Reacquainting Folks With the Church

After seeing some barely familiar faces in our congregation yesterday (April 12, 2009 – Resurrection Sunday), and the inevitable soul-searching our Pastor and Deacons go through wishing (read: dreaming) everyone would come to Worship every Sunday, I got to thinking Denny’s, the restaurant chain, might have something. Here’s part of a story from Time. Com –

“To lure customers in the midst of a recession, Denny’s has turned to a radical strategy: giving away the store. On February 1, the 56-year-old company aired a Super Bowl commercial that promised free Grand Slams to anyone who walked through the door from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 3. Denny’s, which is open 24/7, says some two million free meals were served. Pleased with the buzz and foot traffic the February offer generated, Denny’s followed up with the two-for-one food sale on April 8. “We had to do something bold,” says Denny’s CEO Nelson Marchioli. “We said ‘free’ makes a lot of sense to us in this economy — with all the other offers the consumer is getting slammed with, we really need to come out and do something that people will stand up and notice. We need to reacquaint the consumer with Denny’s.”

There you have it! We need to make sure people know they are going to get FREE spiritual food (and at the Church I attend, there is a lot of “regular food” that is free also, when you consider every month’s Pot Luck Supper, cook-outs several times a year, Ribs and Snickers for Real Men, Sunrise Service breakfast, etc.). When times are tough, and are they not right now, one needs real spiritual food. The Truth that comes clearly and accurately from God’s Word is a source of strength, hope, joy, peace, and power. Like Denny’s, we need to do “something bold.” Why not try inviting your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues to a “free meal?” Spiritual food is that which endures, empowers, and is easily ingested by those with a heart redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. For those among your group who are not yet redeemed, why not invite them for some of the “free” regular food (almost everyone likes to eat free), and get them introduced to the Bread of Life.

So, we’re “giving away the store” (but then, we always have). We need to reacquaint the consumer with the only source of “food for life,” Jesus Christ and His Church.