3 Great Ways to Share the Gospel With Kids This Christmas

The greatest thing you can do for kids this Christmas is to share the Gospel with them. This is the heartbeat of Christmas. 

Here are 3 ways you can effectively share the Gospel with kids this Christmas.

Christmas Lesson

What lesson will you be sharing with kids this Christmas season?  

How will you share the Gospel through your lesson?  

I created a special Christmas lesson that shares the Gospel with kids. It's called the The Christmas Gift. It follows the story of a boy named Andrew who discovers the true meaning of Christmas and is given the greatest Christmas gift ever...Jesus. You can get more info. and order the lesson as an instant download at this link.

The Candy Cane Illustration 

Give each child a candy cane and use it to share the Gospel. 

The candy cane was created by a Christian candy maker many years ago.  He made it to help share the Gospel with kids.

White Candy – A symbol of our sinless Savior (2 Corinthians 5:31, 1 John 1:7). His sacrifice for our sins washes them away and makes us clean.

Red Stripes – A reminder that by the shedding of Christ’s blood and His death on the cross we are rescued from our sins and given eternal life. (Ephesians 1:7 & 2:8)

Shepherd’s Staff – The candy cane is in the shape of a shepherd's staff. Jesus is the Good Shepherd and His sheep will hear His voice and follow Him (Psalm 23:1, John 10:11).

Letter J – When the candy cane is turned upside down, it looks like a “J” representing Jesus our Savior (Matthew 1:21, John 3:17).

Happy Birthday Jesus Party

Invite the kids to a "Happy Birthday Jesus Party."  Make the party all about Him as the kids celebrate the birth of Jesus. 

Have a happy birthday cake for the kids to eat and take up a special offering for Jesus. Use the money the kids give to help people who are in need or for a special missions project. 

You can get the lesson for this at this link. 

Read More

5 Ways to See First-Time Guests Return

You have to be intentional if you want to see first-time guests return.  

Did you know that the average church only sees about 7% of guests return? 

That's a pretty low percentage, but there are some proven ways you can see more guests return. Let's take a look at 5 ways you can see more guests return. 

The first one is a big one. 

If you want to see more guests return, then you must give them a great first experience. 

You only get one opportunity to make a great first impression. If a guest has a bad first experience, I don't care how many times you email them, text them or even visit them, they are not going to return. You must exceed their expectations on their first experience. 

I've shared before about the time I was having lunch with the pastor of one of the fastest growing and largest churches in the country. I asked him how he followed up with first-time guests and he told me he doesn't follow up. Instead, he puts all of his effort into giving guests a great first experience. As they create what he called "irresistible environments" they see guests return for a second time.  

That strategy was new to me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.  You want to see more first-time guests return? Then raise the quality of your environments. 

Send them a handwritten postcard.  

In the day of digital communication, a handwritten note is golden. A good way to do this is to have your guest service volunteers write the note. They are the people who interact with your guests and this helps the note mean more. Mention something in the note that is specific to that family. An example would be a family who just moved to your area from Pittsburg. Put something in the note that mentions this. 

Offer them a return gift. 

I decided to start offering a t-shirt on their second visit. This has been highly successful in seeing more guests return. We put a note about the return gift on the handwritten postcard. It obviously costs us some money to do this, but we felt it was worth it. When we started offering the t-shirt on the second visit, our return rate went up to 38%. 

Send the parents a text message. 

Did you know that 98% of text messages get read?  94% in the first minute. That's a high, high percentage. On the week after their visit, send your guests a simple text message that thanks them for coming. 

Establish a personal connection. 

I got this idea from another church and it is highly effective.  

Ask a guest parent to meet you for lunch that week.  

Yep. You read that right. Approach a guest parent cold turkey and invite them to meet you for lunch that week. You will be surprised to find out that most will say "yes." Obviously this should be a man meeting a man and a woman meeting a woman. 

Use the lunch to get to know them. Make a good connection and you are almost guaranteed they will be back the next Sunday.  I have seen this work time after time after time. 

Do these five things and I guarantee you that your return rate will go up. 

p.s. Have you gotten a copy of my book "Be Our Church Guest?"  It is full of ideas like this to see more of your guests return. Get your copy today at this link. 

 

 

 

Read More

Put People Before Tasks

I was shopping for an item this week.  I went into a store and walked to the section where this item is located. It is held in a glass container that has a lock on it. 

I found a salesman in that area and approached him.  When I asked him if he could open the cabinet for me, he gave me the "Don't bother me" vibe. You know what I am talking about?  They make you feel like it is a big hassle to have to open the cabinet door for you. 

To top off the amazing customer service experience he gave me, he also said that he had a couple of items he had to put back first before he could help me. Okay...so I stood there awkwardly waiting for him to do his "task" before he helped me. It caused me to feel unimportant and not a priority.

I don't think his manager has taught him proper costumer service skills. He should have been trained to always take care of the customer first before you take care of a task.  The task can wait...the customer may not want to wait.

This is why I rarely go into this store unless I have an emergency item that I need to get. Customer service is such a big part of the average person's shopping experience.

People don't return because of your merchandise.  They return because of how you make them feel.  

The same could be said about the experience you give first-time guests at your church.  If your guest doesn't have a good experience, I don't care how many times you call them, email them, text them or even show up on their door step. They are not going to return. 

It is crucial that you concentrate on giving guests a great first experience.  A big way you can do this is to always put people before tasks. If you are in the middle of a task and a person approaches you...drop the task and give your entire attention to the person and what they are asking from you.  

Ministry is all about people. First and foremost.  People are more important than any task you find yourself immersed in.

I had another incident that happened a couple of weeks ago at the church where I serve. We had a first-time guests family show up a little late after service had started. I took them to the classroom and was met at the door by one of our team members.  Our team member let out a sigh and said "Pastor Dale, why are you bringing us more children?  We don't have room for anyone else."  She said this in front of the new family.  The truth was we had plenty of space in the room and the ratio was fine as well.  

I was so embarrassed for this family and will be having a conversation with this volunteer.  People always come first and we never want people to feel like they are "bothering us" or causing us an inconvenience. 

Yes..we have to keep good ratios and not jeopardize kids' safety.  That being said, we also have to make guests feel welcomed and valued. For this to happen we have to put people before tasks.

Have you read my new book "Be Our Church Guest?"  It is full of ideas that will help you see more of your guests returnf or a second visit. You can get it at this link.

Read More