Here’s the third of my year end questions:

Year End Question #3
What do I want to do ‘less of’ in 2009?

As I reflect back on how I spent my time in 2008, it leads me to this question: what do I want to do less of in 2009?  In years past, this question has led to radical changes in my life as I’ve decided to do ‘less’ evening meetings (I currently do almost none) or I’ve decided to do less preaching (no one is great 52 weeks a year) or . . . .well, you get the picture.

I’ve learned that I cram my life too full and that I have to force myself to add white space (or margin) to my life if I’m going to remain effective.

Oh, and once you ask this question you have to develop a plan to make it happen – this question ain’t a magic wand (ha!).

See you in 2009 for the final question (no post on Jan 1 – I’m taking the day off).

Nelson

P.S. If you are looking for more ways to make 2009 greater than 2008, check out my resource Developing A One Year Personal Growth Plan by clicking here.

As mentioned yesterday, I I become reflective this time of year and like to set aside some time to look back over the previous year. I have a list of about 20 questions I ask myself this time of year and here’s the second one:

Year End Question #2
What was my worst day at work in 2008?

This question isn’t designed to be as much negative as it is reflective (think of it as feed-forward).  Contrary to the popular saying, experience is not the best teacher; evaluated experience is the best teacher.  And the truth is, we often learn more from the pain than the pleasure.

And, like question #1, you can change the ‘at work’ part to ‘at home’ or ‘in my marriage’ or ‘as a father’ or to any other domain of your life.  Not a fun question but definitely worth the reflection time, especially if you want to make 2009 better than 2008.

See you tomorrow for question #3.

Nelson

P.S. While this post is designed to help you reflect on the previous year, be sure you take time to plan next year too. So, if you are looking for something that will help you make 2009 greater than 2008, check out my resource Developing A One Year Personal Growth Plan by clicking here.

Around this time of year, I become reflective and take some time to look back over the previous year (a year is long enough to move in the wrong direction, right?). I have a list of about 20 questions I ask myself this time of year. Over the next few days I’m going to share four of them. Here’s the first:

Year End Question #1
What was my best day at work in 2008?

If you want to have some fun with this question change the ‘at work’ part to ‘at home’ or ‘in my marriage’ or ‘as a father’ or to any other domain of your life. To take it ever further, what was the second best day? The third?

I’m currently cutting my list down to the Top 5 ‘best days.’ I have a lot to be grateful for and I bet you do to.

See you tomorrow for question #2.

Nelson

P.S. While this post is designed to help you reflect on the previous year, be sure you take time to plan next year too. So, if you are looking for something that will help you make 2009 greater than 2008, check out my resource Developing A One Year Personal Growth Plan by clicking here.

“Success is always temporary. When all is said and done, the only thing you’ll have left is your character”

– Vince Gill, Musician

About 1/3 of most parachurch ministry income comes in during the month of December.  Often times we as church leaders miss this opportunity. Here’s an email I have going out to our church on Monday, December 29 – feel free to adapt it for your situation:

Subject line: A courtesy reminder . . . (The Journey Church)

This is a courtesy reminder that your year-end financial gifts to The Journey Church are to be given online or postmarked in the mail by Dec 31, 2008 in order to qualify for 2008 tax benefits

In fact, it is your year-end gifts that allow us to finish 2008 strong and to be fully prepared for ministry opportunities in 2009.

And, of course, right now is a great time to make a gift to The ONE IN A MLLION Special Offering.  Maybe God is stretching you to give a sacrificial gift to this offering.

As you prayerfully consider a year-end gift, here are three convenient giving options for you:

1. To give online to either the regular offering or the special offering simply visit:

http://www.journeymetro.com/giving

Here you can give via debit or credit card.  It’s completely secure and very easy.

2. If you wish to mail a gift to our office our address is:

The Journey Church
321 W 44th St, Suite 203A
New York, NY 10036
212.730.8300 x212

3. You may also use your bank’s online website to send a check to The Journey (via the Bill Pay option).  Just direct your bank to send your check to the address above – you don’t even need a stamp!

Thank you for your faithful giving in 2008.

Happy New Year!!

Pastor Nelson

P.S. Remember, regular Sunday services will resume this Sunday, January 4 in all locations, although there is no evening service in Manhattan.  I’ll be teaching live in Manhattan; Pastor Elliott will be teaching live in Brooklyn and Pastor Jim will be teaching live in Jersey City.  It’s going to be a great Sunday!  See you then.

Nelson Searcy, Lead Pastor
The Journey Church of the City
One Church: Multiple Locations
www.JourneyMetro.com

This week, we’ve been thinking about how you can work with the natural surge that God has built into the Christmas season to influence those who don’t yet know Jesus.

We started by making sure we are outwardly-focused this season. Then, we talked about how to increase the number of guests at our Christmas services. Yesterday, we learned how to make sure that those guests feel welcomed and want to come back again and again. If you’ve missed any of these posts, you can check them out below.

Today, we are going to wrap up this mini-series by exploring the importance of follow up. When your Christmas service is over and the pre-New Year lull hits, how will you follow up with the first-timers God gives you this season?

The way you follow up, or follow through, on the guests who come to your church will impact whether or not those guests choose to return. With your follow up, pay attention to the three Fs. Make sure it is Fast, Friendly and Functional:

FAST – Don’t underestimate the power of a quick follow up. Today, people are used to a whole new level of immediacy, thanks to technology. I suggest getting an email in your guest’s inbox within 36 hours of her visit.

FRIENDLY – Your follow up needs to reach out in a warm, personal way. Make your guests feel valued as individuals, rather than sending them something that resembles a mass form mailing. At The Journey, we send a handwritten note from me (or that week’s teaching pastor), along with a small, relevant, free gift within 96 hours of a guest’s visit. Handwritten notes seem to find their way to the top of everyone’s mail pile!

FUNCTIONAL – Follow up with your guests in a way that meets them where they are. Be simple and straightforward. Use the opportunity that follow up gives you to extend a clear invitation for them to come back to your church. I mentioned the free gift… you might include a $4 gas card and say something in the note like, “We’d love to see you again. This trip is on us!” Be creative!

This Christmas, God will bring millions of unbelievers into our churches. We can either let the opportunity to influence them with his truth pass us by, or we can make some decisions now that will help us reach them effectively.

Let me challenge you to make this the year you focus on non-Christians at Christmas. Enjoy the celebration of our Lord’s birth but while you do, make sure you do your part to introduce him to those in your community who don’t yet truly understand the significance of the season.

- Nelson

P.S. – For more on creating a follow up system that will keep your guests coming back, check out Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests Into Fully-Engaged Members Of Your Church.

Yesterday, we learned how you can have more first-time guests than usual at your Christmas service. But what do you do with your guests once they arrive? How can you make them feel comfortable? Is there anything you can do now to make sure they’ll want to keep coming back to your church in the new year?

Turning first-time guests into fully-engaged members of your church is what assimilation is all about. In my book, Fusion, I detail a plan for creating a system that will help you keep the newcomers who come through your doors. If you haven’t had a chance to study that system, let me encourage you to do so. In the meantime, here are a few things you can do to make sure your first-time guests have a great experience this Christmas:

1. Spiff your church up – make it look as good as it can look.
2. Have signs in place to point people where they need to go. (For example, have signs pointing the way to the children’s area, the restrooms, and the main sanctuary.)
3. Make sure each guest is properly greeted, directed, treated and seated. Let’s look at this one in a little more detail…

First impressions are very important to your first-time guest. One of the best ways to make sure he feels welcomed and gets a good first impression of your church is by creating a strong pre-service – one where he is:

Greeted – Welcomed with a friendly smile by someone at the front door
Directed – Simply and politely shown where he needs to go (preferably by a sign and a volunteer)
Treated – Happily surprised with comfort food/drink (Offering hot coffee and donuts in your service will speak volumes to the new people who show up.)
Seated – Led to a comfortable, appropriate seat by a volunteer

The first-time guests you’ll have this Christmas will be making gut-level judgment calls about your church from the minute they hit the parking lot. What they see, before your service even begins, will determine whether or not they’ll ever come back.

Take some time today to think about what you can do to make your first-time guests feel welcomed this Christmas season. Put some time into polishing up your method of Greeting, Directing, Treating and Seating.

If you put some intentional focus on your assimilation efforts as you prepare for your Christmas services, you will see many more of those first-time guests become second-time guests, then regular attenders and ultimately, fully-engaged members in 2009!

- Nelson

P.S. – If you’d like to learn more about how to keep the first-time guests God brings you, check out Fusion or take a look at these tools and resources. Have a great Thursday!

Welcome to Part 2 of the “Are You Reaching Non-Christians This Christmas?” mini-series. Yesterday, we talked about the importance of making sure your church is outwardly-focused, especially during the Christmas season. If you missed that post, you can check it out below.

Now that you realize how important it is to focus your attention on non-believers this season, let’s jump into the best ways to do just that. We all know that God will bring more first-time guests than usual to your church this month, simply because it is Christmas. People who rarely darken the door of a church will often show up for a holiday service. You already have some natural momentum working in your favor. So what can you do to maximize that momentum?

You can work with the Spirit in prompting people to your Christmas service – through evangelism! Evangelism is critical throughout the year, but at Christmas it takes on particular significance.

Servant evangelism is one of the easiest and most effective forms of evangelism – and one that you can get your members and regular attenders involved in. It’s a simple way to serve the people in your community as you invite them to church.

Around The Journey, we are big fans of Servant Evangelism. Throughout the year, we mobilize our people to stand on street corners and hand out granola bars, packs of gum or bottles of water along with an invitation to church. In fact, 30% of the first-time guests who show up at our services say that they discovered The Journey through a Servant Evangelism touch.

At Christmas, you can take advantage of the power of Servant Evangelism to invite the people in your community to your Christmas service. Here is a brief overview of the steps you need to take to initiate an SE outreach before Christmas:

•    Have some postcards printed that advertise your Christmas service. Make sure you include your church’s location, meeting times and some information on the message you’ll be preaching.

•    Buy several dozen (or several hundred!) boxes of candy canes.

•    Pick a date, time and place for the SE project. Choose a busy downtown area or maybe a location near a popular shopping mall.

•    When your volunteers arrive, hand each person a couple of boxes of candy canes and a stack of postcard invitations. Coach them to hand a candy cane and an invitation to each passerby as they say, “Would you like a free candy cane?” or even just “Merry Christmas!” Then, spread your people out over the area and let the evangelism begin!

Not only will this Servant Evangelism project bring non-Christians to your Christmas service, it will also stir your members’ passion for the unchurched. Engaging your people in evangelism at Christmas-time reminds them what the season is all about.

Check back tomorrow for some tips on how to make your first-time guests feel comfortable when they arrive for your Christmas service!

- Nelson

P.S. For more information, tools and resources on Servant Evangelism, click here.

Is your church doing a Christmas play? Hosting a church-wide party? Inviting all of the couples to a Christmas reception? Holding a Christmas Eve service? I hope you are doing at least one or two of these things. Christmas is a time for celebration! But as you go about your usual holiday festivities, let me challenge you to think about where your focus is this Christmas…

Are you simply focused on celebrating the season with your members and regular attenders? Or are you making the most of the opportunity Christmas gives you to reach those who are not yet Christians?

For the rest of this week, I will be giving you some ideas on how to reach out to your community this Christmas season, how to treat the guests who visit your church for the first time and how to follow up with them after the fact to make sure they keep coming back in 2009.

For now, let me challenge you to think about this question… How can I ensure that my church stays outwardly-focused this Christmas season?

You’ve probably heard me discuss the importance of making sure that your church is and remains an outwardly-focused church. In case you aren’t familiar with the concept, an outwardly-focused church is one that makes an intentional effort to keep its energy and focus on the people who need Jesus outside its doors. The outwardly-focused church realizes that it is all-too easy to become consumed with the concerns of its members and regular attenders to the exclusion of reaching new people, so it protects itself from allowing that to happen.

People are more likely to visit your church around Christmas than any other time of the year (except maybe Easter). If you take some steps now to make sure you are focused on reaching those newcomers, you can pave the way for them to meet Jesus as we celebrate his birth.

Spend some time today thinking about where you’ve been focusing your energy… and then check back tomorrow! I’ll be giving you a great tip on how you can get even more first-time guests than usual to your Christmas service.

- Nelson

The latest round of Church Planter Tele-Coaching begins this Thursday, December 11. Don’t miss this opportunity for hands-on coaching where you’ll learn to:

* Launch Large
* Launch Quickly
* Raise Funds
* Develop a Staff Team
* Reach the Unchurched

and so much more!  Plus hands on guidance and advice in real time as you launch your new church.  And, of course, you’ll receive hundreds of dollars in resources from Church Leader Insights during your network so you can apply everything you learn.

To learn more or download an application click here.

Since this coaching opportunity is by phone there’s no travel, hotel or airfare costs other than the 2 hour phone call each month.  If you’ve never experienced tele-coaching you’ll be amazed at how much you can learn each month (and all the mistakes you’ll be able to avoid!).

Hurry, only a couple of spots are still available.  We must receive your application by noon on Wednesday, December 10 since the network starts the next day.

Nelson