What a difference a welcome makes!  

I recently had a very enjoyable conversation with a family that had attended Harvest and Living Hope. They shared how they were encouraged by the welcome that they had received at both churches. They said people were friendly and took the initiative in engaging them as guests. They even shared how much it meant to them that some members helped clean up an embarrassing mess that one of their children had made.  

As one of your pastors, I cannot fully express how glad I am to hear reports like this one from the people that pass through our doors. A cheerful welcome and some selfless service on a Sunday left a significant enough impact that they would tell me about it weeks later. Although the people who engaged them probably thought little of it at the time, the welcome they received was a big deal to this family.   

Welcoming is an Emergency   

And yet, I also know that we all still have opportunities to grow in this area. I know that there have been others who have mustered up the courage to join us for a Sunday only to walk away feeling overlooked or ignored. When I hear or see such examples, I recall three principles that Rebecca McLaughlin shared: (1) an alone person in our gatherings is an emergency, (2) friends can wait, and (3) introduce newcomers to someone else.  

I think these principles for Sunday stood out to me because of the forceful nature of the first principle. An alone person (or family) in our gatherings is an emergency. Not just something that’s less than ideal, but an emergency. It’s serious. It deserves our attention.  

We don’t always think of coffee time after church as a serious thing. It’s a time of small talk and so-so coffee. It may be pleasant (like when we catch up with a friend) or chaotic (like when our kids can’t be found), but it’s not a time of urgency.  

Why Welcome Others?  

Every week there are people who pass through our doors who are spiritually dead. We don’t know how God might use us to bring forth saving faith in someone, but we never will if we don’t take the initiative to engage those who are on their own.  

McLaughlin writes, “…every week, people walk into our gatherings for the first time and get effectively ignored. They may not know Jesus, or they may have spent years wandering from him. Their spiritual health is on the line, and a simple conversation could be the IV fluid God uses to prepare them for life-saving surgery. Eternal lives are at stake.”  

But there are also weary Christians, despairing Christians, lonely Christians, fearful Christians, and backsliding Christians that come through our doors and to whom we can minister in significant ways. Since God works through means, this Sunday could be the day that God uses you to strengthen the failing, embolden the fearful, or warn the straying.  

God could use you this Sunday to accomplish significant things in the lives of his people! That’s exciting!    

How to Welcome Others?  

This week and next week, I’ll provide a couple of resources that will provide you with some specific tips for growing in the skill of welcoming others into our congregational life. I hope you’ll take a few moments to read them and be provoked to think of other ways to minister to others on Sundays with intentionality; however, I would add one simple step you can take on Saturday night or Sunday while you drive to church.  

Pray.  

The first thing that God needs to do is to change our own attitudes to Sunday. We need God to give us the posture of a servant, seeking out ways we can minister to the needs of others. We need God to give us the courage to walk across the room and take the risk of engaging someone we don’t know. We need God to make us intentional and purposeful with our time, seeing coffee time as a field of ministry opportunity.  

As we pray, I’m confident that the Lord will be pleased to grant us a vision for ministry when we walk into church. A vision that is welcoming, hospitable, and sees our time together as an opportunity to help others grow mature in Christ.  

In His Service,

Pastor Wayne