It would be quite unusual for a pastor to be so bold as to pose the above question to his or her congregation gathered for worship. Since we always want visitors to feel welcome, we would not single them out in this way—not that all visitors would be non-Christian, nor can we assume even all those who regularly attend have acknowledged God’s work of salvation in their lives.
We pastors simply would not want to cause embarrassment or confusion for those who have yet to become a part of God’s Kingdom. Yet, we sometimes need to be reminded in designing our worship services and, especially in preparing our sermons, that non-Christians might well be present.
I have provided such a reminder for you, as my fellow pastors, in the form of Podcast 232. In fact, I discuss some strategies that I have intentionally used to help non-Christians feel more welcomed and more comfortable when I invite them to come to church.
Because I believe you will benefit from what I have to say, I’m extending this personal invitation for you to click the link on this page that will take you to my Sermon-Coach.com website and, then, listen to this Podcast. By the way, all Podcasts are now FREE and offered to you without any obligation whatsoever.
An awareness of how God might use our services and our sermons to draw someone into the Kingdom should also make us willing to examine if there is anything we might do to remove any unintentional barriers we may have erected. These barriers are the kinds of things that make non-Christians feel that they don’t understand what’s happening, or that’s there is some kind of special knowledge that churchgoers must have.
After all, at some point in our lives, we, too, were outside the Kingdom. We want to make certain something we do or say does not impede the work the Holy Spirit may be doing in someone’s heart and mind.
I continue to receive many positive comments about my latest book entitled The Sermon Sucking Black Hole—Why You Can’t Remember on Monday What Your Minister Preached on Sunday. This book is now available at Amazon.com by clicking here.
This book gives some solid tips to the people sitting in the congregation to help them remember what you’ve said from the pulpit when they come to worship services in your church.
Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.
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