Making Our Church Guest-Friendly

We have been experiencing a number of guests in recent weeks and it is good for us to be reminded of how to take care of our guests. Here are some ways you can help to make our guests feel welcome. (Note: all churches think they are friendly, but often times they are friendly to people who have been attending for a long period of time - not new people.) Our desire is to befriend people to Christ!

The first 12 minutes will greatly influence whether or not they return. As they say, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression." When an unchurched person visits church for the first time, their greatest emotion is fear. What will people think? What are they going to do? "Am I going to have to sign something, sing something, sacrifice something, or say something?" They don't know what is going on and it is unnerving.

So our first goal is to help guests (let's not use the term "visitors") to relax. Guests must be relaxed if we are going to be able to communicate with them. Here are some suggestions for you to help make guests welcome:

* Reserve the best parking spot for guests. It just shows you are thinking of them.
* Station greeters outside your building. These greeters need to be strategically placed around the campus to greet guests and help them find their way into the building.
* Set up an information table (we now have a Welcome Center!)
* Have taped music playing when people enter. In America almost every public building has music playing. An interesting observation - if you play soft music, people talk softly. If you play loud music, people talk louder.
* Allow guests to remain anonymous in the service. Don't make them stand up and introduce themselves!
* Offer a warm, casual public welcome that relaxes people. If you want guests to feel welcome, to you have to be at ease yourself. We might say, "If this is your first time here at Valley Grace, we are glad you are here. We want you to take a deep breath, sit back, relax and enjoy the service."
* Begin and end each service by having people greet each other. Five times in the New Testament Christians are told to greet one another and share affection. On your way out after the service, look for someone to greet that you don't know - then you can reconnect with your friends.
*Offer a refreshment table at each service. Today in our society, it doesn't seem appropriate to just stand in a crowd doing nothing (this may be a bit of a challenge for us right now with space considerations).

Thank you for helping us welcome guests who are in search of a relationship with God and a church family to support them in their spiritual journey. If you want to read more on this, you can go here which is the source for this information.
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Sanctity of Life

President Barack Obama has been rolling back a number of the restrictions on abortion as he promised to do. He said on the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, “We are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.”

John Piper responded in a message,

*"No, Mr. President, you are not protecting women’s health; you are authorizing the destruction of half a million tiny women every year.

* No, Mr. President, you are not protecting reproductive freedom; you are authorizing the destruction of freedom for a million helpless people every year.

* No, Mr. President, killing our children does not cease to be killing our children no matter how many times you call it a private family matter. Call it what you will, they are dead, and we have killed them. And you, Mr. President, would keep the killing legal."

You can read more of John Piper's message here which presents the biblical foundation for the sanctity of life.

Note: the picture shown above is of an aborted baby at week 22 which was burned by saline solution. God help us to lovingly speak the truth to our generation who have been blinded!

Brief Reflection on the Inauguration

First, I thank God that we have the privilege of living in a country where the transition from one president to the next is not marked by bloodshed. A very thought-provoking picture to see these two men standing side by side as power is transferred. It truly is a "grand experiment."

I would encourage each of us to remake four commitments to President Barack Obama that Michael Hyatt challenges us with in his blog:

1. I will pray for him and our country.

2. I will assume his motives are good, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

3. I will not speak ill of him, even if I don’t always agree with him.

4. I will cast off the spirit of cynicism, and be a positive force for good.

May we also seize the opportunities that God provides for us to be His church in these days of opportunity.