As Guest Sunday approaches we want to position ourselves to serve our guests on September 14th. This is motivated not be a desire on the part of CrossWay to grow, but a desire that more people would experience the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our desire is that our guests both experience the gospel and hear the gospel when they come to CrossWay. We want them to be surprised by the grace of God in the people they meet and the words they hear. We want them to feel so welcomed on Sunday morning that their hearts are wide open to the truths of the gospel. So, twelve ways we can extend grace to our guests on September 14th.
1. Commute with your family and friends to CrossWay on September 14th. Parking is always at a premium on Sunday morning, especially on a Guest Sunday. We would not want our guests to arrive and not find parking. So if at all possible, could you limit your families to one car on Guest Sunday?
2. Think of yourself as part of the greeting team. Guests can sometimes find it frightening or overwhelming to enter a new building, especially a church. A warm smile, a nice greeting, and a helpful posture goes a long way in making our guests feel welcome.
3. Wait for your guests in the lobby or outside the building. Get to CrossWay early, save some seats for your guests, and then meet them in the lobby so that you could show them around and help them get acclimated.
4. Introduce your guests to other CrossWay people. Introduce them to people they might know, or people in your Care Group, or people in your aisle, or some of the men on the Leadership Team. If you have time, bring them over to the Guest Center after the service and introduce them to the CrossWay people working that center. This is a way you can help them feel welcomed and get them relationally connected.
5. Help guests register their children in children’s ministry. If you have guests with children, or see guests entering who have children, then walk them over to the Children’s Registration Center. I would also encourage you to wait for them there so that you can walk them to their classrooms and into the auditorium.
6. Borrow a Bible for your guest from the Information Center. Most guests will not be bringing Bibles to church. Make sure you get them a Bible, help them find the text we will be using, and position them to benefit from the preaching of the gospel.
7. Sit in the middle seats and leave no empty seats. Every seat is going to be needed on Guest Sunday. Just consider this: if we leave one seat empty in every row that is over 100 seats; 2 seats in every row is 200 seats. So please leave no empty seats and sit in the middle so guests could fill in on the aisles.
8. Move to your seats early and prepare to worship God. Our example here is going to help our guests get seated and ready to worship God. Your initiative here will also practically make it easier for our guests to get into the auditorium and find their seats.
9. Assist guests in finding seats to sit in. If you see someone looking for a seat, help them find a seat or ask the people in your row to move down so that you can make room for them. If you cannot find an empty seat for them, consider offering your seat so they can experience the grace of God through you and the ministry of the word.
10. Introduce yourself to people with Welcome Packets or flowers after the service. Welcome packets and flowers on Guest Sunday serve as a large neon sign that reads, “I’m a guest.” Take advantage of those signs and go and introduce yourself to them, thank them for coming, and ask them if there is any way you can serve them. I think as a general rule on every Sunday, I would encourage you to introduce yourself to people you don’t know, whether they’ve been coming to CrossWay for one day or one year.
11. Ask your guests if they would like to attend the Preview Dinner with you. We will invite our guests to attend the Preview Dinner to experience Exploring Christianity before actually registering for the course. Ask your guest what they thought about Exploring Christianity. Tell them that if they’re interested, you would love for them to attend the Preview Dinner with you. Express a genuine eagerness to attend with them.
12. Encourage guests to attend Discovering CrossWay. If your guest is already a Christian and looking for a local church, invite them to come to Discovering CrossWay with you after the service on September 21st. Tell them that Disco CrossWay is a great way to get to know our church and get their questions answered. It would be great if you could accompany them to this lunch; your personal touch will help them take this next step.
Of course, these extensions of grace are not limited to Guest Sunday, but a reminder of how we should be serving our guests every Sunday. So would you join with me in extending the grace of God to our guests Sunday after Sunday, beginning this Sunday?
Our desire is that our guests both experience the gospel and hear the gospel when they come to CrossWay. We want them to be surprised by the grace of God in the people they meet and the words they hear. We want them to feel so welcomed on Sunday morning that their hearts are wide open to the truths of the gospel. So, twelve ways we can extend grace to our guests on September 14th.
1. Commute with your family and friends to CrossWay on September 14th. Parking is always at a premium on Sunday morning, especially on a Guest Sunday. We would not want our guests to arrive and not find parking. So if at all possible, could you limit your families to one car on Guest Sunday?
2. Think of yourself as part of the greeting team. Guests can sometimes find it frightening or overwhelming to enter a new building, especially a church. A warm smile, a nice greeting, and a helpful posture goes a long way in making our guests feel welcome.
3. Wait for your guests in the lobby or outside the building. Get to CrossWay early, save some seats for your guests, and then meet them in the lobby so that you could show them around and help them get acclimated.
4. Introduce your guests to other CrossWay people. Introduce them to people they might know, or people in your Care Group, or people in your aisle, or some of the men on the Leadership Team. If you have time, bring them over to the Guest Center after the service and introduce them to the CrossWay people working that center. This is a way you can help them feel welcomed and get them relationally connected.
5. Help guests register their children in children’s ministry. If you have guests with children, or see guests entering who have children, then walk them over to the Children’s Registration Center. I would also encourage you to wait for them there so that you can walk them to their classrooms and into the auditorium.
6. Borrow a Bible for your guest from the Information Center. Most guests will not be bringing Bibles to church. Make sure you get them a Bible, help them find the text we will be using, and position them to benefit from the preaching of the gospel.
7. Sit in the middle seats and leave no empty seats. Every seat is going to be needed on Guest Sunday. Just consider this: if we leave one seat empty in every row that is over 100 seats; 2 seats in every row is 200 seats. So please leave no empty seats and sit in the middle so guests could fill in on the aisles.
8. Move to your seats early and prepare to worship God. Our example here is going to help our guests get seated and ready to worship God. Your initiative here will also practically make it easier for our guests to get into the auditorium and find their seats.
9. Assist guests in finding seats to sit in. If you see someone looking for a seat, help them find a seat or ask the people in your row to move down so that you can make room for them. If you cannot find an empty seat for them, consider offering your seat so they can experience the grace of God through you and the ministry of the word.
10. Introduce yourself to people with Welcome Packets or flowers after the service. Welcome packets and flowers on Guest Sunday serve as a large neon sign that reads, “I’m a guest.” Take advantage of those signs and go and introduce yourself to them, thank them for coming, and ask them if there is any way you can serve them. I think as a general rule on every Sunday, I would encourage you to introduce yourself to people you don’t know, whether they’ve been coming to CrossWay for one day or one year.
11. Ask your guests if they would like to attend the Preview Dinner with you. We will invite our guests to attend the Preview Dinner to experience Exploring Christianity before actually registering for the course. Ask your guest what they thought about Exploring Christianity. Tell them that if they’re interested, you would love for them to attend the Preview Dinner with you. Express a genuine eagerness to attend with them.
12. Encourage guests to attend Discovering CrossWay. If your guest is already a Christian and looking for a local church, invite them to come to Discovering CrossWay with you after the service on September 21st. Tell them that Disco CrossWay is a great way to get to know our church and get their questions answered. It would be great if you could accompany them to this lunch; your personal touch will help them take this next step.
Of course, these extensions of grace are not limited to Guest Sunday, but a reminder of how we should be serving our guests every Sunday. So would you join with me in extending the grace of God to our guests Sunday after Sunday, beginning this Sunday?
