Church growth experts estimate that 85% of those who visit a church do not return a second time, but of the 15% who do return, 85% of them will keep coming back long enough to learn some things about the church. I am of the persuasion that every visitor should receive some follow up from the church, however, the above mentioned statistics tell me that churches would do well to make a real concentrated effort on those who have returned multiple times.

It has also been determined that if people do not get involved with some small group in the church, they are very unlikely to stay long term. We would hope a Bible study class would be the small group, but not all visitors are eager to jump into a Sunday School class, or any other kind of Bible study group. An ideal way to involve people is to invite them to a church social fellowship gathering that takes place at someone’s home, or even in the fellowship hall at church. People who are on a committee might invite a visitor, who has returned several times, to help with some work their committee is doing. Hostess committees, building and grounds committees, youth committees, are examples of committees with which visitors could be asked to help.

People may initially visit a church because of the pastor, but the far majority who stay, stay because of the people.

The church of which I am pastor, has a stated purpose that simply reads, “To please God.” We are told in Hebrews 11 that without faith, it is impossible to please God. But in what, exactly, are we to have faith? Actually, it is not so much “in what,” as it is “in Whom.” We are to have faith in God, as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures and through His Son, Jesus. Actually, Jesus said that the Scriptures testify of Him.

To please God, our faith needs to be such that we are convinced that surrendering our will to the will of God is the way to the most full and satisfying life possible. If we can make that commitment, to surrender our will to the will of God, a multitude of other would be decisions will automatically be taken care of.

No one just says, “I think I’ll get saved today,” then really does it. Salvation is the work of God in the life of an individual, but an individual is required to believe. This believing is more than just some robotic activity, it is a chosen response to God’s grace.

Life is filled with choices, some far more consequential than others. There are a few that are of major consequence.

There is the choice of whom you will serve. Even after one is born again, he must daily and constantly choose to esteem Jesus as the absolute Lord of his life.

There is also the choice of how you will live. The quality of one’s life has very much to do with the daily decisions he has made up to now. This is true in one’s economic, physical, and emotional state of being. People who esteem Jesus as the Lord of their lives, have every reason to expect to live better than those who do not. This is not to say that Christians do not encounter problems, but Christians have been given every thing necessary for life and godliness, whereby we have received great and precious promises.

Then, there is the choice of what you will do today. Perhaps there is no greater lie than the one we tell ourselves about what we are going to do, later. The difficulty with doing important things today, is that it requires a certain brokenness. It requires breaking away from what we have been doing. We might say it requires crucifying our flesh and the passions that go along with it.

In Deuteronomy 30:19, the Bible speaks of life and death, blessings and cursings being set before people. Then, it says, “Choose life, that you may live…”

Everybody meditates on something.  Meditating is nothing more than bringing your mind to dwell on a specific thing.  There are many verses that teach us the value of meditating on God’s word.  One of my favorite passages about meditating on the word is Psalm 1.  That Psalm says that meditating on God’s word  is the key to being blessed, and it is the key to success in every area of life.  That sounds like an awfully big claim, doesn’t it?  But, when you think about it, it is consistent with everything you know about the Bible.  God’s word is already blessed, and as we bring ourselves in agreement with the word, we bring ourselves into blessing.  Meditation on the word helps us to get God’s word down into our being in such a way, that we look at the circumstances of our life, as well as the world around us, through the filter of God’s word.  When that happens, we cannot be conformed to the world, but we will have been transformed by the renewing of our mind, just as we are commanded to do in Romans 12:2.  But, more than that, the filter of God’s word through which we look at things, will cause us to make the kind of decisions that God will bless; therefore, Psalm 1 says that everything we do will prosper!  Now, that’s a good deal.

Most of us have experienced something that we thought was bad, but with a little time, we were able to see that it was actually good.  One of the great verses of comfort, in the Bible, is Romans 8:28, where we are told that “…God works all things together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose.“  Recently, a man told me of applying for a job and not getting it.  He said that he felt very disappointed when he was not hired, because he knew that he was well qualified, and that the person who was hired didn’t see as qualified as he thought himself to be.  Knowing the Scriptures, he prayed, committing his trust to the Lord, and after what seemed to him like a long time went by, another job, a much better job,  came to his attention to which he applied and was immediately hired.

Can you see how God has turned things around in your own life?  It is exciting to trust the Lord, being confident that He will take care of you.