Visitors Expect to Hear the Bible

Making your Christmas worship services comfortable and understandable for the unchurched doesn’t mean changing your theology. It means changing the environment of the service—such as changing the way you greet visitors, the style of music you use, the Bible translation you preach from, and the kind of announcements you make in the service.

The message is not always comfortable. In fact, sometimes God’s truth is very uncomfortable! Still we must teach “the whole counsel of God.” Being sensitive to the unchurched does not limit what you say but it will affect how you say it.

My experience is that the unchurched are not asking for a watered-down message. They expect to hear the Bible when they come to church. They just want to hear how it relates to their lives.

They can handle a clear, biblical message when it is delivered in terms they understand and in a tone that shows you respect and care about them. They are looking for solutions this Christmas, not a scolding.