively teach members Christian values and to question what they hear from the media. In addition, the church needs to help members understand why those values are important so they can defend them against liberal teaching. As a result, I have created a series of courses on Udemy on Christian values and how they differ from man-centered values to help church leaders understand and teach Biblical values. They are in a series of short videos so they can be shown one at a time and allow a discussion time in between.
Thirteenth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 20
Assisting Neighbors-Assist with yard work. As people get older, they often cannot do many things they used to do, such as shoveling snow, raking leaves, or mowing the lawn and it is getting very hard to get people to do the work. In addition, we face a growing number of single women and families headed by women who need assistance. Professional people are often way too expensive for those on limited incomes. Teens used to do the work to earn spending money but many parents now give the kids money to buy a lot of things they used to earn money to get for themselves. In addition, many kids are so busy with sports and other school activities that they no longer have time to do such work. A neighbor mowing their own lawn or shoveling their own walk can easily mow an extra lawn or shovel an extra walk and it is a good way to teach teens the value of a dollar or the joy of helping someone in need. In addition, those out of work could use the money. While it doesn’t pay like a full time job, it provides a little money until a job can be found.
Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 13
Adult Tutoring- Many students today, especially boys, drop out of school before graduating and many who graduated from high school before the implementation of “No Child Left Behind”, can not read and write because they had trouble in school and were just passed from grade to grade. Many classes today teach by memorizing words rather than learning how to figure out words on their own. As a result, many adults read very little because they have never learned to read adequately. Many such people are unable to get decent paying jobs and often can not get any steady work and can not afford classes to bring them up to an adequate level to get a good job. Often tutors can bring them up to an adequate level in just a couple years of part-time tutoring. Many schools and social agencies provide classes to help adults achieve high school equivalent degrees but adult tutors are needed to teach evening classes in reading and Math, as well as basic computer skills to enable participants to deal with the demands of everyday life since many jobs today require computer experience.
Eleventh Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 6
Curbside attractions-People are attracted by activity. People are attracted by a fight or other disturbance simply because life is dull and it is a diversion. They are also attracted by someone telling a story or painting a picture. The Salvation Army used to wander through the slums playing instruments to attract a crowd. Then they would stop and start preaching to the crowd. A friend of mine in Chicago had an old VW bus with the side door. He fixed a board with a sheet of paper on it just inside the van and would pull up to the curb, put money in the meter, and open the side door. Then he would start drawing a picture. As a crowd gathered on the sidewalk, he began telling a Bible story related to the picture he was drawing. In trailer parks we have lived in, there was very little for the kids to do and they often hung around with nothing to do. I often went out on the corner and began drawing a picture on a board. When they saw me, they quickly gathered to hear Bible stories. After a couple times, the kids are eager to join a local children’s Bible club.