Last post on this subject…
6. Pay attention to culture.
This should go without saying but what people are talking about should be important to us.
One of the greatest problems I believe the church has is that we are answering the questions that no one is asking.
So what is culture saying because whatever culture is saying Scripture has already addressed that issue. We don’t have to try to be relevant; in fact, I believe the quickest way to irrelevance is to pursue relevance WITHOUT the Scriptures! People not going to identify with our common ground many times so its up to us to say, “here’s what you are dealing with and here’s what scriptures say.” And show them how real God is through the teaching of his Word.
7. Inward promotion works best.
This is a conviciton I have in regards to promoting a series. The best thing that we can do in order to reach more people with the Gospel, is teach our church where the services will be heading (which takes PLANNING AHEAD), promote it inwardly and get the people in our church excited about what is coming next.
Please don’t misunderstand…I am not preaching against doing mailouts or billboards or newspaper adds. We’ve actually tried all of that stuff; however, nothing is more impactful than a church full of fired-up people who are so excited out of their minds about what the church is getting ready to address that they will actually dive out of their comfort zones and take a risk and bring someone else to church with them.
When someone is excited about what is to come that is the best way you can promote what is coming.
BTW…people will often tell me, “Perry…I think you overhype your church.” WHICH always makes me laugh because…
#1 - If I say I’m excited…then I am freakin excited! If I say it is going to be the best Sunday ever…it is because I believe it! I am smokin’ what I’m sellin! I can’t help but be absolutely FIRED UP about what I get to do! In fact…I think there is a problem when you CAN’T get excited about the upcoming Sunday…which leads to…
#2 - If the pastor can’t be excited about Sunday…then how in the heck can he expect anyone else to be? If you are a church leader and/or pastor and can’t get excited about Sunday’s…maybe you are in the wrong church…or even the wrong line of work!
God didn’t call us to be passive…but to be filled with HIS passion to CHANGE the world with HIS Gospel!!! So…NEVER apologize for passionately communicating about your belief that “Sunday is going to be awesome!!!”
One more thing…whatever you do…do not overpromise and under-deliver. When you say it…mean it!!