From Christmas to Introducing God

How to make sure your Christmas Events point clearly to the next step.
What promotional videos and interviews to do.
How to tailor your presentation to the main application is ‘next step.’

From ‘first date’ Christmas to ‘second date’ Introducing God

Churches get lots of guests at Christmas but often struggle to help people make the next step to joining up into meaningful fellowship and potentially beginning a personal relationship with God.

Dominic Steele gives us a few tips

For many guests coming along to a Church at Christmas, whether it be carols, gingerbread, kids performances or Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meetings, they are on a first date with God. What we want to do is help make it as easy and obvious to our guests what a ‘second date’ might look like and help them to take a step along the path.

This means that Gingerbread nights and Carols services are not primarily times for ‘altar call challenges,’ but we should mainly see them as opportunities to sow seeds at the event and then encourage guests to take a considered further step, when life is calmer in January.

The meeting

Organise your meeting in such a way as to make it easy and obvious what the best ‘next step’ or ‘second date’ would be.

First, illustrate the next step by showing the Introducing God Christmas promotional video. You want to paint a clear obvious path forward that people might walk. Speak about how the course will start late in January when life is so much calmer. Show this some time before the talk so that as the speaker is speaking people will be able to consider doing the course in the background while the talk is going on.

Second, Interview someone who has made this step or a similar one in the past. Interview a new Christian member early in the meeting about how they first came along last Christmas, what their impressions where, why they took things further with God, what they enjoyed about the Introducing God course. This interview should clearly pave the path that you are hoping guests will walk.

The talk

This is not the time to muck it up. The Apostle Paul said ‘Pray that I might proclaim it clearly as I should.’ (Colossians 4:4). What our guests need at a Christmas event is a clear declaration that Jesus is the Lord and the Saviour, with an indication that the desired response is repentance and faith.

Jesus is Saviour -> Faith
Jesus is Lord -> Repentance

Pick a Bible passage in which these ideas are blindingly clear. If you are not sure which passage then go for Luke 2:11. If you can’t work out how to preach Jesus is Saviour and Lord from this passage then give the job to someone else.

The challenge/call to response

So when you get the end say something like this.

Well that’s it. Jesus is the Lord, the Christ, the King, the one who will save the world. He calls everyone back to him. To honour him. To trust him.

Q What will I do?

Well you might be at the point of beginning to check out Jesus.

That Introducing God course we advertised. We are starting it in a small group, straight after the holidays - Tuesday night January 20th.

You could come along. It’s relaxed friendly. Over a meal. Every view welcome. Nothing off limits.

The card to RSVP is on your seat. I might just ask everyone to fill that in. Then no one feels self-conscious. And if you are considering coming to the course in January, just write ‘Considering Introducing God.’

Now, it could be that you are here thinking: “Yeah Yeah Yeah! That’s great! I’ll come to the course. But I actually want to fix things with God today.”

Q How might you do that?

A Well if that’s you - then it is to speak to God

Now, this may be for you. If it’s not that’s fine …

Prayer

Now, as we sing our final carol - celebrating Christmas - we will collect those cards… and if you did indicate that you would like to do the Introducing God course then we will be in touch in the new year.

The course

There’s lots on www.introducinggod.org on how to run a course. But don’t expect that everyone will come to the one at the time you set. You could well be running several smaller courses as well - some of which will be 1:1 as a friend meets with a friend to watch the video and discuss.

Download Christmas Promotional Video:

Click here.