2 | What Now?
The Monday after Easter – NOW WHAT?
Your team worked hard for months. Your volunteers invested countless hours. Your entire church prayed. Guests came to church. The crowds were encouraging. Your message was well prepared. People responded to Jesus. Resurrection Sunday was miraculous. NOW WHAT?
Elijah must have asked the question “NOW WHAT?” after God supernaturally defeated the prophets of Baal. Shortly thereafter, Elijah finds himself sitting under the “Broom Tree” down, depressed, and deflated. Elijah needed to rest and refocus. So do you.
Today is the Monday after Easter. Can I personally encourage you to REST? God’s will for you today might be to take a nap, take your spouse to lunch, read a book, or go for a walk. Recreation is an opportunity for God to recreate life inside you and replenish your spiritual and emotional fuel tanks. Rest will help you be prepared to answer the question, “NOW WHAT,” when you get back in the ministry leadership post this week.
After taking time to rest and refocus, please allow me to encourage you to consider these three action steps this Post-Easter week.
Pray
Thank your team
Follow up with your guests
Pray! Remember to pray and thank God for His grace and kindness on Resurrection Sunday. One plants, another waters, but God gives the increase. Please pray for the lives that entered your church for the first time. Whether someone attended out of duty to a relative, watched online for the first time, or was invited to your outreach by a friend, the Word of God was shared. Many first-time guests are skeptical and probably did not fill out a connection card. Pray that the seed of God’s Word would take root in their heart. Pray the Holy Spirit draws them to Church again. Pray God would continue to guide their steps.
Thank your team! Many volunteers invested countless hours over the last few weeks and months. Whether greeting a guest at the door, teaching young children in the nursery, handling the logistics of media, or numerous other posts, ministry volunteers can be taken for granted. Encourage your team leaders to drop a note. Send a text. Make a phone call to someone who went above the call of duty. Gratitude from senior leadership will affirm, encourage, and create anticipation for the next big outreach.
Follow up with your guests! Guests who completed a connection card trusted you with their contact information. In our day, that is an extreme gift of trust. If you have a follow-up system, use it. Perhaps recruit extra leaders to help you with the volume of guests. If you do not have a follow-up system, create one this week. Develop three different action steps that your team will complete over the next three weeks. Remember to do just one action step each week. If you contact first-time guests three times in three consecutive days, they will probably label you a stalker and move on to the next church. Here are some examples of follow-up steps over the next three weeks:
Send a friendly email thanking them for their visit
Send a letter reminding them of upcoming service times and activities
Deliver cookie baskets to their door
Send a coupon that informs them they will receive a free church T-shirt if they come back in the next month
If you know they have a friend in your church, have that friend personally call them.
Send a brief text saying you were so grateful to meet them.
Encourage your children’s team to write a note to the first time children who attended
You know your community and your culture. Implement a system that works for you but implement a system. Do not do this alone. Even the smallest of churches should involve volunteers to help with guest assimilation. Remember that our goal is to fulfill the great commission by making disciples. We can only make disciples if we have continued opportunities to share and teach the Word of God. Your hospitality ministry may become the first step in a journey of discipleship for someone who is far from God.
“NOW WHAT?”
In conclusion, remember to rest. After you have rested, set a goal this week to complete these three tasks: Pray, thank your team, and follow up with your guests.
What Easter follow-up ideas have you developed? Please share them in the comments below.
Thank you for sharing the miraculous reports of Easter with us. God is doing something all over the state of Oklahoma. We are better together.
