Feb 07, 2011 Welcoming the Un-churched to Church
Originally posted on October 1, 2004
“But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.”
I Corinthians 14:24-25.
Welcoming the Un-churched to Church
Every one of us at Grace should hope that each week people who don’t usually go to church would come to church. People don’t go to church for many reasons.
Some may not believe in Christ and church may never have been a regular part of their lives. Some may believe in Christ but are looking for a church to call home because relocating or some other circumstance has created this need. Others may have dropped out of church for some reason, either not being believers in Christ or at least struggling in their faith.
Whatever the reason people don’t go to church, we should hope they come to church because they will hear the gospel of Christ and the call to follow Him.
Three Ways to Welcome People to Church
1. Pray they will come. Look around your everyday world and make a mental note of the people who do not have a church they belong to. If they don’t, this is an indication that they may not be Christians. This is certainly a sign that something is lacking in their spiritual life. Begin praying regularly for that person.
2. Invite them to come. Often people at Grace will introduce me to friends they have brought to church with them. We have seen many of these people come to faith in Jesus and find a church to call home at Grace. Everybody wins when that happens. The people get Christ and a new family of faith, we get the joy of being a part of it happening, and God gets the glory in showing His saving power.
3. Help them when they come. Search for new people. Shake their hand and welcome them. Make sure they know where the children’s rooms are and look to see if they received a bulletin. Always ask if they know someone at Grace and help find that person. If they don’t know anyone, offer to sit with them.
If you feel like you are going overboard in welcoming people to church, they probably feel that it is just the right amount of concern and help.
Over the next several weeks, I will write more about how Grace can welcome un-churched people to our church.
Pastor Scott