Easter is coming. Are you ready? Will you make a great first impression? Review these tips and plan to do so:
- Found People Find People! Invite someone to attend with you on Easter Sunday. People are very receptive to attend church on Easter so think about a neighbor, work associate, or classmate that needs to hear the Gospel and invite them.
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to move in a powerful way on Easter Sunday and for all those who help lead worship.
- Use the term “guest” rather than “visitor.” Do you have a guest bed room or a visitor bed room? A visitor is someone passing through and who will probably not return. A guest is someone you want to come back for a second time and more.
- Everyone be a greeter-Look around you before, during, and after worship and greet as many people as possible.
- Give a gift. People love to receive gifts so why not prepare some special gifts for your Easter guests.
- Remember their name and use it in the conversation.
- Think like a first-time guest. Look around and pretend you are a first time guest…what do you see? What do you feel? What do you expect? Familiarity does breed complacency so open your eyes to what they are seeing.
- Sit toward the front so new people will not have to come too far down the aisle.
- Park on the far ends of your parking lot leaving the best spaces for guests and late arrivers.
- Smile and let the love of Christ flow through you to other people before, during and after the service.
- Help with follow up (letters, phone calls, visits) to those who were guests on Easter.
- Be biblical. 1 Peter 4:9 says, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Hospitality is simply showing the love of Jesus to everyone we meet. Let’s get ready and do our very best to welcome effectively every guest on Easter. “He is Risen!”
Remember…What your guests initially experience on Easter Sunday will stay in their minds for a long time. We must do all we can to prepare for their visit and to communicate the love of Christ. If their first impression is negative and they do not experience God’s love, we have missed a great opportunity.
Keep the Son in Your Eyes,
Mike James
