What you can do every Sunday

In August, the voters of Lord of Life approved an aggressive Sunday morning ministry plan that is focused on connecting our guests with our church and ultimately Jesus Christ. It is a plan that cannot be accomplished by any one individual or by any one board or committee. It is an effort that takes all of us working together.

One of the most important parts of this plan is being able welcome our guests with the hospitality and love of Jesus. You play an important role in this. So I want to propose a top 10 list of things you can do, to help our church better welcome our guests.

1) Sign your “Connection Card.” You might have noticed the switch from the blue books last month. The connection card is a vital tool for getting useful information from our guests to be able to follow up in appropriate ways. There are several benefits to all of us signing the connection card. First of all it keeps our guests from sticking out. Many of our guests want to blend in. If no one else is filling out a connection card, they will not want to do so either. Another added benefit is that it allows our church staff and leaders the opportunity to better communicate with you the congregation. The communication cards also help us count people. Why do we count people? The reason is because people count.

2) Wear your name badge. Names are so important. It helps our guests know who we are. And it helps us identify each other as well.

3) Take the opportunity to serve. There are many opportunities to serve on a Sunday morning. You can serve as a greeter, usher, Cup of Life server, Sunday School helper, Welcome Center host, Nursery Attendant, and more. We cannot have enough people serving in these areas, no matter how many we have serving. We are family. We have guests coming to visit and we all need to pitch in. It’s everyone serve one!

4) Meet someone new each week. I can almost guarantee there is someone on Sunday morning you do not know. I cannot think of a Sunday morning where I would have been able to identify every single person in worship. Take a chance. I will challenge you to introduce yourself to one new person each week. It may be to a person who is new to Lord of Life. It may be to a long time member. It may mean stepping out of your comfort zone, but it will be more than worth it.

5) Stand in the gap. Every weekend there are little opportunities to serve. A few weeks back the rain was coming down in torrents. One of our members took it upon themselves to take an umbrella out into the parking lot to help usher people into the building. No one asked him to do it. He got wet. He did not get his picture up on the screen for doing it. There was no official job description he had to do it. He just saw it as an opportunity to serve in the moment. There are plenty of these opportunities around. If you need help finding one, I am sure I can help point you in the right direction.

6) Smile! Jesus loves you. He loves me. We’ve got the Good News. The Scripture tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord always.” There is nothing that will help make another person feel at ease as much as a smile.

7) Arrive to worship early. Every Sunday there are many people who show up at the last moment and enter into worship late. Not only does this detract from our own personal worship as we come in with a hurried and rushed mindset, but it is also distracting to others who are seeking to engage in the worship. When I arrive late all I can think about is my own needs and largely disregard the needs of others. Arrive early to prepare your heart and mind and to take on the servant’s heart. Give God the time and opportunity to use you.

8) Choose your seat and parking spot carefully. Every Sunday I intentionally park far away from the main doors. The reason I do this is because I know that I don’t need to park any closer. I am healthy and can walk. There are others who can use that parking spot close to the door better than I can. It is the same way choose your seat in worship carefully. The back row is always popular. Yet, I know that I don’t need to sit in the back row. There’s probably a young family with small children that are new who are a little nervous about being in worship for the first time that could use the back row much better than I can. The aisles are always popular as well. But when I arrive early I can move towards the center so that those who come late will have a seat that can be easily accessed. In all of this it may take sacrifice, but it is about having the servant’s heart for others. I exchange a little of my comfort for the sake of my neighbor.

9) Leave it better than you found it. That when you walk into the church building you leave it cleaner and better than when you walked into it. If your kids decide to pull all the brochures off a display rack, put them back and straighten it out. You see a picture that is crooked. Fix it. When you are leaving the worship don’t just set your bulletin on the first flat surface you find. If you see something that missed the garbage, help it find its place. It’s God’s house and we want to honor his home.

10) Finally, Pray! Pray for guests to come. Pray for us to welcome them with love. Pray for your role in helping to welcome them. Pray for them to experience Jesus in an incredible way!

In the end it is not so much about doing these exact things. Rather it is about having the right mindset. Sunday morning is not just about me and what I can get out of it. Sunday morning worship is about what I can give to Jesus and contribute to the kingdom by loving my neighbor. Lord of Life is our Church. Together with Jesus we make ministry happen.