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 … Read More
Are You Reaching Non-Christians This Christmas? (Part 2)
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 … Read More
Are You Reaching Non-Christians This Christmas? (Part 1)
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 … Read More
It’s Baptism Day!
In addition to the 6 services we conduct on a Sunday (four in Manhattan, one in Jersey City and one in Brooklyn), we are holding a special baptism service this afternoon. Pastor Taylor Field of Graffiti Community Ministries and East 7th Street Baptist Church graciously allows us to use his church (check out his books about Lower East Side Life … Read More
The “One Month” Perspective
Sunday was a big day at The Journey – and you know how I love Big Days! We’ve been gearing up for this Big Day with Kerry Shook for over a month and it really paid off. We had a huge number of first-time guests and everyone was very receptive to Kerry’s message (almost 1200 in attendance and 102 first … Read More
10 Reasons to Invite People to Follow Jesus Every Week
Friday is for friends and today’s friend is Craig Groeschel from LifeChurch.tv He had two great posts this week that tackle the same subject from two different angles. Here’s the posts: 10 Reasons to Invite People to Follow Christ Every Week At Church from LifeChurch.tv : swerve by Craig Groeschel 1. Someone may be at church only once. 2. The … Read More
What Happens AFTER Baptism?
Baptism is a very important event in the life of any new Christian. I know that we all go to great lengths to make sure the celebration is done just right. But what about the day or week after the baptism service? What’s your follow-up plan? I’ve noticed that the week after a person’s baptism can be a trying time. … Read More
Beach Baptism Video Montage
Our annual Beach Baptism is tomorrow (Saturday, July 26) at 2:30pm at Jones Beach on Long Island. If you are in the area, stop in and join us – all the details are here. To prepare for the Baptism we recently put together a montage of previous beach baptism videos. I think its pretty inspirational. Here’s the link: For more … Read More
Where There’s Slack There’s Lack – 2 of 8
SYSTEM #2: THE EVANGELISM SYSTEM Today, we’re moving ahead in our new Wednesday blog series, “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack.” Last week, we kicked off by examining your Weekend Service System and calling out the slack. Have you spent some time working on that system since last Wednesday? What kind of changes have you made? This week, we’re going to … Read More
Are you speaking Christianese?
Chris Forbes as a great article on the danger of speaking Christianease – you can read it here. Here’s a few of the highlights: (Start Quote) Have you ever read copy in church advertisements like the lines below? “Join us this Sunday for anointed Holy Ghost preaching, dynamic praise and worship and intimate fellowship in the body” “At our church … Read More