Churches Grow From The Foyer!

The foyer in your church building may be the most abundant and fruitful source of contacts available today. It makes a powerful impression on a potential new Christian. I deem it so ripe for harvest that I refuse to attend meetings (with rare exception) in those times before and after worship when the foyer is full of people. Sure it may be more convenient to have a “quick meeting” to discuss very important things. But when people are in the foyer, that time is “Go time” for this preacher. Every member who wants the church to grow should spend their time in the foyer before and after worship services or Bible classes. Churches grow from the foyer! 

One of the reasons churches grow from the foyer is because it is the place hospitality can be practiced most effectively. Hospitality is the broth in which the stew cooks. It’s like the pleasant aroma of a Thanksgiving meal before the family sits at the table to eat. It is what convinces people that they want to become a part of a church. It convinces people even before they hear the Word preached to them. People judge churches based on many things, but hospitality can overcome many obstacles and pave the way to open hearts. Those open hearts find God’s word growing within as they listen to the message preached.

Hospitality is the key to success in the foyer. It begins as an attitude and creates an incredible atmosphere of love, acceptance, and joy. It is irresistible to those looking for God’s love, acceptance, and joy. Naturally, if that is what they find in the foyer, they will attribute it to its true source: godliness. I have baptized numerous people because what they found in the foyer led them to accept what they heard in the pulpit.

Hospitality does not come naturally, but it can be taught. What does it take to create an atmosphere of hospitality in the foyer that will result in the growth of the church?

In his book, The 10-Minute Marketer’s Secret Formula, Tom Feltenstein listed what he called “12 Steps to Hospitality”. I took these and modified them with church growth in mind. These ideas are very important for creating the right environment to attract visitors and help ensure their return. (These are written as if stated by a member of the church.)

1. I know what is expected of me in my work for the church.
2. I understand the purpose and mission of the church and that makes me feel my work is important.
3. When asked to help the church, I always have the opportunity to do what I do best
4. The church leaders seem to care about me as a person
5. In the last month I have received recognition or praise for doing my work well
6. Someone in the church encourages my development.
7. My opinions seem to count
8. I have everything I need in order to do what I do best
9. Everyone around me seems to be committed to a high quality of work
10. I have good friends in the church
11. In the last six months someone has talked to me about my progress in the faith in order to help me set goals and move forward as a Christian.
12. This last year I have had the opportunity to learn and grow through specialized training in areas I need help with or am interested in learning.

After carefully considering these, most leaders will realize the tremendous amount of service that is required to be a leader in the Lord’s church. These twelve things may not seem to relate to hospitality, but think about them as you look at the workers that are the most active and productive in the church. These twelve things imply godly encouragement and leadership from the front lines instead of back rooms.

In future posts we will consider each one of these and see how they relate specifically to leadership, church growth, and the development of hospitality.

Ways You Can Help The Church Grow

Growth is an important topic today. Many congregations are looking for ways to grow and some are spending money on every gimmick they find in order to find the "right" one. They want to motivate the congregation and spur them to growth. It is easy to sympathize with these people. Their zeal is commendable even if their methods are suspect. The answer does not lie in the program but in the people. Almost any program will "work" if your goals are biblical.

On the other hand we have the congregations that seem to think growth is impossible. They say things like, "We are not growing numerically, but we are growing spiritually." That is a possibility (at least for a little while) but too often we use that as an excuse not to reach out and try to grow numerically. It's almost as if people convince themselves that we must choose one or the other.

A congregation can grow numerically AND spiritually simultaneously. It must be the goal! Numeric growth without spiritual growth leads to apostasy. Spiritual growth without numeric growth leads to apathy and other ailments. But when you have both happening at the same time, the church is full of zeal and love grows brighter! It is exciting to be part of a congregation that is vibrant and healthy! It helps cure problems with attendance and motivates people to be lights in the community!

Let's think about practical ways you can help the church grow.

We need to stop thinking that the only way to help the church grow is to set up and conduct Bible studies! Not all of us are capable of setting up and conducting these studies. Some people need training. Some people are just not able to do it for various reasons. In an ideal world every single member might do that, but when did this world become the ideal world? Instead of berating each other about it, we ought to use wisdom and encourage them to do some things to help. So here are just a few ideas of things that you can do to help the church grow.

1. Invite people to worship with you.
2. Invite people to events sponsored by the church.
3. When you see a visitor in the assembly, make a point to greet him and invite him back again after services are over.
4. Invite people to sit with you. There is a myth that people who visit a church do not want to be bothered. We can over-do the friendliness, but most people WANT to have a small fuss made over them. They want to feel like they can fit in with the people without tremendous effort.
5. SMILE at people! 
6. Make it a point to stay on your feet before services begin. While you are up, talk to people, especially visitors.
7. Ask people to tell you about themselves. 
8. Don't be afraid to tell people that you hope they will come back. 
9. Call visitors later in the week and let them know you enjoyed meeting them. Then invite them back again.
10. Introduce visitors. When you meet someone for the first time and the conversation starts to get a little awkward, turn to someone near you and say, "Have you met _____? He is visiting with us today!" Make it a goal to introduce visitors to at least two people before they leave.
11. After services ask them what they thought of the experience. Listen to their answer. Don't argue with anything they said. You are asking for their opinion. Whether you agree with that opinion is not relevant. If their opinion is wrong, they are more likely to see the truth if they return!
12. Take visitors by the arm (if there is time) and show them around the building. Show them where bathrooms are. Show them where their classroom is. Even if they are not there for class, assume that they will return and show them the classroom they will be in when they do. Show them where the church offices are located. Show them where you normally sit and invite them to sit with you.
13. Invite friends to your home and then encourage them to come to worship.
14. More important than any of the ideas above: LIVE a Christian life so that when you invite them to worship, or if they happen to visit your congregation for worship, they will not be surprised that you attend services some place!

We all play important parts in the growth of the church. These are things that almost anyone can do to help. If you practice these things you will help the church grow!  

Have some more ideas? Please list them in the comment section below!

New Cars and New Christians

A woman bought a car from a dealership. While the salesman was having her sign a stack of papers, workers carefully hid her trade-in behind the building. When she finished signing the papers she received the keys to her new car and happily drove off the lot.

What is the first action of a new car owner? She inputs her favorite radio stations. This lady was surprised to find that every button was already programmed with her favorite radio station. She called the salesman and expressed her surprise about the coincidence. But he told her that they took her trade-in to the back and took the settings off her radio and programmed them into her new car. The woman was thrilled and told everyone about what they did.

They were smart to treat her that way. They created excitement and received free advertising from her as a result. The reason they had such success was because they asked a simple question: "What is the first thing this person is likely to do with her new car?"

Why was that important? It was not necessary in order to sell the car because she already bought it. It was a simple act that showed the lady that the car company cared about her. That ensures repeat business and encourages her to tell other people. Being thoughtful is a great way to show you care.

That is a great idea to consider when dealing with new Christians. Why not ask the question: "What is the first things a new Christian does?" When you discover the answer, help meet their needs by helping them do those first things.

I've found that one of the first things a Christian does is tell friends and family about his baptism. New Christians are naturally enthusiastic! They have many reasons to rejoice and they usually want to tell people about what they just experienced! So if you want to help them in their first steps, help them tell their friends and family! Here is a list of ways to accomplish that:

Joyous New Christian

1. Ask them if you can take them to see friends and family and be there when they spread the news. This will encourage them to do what they would naturally do later.
2. Give him a certificate or some piece of paper explaining baptism, what he did, and why he did it. That way when family and friends ask, he will have an answer that he might not normally have. Many times new converts know what they did and why, but they have trouble expressing themselves. They are sometimes easily confused by parents or friends who may not share their initial enthusiasm themselves. The information will help keep confusion to a minimum.
3. Throw a party and invite the person's friends and family. Have snacks and other things. Then announce the baptism to them and explain why he is so happy and why they might be seeing some pretty dramatic changes in his life as a result.
4. Ask him to invite friends and family to his home within a few evenings and have a "cottage meeting". Simply tell the person to invite everyone he knows to his home so that you can explain how they can also become Christians. You are likely to have a few new people to teach when you arrive.

When we think ahead we can help build on the excitement that new converts naturally project. They are some of the best people for inviting others to hear the Gospel! By following this we will not only help our new brother or sister do what comes naturally, but we will also be more effective at reaching more people.

What do you think a new Christian does first? How can we help them in their first steps?

Believing

There is a difference between believing God exists and believing in God.  Obviously to believe in God we must believe that He exists.  But there is more involved.  Hebrews 11:6 tells us that the one who pleases God not only believes He exists, he also believes God will reward those who seek His ways.

A friend of mine likes to use the illustration of medicine.  One person may believe medicine exists.  Another person may believe medicine exists and then he uses it knowing there will be a good result.  We must not just believe God exists but believe IN God!  We must not only have the intellectual knowledge that God is alive but also trust Him enough to follow Him.

James tells us that faith without works is a dead faith (James 2:20-26).  The kind of faith that does nothing is worthless and it is not what God wants from us.  The kind of faith that is helpful to us is one that is alive and active.  So what does that mean?

The word “faith” comes from the word that means “to believe”.  In the New Testament, when the noun is used it is almost always translated “faith”.  When the verb is used it is always translated “to believe”.  They both have the same root meaning!  These are action words.  Even the noun form (faith) implies action even though it is not a verb.  That simply means that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).  This little lesson in grammar is powerful.  We must understand that if we want a healthy and vibrant faith, it must be an active faith!

Faith implies trust.  When we see the promises of God and act upon them, we do so because we trust God to keep His promises!  So in order to build faith, we must learn to build trust in God.

Faith also implies knowledge.  We must know what God wants before we step out in faith to do it.  Romans 10:17 teaches that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  The context is about the need for preachers so that people can be saved.  Paul wrote, “How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14).  

People cannot be saved unless they call on the name of the Lord to save them. (See Acts 22:16 for an explanation of that phrase.)  People cannot call on the name of the Lord to save them if they have never BELIEVED.  And they can never believe in something they have never HEARD.

We know that there are people in the world who are teaching all kinds of things as “facts” from the Bible which are not facts at all.  This is nothing new.  It has happened since Satan first tempted Eve in the Garden.  The New Testament is full of warnings about false teachers.  But let’s remember that people cannot be taught error and expect to have faith in God.  They might place their faith in error and in the false teacher, but if their (our) faith is not in GOD’S WORD then it is not faith in GOD.

Believing is vital to the Christian.  Let us study the word to ensure that we are believing TRUTH and that we are acting upon it.  As we do this we will be blessed by God!  Keep your faith in God and in no other.  Do not let yourself be deceived by anything that is contrary to the teaching of God.  Believing is important, but believing the RIGHT thing is the only way to be saved!