June 20, 2006

Hello. Welcome back to our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. Today we continue talking about when God builds a church:

When outsiders see Christians genuinely worshiping, they are attracted. The Holy Spirit works through worship to draw the seeker to Christ. When Christ is exalted, people are attracted. People are looking for a very personal God in a safe, honest, environment. The world wants the church to be the church and to own up to who we really are. Everything else they can get anywhere.

 

Every part of the worship service should be planned, rehearsed, and intentional. Every song should PASS the song selection test. Personal. Attractive. Straightforward. Substantive. Songs should in some way relate to people’s everyday lives and involve their who being. They should hold their attention. The seeker and the saint should both be able to latch on to the song. And the song should have a thoroughly biblical message. Every worship service should have moments of joy and moments of quiet reverence.

 

You need to practice and pray before you begin your service. Make sure that all of the music is well rehearsed. If special music, drama, or other special presentations are not up to snuff-cut them from the service.  Begin and end on time. To gain the respect of newcomers, you must begin exactly when you say you will. You must also end on time. Your service can be sixty five to seventy minutes long with a thirty minute sermon. When people know that they don’t have to watch their watches, they can  better concentrate on worship.

 

Introduce the service by inviting people to worship. Introduce the hymns if possible. Be creative, but predictable. Everyone likes predictability and nobody likes change because change creates insecurity and anxiety. Change needs to be implemented slowly so people can digest it without too much unrest. But change needs to be implemented. Don’t do the same old thing every week. Find ways to introduce fresh and creative ideas into your worship service.

 

Make sure testimonies are authentic and reverent. The things that we say from the pulpit should be authentic, dignified, and reverent. Don’t us King James when you pray. Don’t become so informal that you become flippant. Maintain a sense of reverence. Don’t manipulate people into doing something that will be uncomfortable. Don’t forget that there are people in our midst every week that don’t have any idea what we are talking about.

 

Don’t drag out the end of the service invitation. At the close of the service, the person making announcements says, “The invitation to come to Christ is never over. It you thought about coming forward today but didn’t, and you want to talk to someone about your relationship with God, you can come to the side of the platform and a decision counselor with meet with you there.�

Be sure to watch for our podcast tonight or tomorrow morning. I have a city band rehearsal tonight so it depends when I can get it done. Please visit our sponsor: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org.

Until next time, thanks, and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery