Purpose Driven Church- Assign. #7

Chapter 13: Worship can be a witness
There are twelve convictions about worship that this chapter takes a look at. The first one being; only believers can truly worship God. I have heard this said growing up in my church before. “The direction of worship is from believers to God (239).” The purpose of worship is for worshippers to adore him and praise him. This can’t be done if you’re not a believer. There are many ways of doing this, not just throwing singing but also prayer, reading the bible, and obeying it, etc. You don’t need a building to worship God. You can worship him anywhere! Worship doesn’t come with four walls and a ceiling. You can worship in the car, in your room, outside, anywhere! Some people get this mixed up and worship their church building more than God. There is no correct style of worship. Each person is different. Therefore, there are a variety of worshipping styles. Your cultural background can play a part in this. Regardless of what the style is, true worship should include everything in you. Unbelievers can watch worship. A lot of times, people can see how genuine a person is through their worship. Worship shows relationship. Worship has a way of strengthen and encouraging, these are all things that can be witnessed. In the same sense, worship is a powerful witness to unbelievers if God’s presence if felt and if the message is understandable. When people feel God’s presence, they react. There is a changing that takes place. A lot of times, people can be won more easily to Christ simply by feeling his presence then when we bombard them with the truth. Its also important the message of worship be translated into a language that they understand. Worship and evangelism go together! God expects us to be sensitive to the fears, hang ups, and needs of unbelievers when they are present in our worship services. A lot of the ways of church are familiar to church goers, but those who don’t go may have never heard of speaking in tongues before. This can be a scary thing! It is important that we are aware of this. God tells us to be sensitive to them. We should adjust when they are in our worship services. Just because we must be sensitive does not mean the service should be shallow or compromised. It’s just important that people understand what is going on. “Being seeker sensitive does not limit what you say, but it does affect how you say it (244).” All people want to hear is the word of God and how it relates to their lives. Remember, they still haven’t found their identity in Christ. It’s important to also remember that the needs of everyone overlap; they can be very different but also the same. Both need to know what God is really like and understand life. Forgiveness is also a common need. Just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean your needs stop. It is best to specialize your service according to its purpose. Design different services with different purposes and gear them towards a certain target. You can hit two targets at once. When you separate the two, you can use the tactics that are most efficient for each target. And just a side note, a lot of people don’t enjoy Sunday evening services, even church goers! A service geared toward seekers is meant to supplement personal evangelism, not replace it. Often times, seeing other people go for Christ help people make decisions. There is power in numbers so to say. When a nonbeliever sees a lot of people worshipping the same God, it becomes real. There is no standard way to design a seeker service. Let the spirit lead! Once again, people are not all alike. There’s no one method that will reach all nonbelievers. The only thing you can do in all services is 1) treat unbelievers with love and respect, 2) relate the service to their needs and 3) share the message in a practical, understandable manner. Everything else is up for grabs! Want to know what attracts people to church? Changed lives. Lastly, it takes unselfish, mature believers to offer a seeker sensitive service. As stated before, you will have to change some things in your service to be sensitive to others. Be ok with that.

Chapter 14: Designing a seeker-sensitive service
Once again, this chapter was also lengthy so I will do my best to condense it. This chapter gave several suggestions on how to make your service more visitor friendly. The first suggestion is to plan the service with your target in mind. Remember the target you created several chapters back (education level, age, family size, etc). Create your service for them. Make it easy to attend your services. Have a variety of service hours and an abundance of parking available. Perhaps even a visitor only parking section. Offer a children’s service while the adult service is going on. Parents won’t have to worry about keeping their children quiet. Put a map on all of your advertising so people will be able to locate you. Improve the pace and flow of your service. Many times, church can go on for hours. Even church goers can get antsy. Remember the attention span of your congregation. At Saddleback, the average service length is seventy minutes. The acronym IMPACT helps keep their flow (Inspire Movement, Praise, Adoration, Commitment, Tie it all together). Make visitors feel comfortable. Remember the first emotion of a visitor is fear. Do your best to counteract this. Have greeters stationed outside the church to welcome them. Parking attendants can even help them find a spot. Do not have all your greeters wear a name tag. This makes things seem more official and less natural. Have information available in your building and have direction signs easily visible. Also, have taped music playing when they enter. Music soothes nerves. When a visitor walks in, there is music playing and people talking they won’t feel as nervous. Allow the visitors to remain anonymous during the service. The worst thing you can do is make them feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. If you use a registration card, have everyone fill it out. You can keep track of attendance, prayer requests, etc this way. When you start your service, have a public welcome that makes everyone feel excited! Begin and end each service with people greeting each other. When a person feels “at home” they are more likely to return. Afterwards you could also after a refreshment table. Food also comforts. Brighten up the place! Keep the lights up and the windows open! This creates a cheery atmosphere. Make sure you have a great sound system. This can make the world of difference. Also, pews are out. Use chairs of you can and make sure they are comfortable. Make sure each person has their own personal space. Make sure the building size isn’t too large or small. If it’s too small it will limit your growth. If it’s too big it will limit the feeling of warmth. Temperature is also another area. If it’s too warm, expect people to fall asleep. Set it a couple degrees cooler to keep people alert. Make sure the entire building is clean and safe, especially nurseries and bathrooms. Create an attractive atmosphere. When people walk in, they should feel something in the air. Expectation, celebration, affirmation, incorporation, restoration and liberation should all be things felt. People come to church for a lot of reasons. You want people to relax and enjoy your service. They shouldn’t be so nervous that they cannot relax and experience the spirit of God. Printing out a simple order of service can also help. Be sure to use common terms when describing the service. If you need to, use notes explaining what will go on and what to expect. Preparing them always helps with nerves. Minimize your church announcements. This will cut back on time. Explain that there’s a bulletin and encourage everyone to take a look at it on their own time. If there’s an event for everyone, talk about it. If it’s only for certain groups, let it be. Also do not beg for volunteers from the pulpit or talk church business. Save those situations for the believer’s service. Remember to constantly evaluate how things are going. If you need to change, go ahead! Listen to feed back and be open for suggestions. Always remember that whatever you do, you are serving Jesus. This will be hard work but well worth it.