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Introduction:
I
Corinthians 14:23-25 explains one of the goals of our assemblies. We hope our
guests learn quickly and easily that God is among us. Evangelism,
therefore, has been one of the aspects of Christian assemblies
from the very beginning of Christ’s church. With that in mind,
about a year ago, we began one of our most important works. We
determined to purposefully and consciously work on evangelizing
our guests. We should certainly continue talking to our friends,
family, co-workers and neighbors. We should certainly continue
knocking doors, talking to people in lines and inviting checkers
at stores. But we must not overlook those who are already
interested enough to attend one of our assemblies whether they
have come on their own or at the invitation of one of our members.
Since we began this program, we have had several new
families become part of the congregation. Additionally, we simply
haven’t reminded the congregation of the plan in the assemblies
very much. Therefore, as we approach this month in which we are
supposed to reassign roles, I want to explain what we are doing
and let you know what roles we have available. Discussion: I.
Attention to Guests A.
James
2:1-4
explains a very important principle about our guests. We are to be
impartial. It doesn’t matter if our guests are rich or poor,
black or white, male or female, Christian or non-Christian, like
us or different from us, we are to treat them with decency and
respect impartially. As such, we want to go out of our way to make
sure every guest is treated as an honored guest. B.
The three goals of our Guest Evangelism 1.
Guest
reception:
We want every guest to feel welcome. We want them to feel at home.
This is why I refer to those who visit with us as guests. Have you
ever noticed museums have visitors who drop in and leave? Hotels
and restaurants, service oriented industries, have guests. We are
about service. We want people to feel at home, not feel as though
they have dropped in and are ready to leave. 2.
Guest
information:
We want every guest to have all the information they need. We want
to anticipate their needs, letting them know where the restrooms
and nurseries are. We want to help them find the classes they need
and understand the order of our classes and assemblies. We must
remember the order we take for granted is wholly new to our
guests. Further, we want to give them information about the
congregation. We want to let them know who and what we are.
Therefore, we have developed a guest packet to introduce them to
us as a congregation. Finally, we want to retrieve information
from them. We cannot let them know how much we appreciated their
visit without learning their mailing address or other pertinent
information. Therefore, we want to invite them to fill out one of
our guest cards and we want to make sure to get that back to them. 3.
Guest
follow-up:
When appropriate, we want to follow-up with our guests. We do so
in four appropriate ways. First, we immediately e-mail our guest
so that by the time they get home, they already have an expression
of our gratitude in their e-mail box. Second, we send them letters
and cards. Our ladies work groups have continued to do an
outstanding job accomplishing this. Third, when appropriate we
have a couple of our members drop by for a five-minute stay on the
porch visit to express our appreciation and invite them back
again. Fourth, we have those who call before the next Sunday to
invite them to our next assemblies. In time, we hope to have at
least a quarterly newsletter to mail to our guests to let them
know what is going on in the congregation. For those who are
repeated guests, we strive to invite them into our homes so we can
get to know them better and offer studies as needed. Our goal here
is to help all our guests come to Christ or grow in Christ. II.
The Roles—Please give consideration to where you will fit
best—All of these roles are filled for six month intervals. A.
Prayers:
Acts
11:21 demonstrates if we will have success we must have
the Lord’s hand with us. Therefore, the backbone of everything
we do is inviting God to build this house. As such, we have
established two prayer groups, a men’s group and a women’s
group. Hopefully, everyone will pray regularly for our guests and
our growth. But these two groups meet specifically on Sunday night
following our assembly to have a time of prayer, specifically
mentioning our guests by name and praying for our further work in
evangelism. B.
Greeters/Escorts:
Obviously, every one of us needs to keep our eyes open. If we see
a guest in the parking lot, the foyer, the classroom or
auditorium, we must not wait for someone else to talk to them, we
need to do it. Keep James
2:1-4 in mind as we strive to honor our guests. However,
we specifically assign people to greet and escort our guests. This
role is designed to welcome guests and to facilitate the exchange
of information. Everyone is to greet our guests. But these
assigned members are to make sure our guests receive the guest
packet, are asked to fill out our guest card, know the layout of
our facilities and can find their way to the appropriate class.
(Please understand, if you are not comfortable talking to
strangers, do not feel obligated to sign up for this role. We have
plenty of roles for all personality types.) Do not underestimate
the impact getting this role filled has on our guests. Several of
us have heard specifically from guests about how friendly the
congregation is and what an impact that makes on them. C.
Card
Distributors:
At the end of each assembly and class, we need those who will
collect the guest cards, copy them and distribute them in the
system of boxes we have in the library. This job is very simple,
but it must be done quickly and consistently. D.
Databasers:
This is one area we have slacked up on. We have yet to complete
our database. However, that should be remedied shortly. We need
someone to fill in the information regarding our guests and the
follow-up info with them in a database. We want to keep track of
the number of guests we have had and the work we have done to
follow-up with them. E.
E-mailers:
We like to have at least three people who will follow-up with an
e-mail to each of our guests, thanking them for their attendance.
If they are local, we will use the e-mail to invite people to be
our guest again. One of the issues that is a must on this role
(and I am not sure we have been getting this done) is at least one
person is to pick up the guest cards and, using the computer in
the workroom, is to send out an e-mail to each guest immediately
following the assembly they attended. We want our guests to get
home, check their e-mail and already have a note in their inbox
from us thanking them for being here. F.
Letter
and Card Writers:
Our ladies groups have been doing a fine job writing letters and
cards to our guests. This is another means by which we let guests
know how much we appreciate them and provide an invitation for
local guests to attend with us again. G.
5-minute
visitors:
Within 48 hours of a guest attending with us, we want someone to
simply drop by their home and let them know we appreciated them
attending with us. These visits should last no longer than 5 or 10
minutes. Further, even if invited in, these visitors should remain
on the porch, simply express thanks for attending and leave. H.
Phone
Callers:
Beginning on Thursday, we have those who follow-up with our local
guests giving them a phone call to express our appreciation for
their visit and to invite them to attend on the following Sunday.
The call does not have to be long, but it does need to be
gracious. I.
Hospitality:
When someone has attended several times, we want to get to know
them better. As such, we need people who are willing to invite
guests into their home. I stress, that we do prefer this to be an
in-home hospitality. It is more meaningful, more hospitable and
more conducive to getting to know people when they are in your
home. Conclusion: According to I Corinthians 3:5-9, God is the one who will provide the increase. However, He provides us with opportunities to work on that increase. We all can play a part in this work. We need you to be involved. Please, sign up to be part of this work and watch God work through us.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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