Welcoming Newcomers by Leading Through Love and Acceptance

Participant’s Handout

 

Evangelism Resources
USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism Department
International Church of the Nazarene
© 2001 Evangelism Resources
USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism Department
International Church of the Nazarene

All Rights Reserved

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Director of Course Development Dr. Lyle Pointer

Author of Module Rev. Scott Rainey

Curriculum Developer Rev. Scott Rainey

Permission is granted to copy this material for local church training. No part of this material may be copied, photocopied, or reproduced in any form for the purposes of sale.

I. Introduction:

Acts 9:26-28

When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

To bring Saul of Tarsus into the fellowship of the church was no simple assimilation task. He was a feared Jew who was known throughout Palestine for persecuting the followers of Jesus. His conversion to Christ made little impact on the willingness of the Christians to open their arms to him. “Barnabas,” the Scripture says, “took him….” Barnabas loved enough to risk bringing Saul into the fellowship of the church.

The purpose of this module is to encourage the church to love people into fellowship; to lead through love and acceptance.

Research shows:
• If people, who attend church for a month, don’t make four friends, they will not return.
• Visitors make up their minds whether they will come back to our church in the first eleven minutes.
• Newcomers to town will try to find a church that will treat them like their home church treated them. If they do not find what they are looking for in six weeks, they will not return to church for ten years.

What is it that helps newcomers remain in a church?

An answer to that question might be biblical hospitality. Biblical hospitality communicates love and acceptance to all strangers.

Illustration:

In the early 1970s, the church was full and the service had already begun. From the back of the church, a man in his early twenties entered the foyer. Bare feet, long hair, and colorful clothes, he looked the part of a traditional hippie. It was obvious from the dress of the normal church attendee, this man did not belong in this church.

Upon entering the sanctuary and finding the worship service very full, he made his way to the front of the sanctuary. When he reached the front of the sanctuary, he sat on the floor, Indian style, in the center aisle.

Immediately, a man who appeared to be in his eighties began the walk down the center aisle toward this culturally dressed young man. The congregation could feel the tension in the church as this head usher moved toward this stranger in the church. When the usher reached the first pew, to the utter shock of the congregation, he gingerly sat down beside the newcomer for the remainder of the service.

That is biblical hospitality in action!

The objectives for this module are:
• To recognize the human need for belonging.
• To identify the obstacles that tend to prevent us from freely loving newcomers into the fellowship of the church.
• To strategize on ways to improve the biblical hospitality model in our church.

II. Lesson.

If our church is to become more effective in meeting the needs of worshipers, we must know that:

1. We are called to meet the human need for belonging.
2. We will inevitably face obstacles in loving newcomers into the fellowship.
3. We can improve in the area of biblical hospitality within our church.

A. We are called to meet the human need for _________.

1. Churches tend to be _________ in evangelism but _________ in relationships.

a. Most evangelical churches recognize God’s call to reach ___ mankind with the Gospel (John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9).
b. While they might desire ________ to come to faith, many churches would not want just ______ to come to their church.
c. Christ was _________ inclusive in relationships and was criticized because of it.

Luke 5:27-32

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

i. The people by whom the Pharisees were repulsed, were the same people to whom Jesus was _________.
ii. While the Pharisees thought the tax collector would make Jesus _____, Jesus made the tax collector _____.
iii. Jesus spent time relationally with these “sinners” ______ they became disciples.

2. When a person accepts Jesus, he enters community _____________ and ________.

• There are at least three metaphors used to describe this community of believers:

a. The ____ of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:27-28a, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles…”

i. Each and every _________ is a part of the body of Christ.
ii. Each person has his/her special _______ within the body.

b. A part of the _____

Hebrews 3:6, “But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.”

i. The Christian church represents the _____ of God.
ii. Each member in this sense might represent a _____ in that house.
iii. Christ is continually ________ this house (Matthew 16:18).

c. A member of the ______

John 1:12, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

i. _________ Jesus makes one a part of God’s family.
ii. We are therefore ________ and _______ in Christ.

3. We are to bring people into the life, fellowship, and ________ of the church.

Illustration:

Jolene had only been a Christian for one year. She was studying, however, in a class with a number of well-established Christians on the topic of evangelism and discipleship. The question came from the teacher. How do we help the new convert to become established in his/her newfound faith?

Jolene, with simplicity and clarity, spoke of her own experience of being enfolded into the local church. She talked about being involved in a small group, meeting new people who became her close friends, and finding a job in the church. “It doesn’t have to be anything big, but each person must have something to do to make them feel a part of the big picture,” she reminded the class.

4. We must spend ____ and ______ with new people.

a. New people are seeking _____________.
b. People are not as interested in a friendly church as a church where they can have _______.
c. ____________ times in the New Testament epistles, the author refers to the recipients of the letter as “friends”.

5. We are to create a _______ of love.

a. In I John 3-4, John encourages fellow believers ____ times to “love one another.”
b. Love is the _______ characteristic of the Christian individual
(1 Corinthians 13:13).
c. With ____ comes patience, kindness, protection, trust, hope, and perseverance (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

B. We face a number of obstacles in loving newcomers into the fellowship.

1. Resistant family ________.

• Many family networks within the church are ___________ and do not allow for others to become fully assimilated into the life and ministry of the local church.
• Family networks generally resist ______.

2. Traditions comfortable to us but unfamiliar to others.

a. Many newcomers feel that the church speaks a different ________.
b. Sometimes traditions evolve into _____, and rules without reason are difficult for newcomers to understand.
c. Tradition without _______ is unacceptable to most newcomers.

3. Strife, friction, or diversity

a. At times the highly committed volunteers of the church feel a level of _______ and complain that no one helps, while at the same time others are frustrated that they cannot be more ________.

Acts 15:1-2, 19, 28-29

Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

James spoke up…
"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

b. Conflict ended by consensus…
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

• Differences in opinion can ______ the church and stunt the growth of the congregation.
• We should let _________ be our final guide in disputed matters.
• When disputing matters of doctrine, ____ should prevail.

4. A no-growth attitude

• This attitude can be heard in a number of comments:
a. “Our church is big enough already.”
b. “I don’t want our church to get too much bigger.”
c. “We already can’t keep up with the people we have attending.”
d. “I want to do outreach as much as anyone, but what about us?”

5. Differences among people

a. Economic, ethnic, and educational ___________ can be obstacles to assimilation.
b. Sunday morning at 9 AM has been called the most __________ hour in the week.
c. People tend to ________ to others who are similar to them.

C. We can improve our ministry.

1. ________ newcomers in non-threatening ways.

a. The church must walk a _________ between being overbearing to a newcomer on one side and appearing cold and callused on the other.
b. Newcomers generally don’t like to be ___________ in a crowd.
c. Newcomers tend to want to be _________ to the whole, but known on the individual level.
d. Be ________, but not overbearing.
e. Greet newcomers, but don’t ______ them.

2. Look at our church through the eyes of the first-time visitor.

Illustration:

Mark was an executive for a growing company. He had been asked by an employee to visit his church for a special Christmas musical. Mark had not been to church for years. His previous experience in church had convinced him that church was outdated and unprofessional. Because he appreciated the hard work of his employee in the marketplace, he accepted the invitation. Mark’s visit to this church was totally different than any he had experienced before. While the church was small, the grounds were clean and well cared for. The musical was well done and demonstrated many hours of practice. Mark was impressed and continued to attend in the weeks following the special service.

3. Welcome newcomers before greeting our friends.

• Practice the Five-Person Rule. After worship services, attempt to have a friendly conversation with five people you don’t know or don’t know well before you go to your friends.

4. Help new worshippers find a group and start new groups as often as possible.

a. McIntosh and Martin describe a small group as any group that…

i. Is small – less than 15.
ii. Meets on a regular basis – at least once per month.
iii. Creates a sense of accountability – people are missed if they are not there.

b. Small groups provide a place for individuals to…

i. Be open and vulnerable in a ____ environment.
ii. Learn and ____.
iii. Gain _______ during life’s difficult times.

III. Small Group Work.

Break into groups of four or five individuals and answer the following questions.

1. Identify the areas of our church that enable people to be assimilated into the church. In what areas do we do well?

2. What in our church hinders people from being loved into the fellowship? What area of improvement do we need to concentrate on most?

3. What fears would you identify as being associated with numerical growth of a local church? Why do new people bring fear to established members?

IV. Module Wrap-Up.

This section provides an opportunity to close the module.

• Ask participants from each small group to share the findings from their discussions.
• Encourage the participants to continue to dialogue about these important issues of loving people into the fellowship.
• Answer any questions and provide encouragement.

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