Untitled Sermon

Are you able to serve

Welcome to our meeting. We are here this morning to talk about vision in how we serve here at Legacy.

Because it makes it really difficult to serve in an area when you really don’t know why you are doing it or if it just a chore or a favor.

We start with

Why do we come to church? Why is it that we will take the time on a Sunday morning when it would be so much easier to sleep it, it would be so much easier to have a lazy breakfast in front of the TV or go somewhere nice. Why is it that people will come to church? This is something we really have to think about.

We gather together Sunday after Sunday as Christians to celebrate the relationship with have with God through Jesus Christ.

Now this is a meeting about serving, so

If we can push that even further, why in the world would someone come and give their time, attention and their gifts to a church?

Why would they get here even earlier, they work and they toil doing things that may be fun, sometimes not so much fun.

Well, I think We all want to be part of something that is bigger than ourselves. People want to be part of a bigger picture. We want what we do to count. So, people serve most effectively in the places where they believe they are part of something bigger than themselves.

And people will serve most effectively when the mission is something they believe in and the area of service is an area of passion to them.

So this is why we need to, have to focus on the mission of the church, in every little thing we do.

We want people to come to church to be exposed to a Mighty All Powerful God so they can Be Disciples and in turn Make Disciples for Jesus.

So whatever you do, however you volunteer you always keep that in the forefront of your mind because it is true. We want to be disciples who make disciples. And your act of service in the church may not seem very spiritual but every little thing you do points to that mission and gives Glory to God.

Because everything that we do has a reason and an effect. Now today we are focusing on Greeters and Fellowship area but there are two new areas we are looking at too.

Some New Ministry Opportunities

Security

And we are even creating new opportunities out of necessity really. It is sad and it’s a shame but security is something that even churches need to address today. No longer are churches a safe haven from the outside world.

Now we haven’t had an issues directly, but we need to put some procedures in place that protect our church family.

protecting those who are in your care is part of being a disciple of Jesus. This is actually a new thing that we are putting together. We need to have a group of people who weekly rotate sitting outside the door of our gathering place because there are folks who aren’t in the church walking around. There are teachers and family members and soccer leagues going on and we need to make sure that there is a presence in our area. Especially when you have little kids in the children’s ministry. It is sad but it is true.

We need to put a team together for this, to make sure the doors that need to be closed are closed. Anyone can do that and I am asking for someone to step up and help out in that ministry.

Part of worship really needs to be lighting

Lighting. Lighting can distract worship or enhance it. Right now, The lighting in our room can be distracting. I would like for someone who is interested in the lighting aspect of the stage and the room to let me know that they are interested in that.

We are considering purchasing some lighting for the stage up here and don’t want to do that unless someone is willing to take some ownership of that.

I need to tell you that I am unable to take on another area of ministry. And it would be wrong for me to try to add on top of what already happens here on a Sunday morning. I need my focus to be on prayer in the morning and the message and being able to minister to the people God has put in the life of this church.

So I know that there have to be some of you that can talk to me about lighting and stuff like that.

Greeters:

I am greeting this person with the Love of Jesus because I am a Disciple and I want to Make Disciples of Jesus.

When my stuff is all set up and organized.

When I smile at people and shake their hands, when I ask someone their name I am telling that person that they are important to me. I care about them because I am a disciple of Christ and I want to make them feel loved

Studies show that the first 7 minutes are crucial to whether a person comes back or not. 7 minutes. It actually begins when they see that sign off of the main road. Consciously, or unconsciously, human beings are taking mental notes as to whether or not they feel comfortable or not.

Now what this means is that the first time guest is taking mental cues from the moment they arrived onto the property.

Did they know how to get here by the signs? Did they have to guess?

Our signage is really important and we have to make it as easy as possible for people to find the front door without any issues.

Why? Because when we put that sign up we are honoring God by being a disciple with the plan of making disciples for Jesus.

They haven’t even walked in the door.

We have actually received feedback from guests who had trouble finding the door. This is before we put the signs up. We actually have people who have showed up in the parking lot and left because they didn’t know how to get in. They tried a door and it was locked. They left. We missed out on an opportunity to serve people because we didn’t have a sign that clearly showed the entrance.

Do you see how this matters?

When they walk in the door…

Do they feel welcome? Did someone greet them with a smile? Does anyone care to know who they are? If we don’t get that part right we fall behind right away.

Then, does the person know where they are going? Does the signage inside make sense? Or do they feel lost? Do they know where the bathroom is?

We want people to become deeper disciples of Jesus and it is up to us to make sure that we do everything on our part to make sure that person feels important. That means that we remove every hindrance possible that will negatively affect the experience of the first time guest.

When first or second time guests come in, we should all be proactive in welcoming people. It’s easy to get stuck in our conversations with others but we really need to make new folks our priority. Hi, what’s your name? Do you live in the area? Glad to have you here. That’s it. Then you can go back to your conversation,

Being Disciples (that is inward for us) and making disciples (that is being nice and treating folks like we are glad they are here. WE are here for them.

And this mentality goes for everyone who does anything…

It may seem like you are just setting up a sign, or putting out tablecloths. For you who set up these stations, you do it because you are being a disciple and the result of what you are doing plays an important part in making disciples.

Don’t minimize it. It’s real and it’s true. The smallest detail that you provide when you volunteer is part of a much larger vision which helps you be a disciple and will also make disciples of Jesus in once sense, just because of the environment you have provided for them.

So this brings us to some details:

The service is the most important aspect of Sunday so we shut everything down before the service starts. The only people who aren’t

Turn the lights off in this room

This means

Greeters. (God wants your best, not your leftovers) To be here by 9:15 so that you can be done with your set up by 9:30. It would be great if you could have some prayer time before the service.

After the service I am asking Greeters to tear down, check for prayer cards, check for first time guest cards.

Tear Down. Please go right to the table and tear down. Not for Tear down team.

1. For first time guests they are usually here early. We need to be done and set up and able to focus on them, and everyone that comes in to church.

Fellowship: 9:15 It’s the same thing. Need to get here early and be done so that we can have time to prepare our hearts and minds before the service.

Again, the service is the focus of the morning. We can’t minimize that. 9:55 turn the lights out.

There is a great example of a win. Prayer cards, welcome card ran out. Someone noticed. We want to make sure that everyone needs to know who to go to. For welcome it is Angela.

The church budgets for this.

Fellowship

Cover food

Katrina is the point person for everything Fellowship oriented. If you are unable to pick up what you are responsible for or are having an issue, you need to contact Katrina, don’t contact me, don’t contact Rachel.

Supplies are getting low, speak with Katrina. You guys are doing such a great job.

Service starts at 10 with announcements. (we are now doing this so that the flow of the service isn’t interrupted.)

Love the fellowship time we have . Our church is a family. Lenny took initiative to reorganize the bins. The Ladies do this but someone took the time to see the needs that the. In has

Lighting person sits in the back. Responsible for dimming lights and handing out bulletins communicating to sit up front.