Being a first-time visitor to church is an experience that not too many church leaders or pew regulars remember, and sometimes churches can become rather unwelcoming to new comers without meaning to. Jesus values the unchurched and pre-believers which is why we should too.
Do you still remember the first time that you attended church? What was the reason that you stayed? If it were charismatic preachings that kept people, we would still all remember the message the pastor taught at our first service. If it were the worship, we'd all still remember the songs we sang. But many people don't remember the sermons preached, nor the songs sung during their first church experience. They remember the people and the human relationships that were built.
The Holy Spirit moves primarily through people. The gospel is preached through people, healing comes through the hands of those anointed with the gift of healing, and prophecy is given through prophets. God has a knack for using people to touch other people's lives.
As members of the church, we are also God's ministers and channels that bring a flow of love and acceptance to others. Here are three ways that the Holy Spirit brings a welcoming spirit through the people of the church.
Fellowship
Church was never meant to be boring and one way that God makes church fun is through people. It is when believers share with each other the love of Christ and the move of the Holy Spirit that churches become welcoming to the unchurched.
Hebrews 10:25 talks about "not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
Involvement
Inside everyone is a call to get involved. People want to become part of something bigger than themselves and when we give people the avenue to do that by joining volunteer work, charity projects, leadership roles or discipleship groups, we make them feel welcomed.
1 Corinthians 12:12 says, "For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ."
Because we are all members of the body of Christ, we long to be connected and involved.
Acceptance
The church is meant to be a place of refuge and acceptance, not rejection. Reality is that many churches today have a knack of rejecting people because they aren't "righteous" enough. But God's house was meant to be a place for sinners not saints. We must welcome all people regardless of their background and history.
Mark 2:17 says, "And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.'"
