{"id":578,"date":"2011-01-27T19:34:27","date_gmt":"2011-01-28T00:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fbclafayette.org\/?p=578"},"modified":"2011-12-12T09:28:31","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T14:28:31","slug":"where-do-you-sit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/where-do-you-sit\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Do You Sit?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"redThis year our church has adopted the theme<\/a> of Living Life Together<\/em>.\u00a0 We have already been talking about dozens of ways to make this\u00a0theme a reality, and many men and women are taking positive steps of growth.\u00a0 However, sometimes a lot of ideas translate into little or no action.\u00a0 It becomes information overload.\u00a0 Like the cynical sage once quipped, “when it is all said and done, there’s often more said than done.”\u00a0 Here are\u00a0a few simple steps that you can take this Sunday at whatever church the Lord has called you to attend to make Living Life Together<\/em> a reality.<\/p>\n

Stamp Out Loneliness One Act of Love at a Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We live in a lonely, impersonal world.\u00a0 Most of us can’t even remember the day when you drove into a gas station and had an attendant bound up to the car and pump your gas, make small talk, and ask to check your oil.\u00a0 Now we pull in–by ourselves, pump our gas–by ourselves, put our credit card\u00a0in the slot and pay–by ourselves, and drive off without talking to a soul.\u00a0 I guess that’s OK for gassing up our cars, but it doesn’t cut it in the Lord’s house.\u00a0 The words “being alone” and “being in church” should never go together.<\/p>\n

Driving Over<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Take a few minutes to pray and ask God to give you a sensitivity to people.\u00a0 Tell Him that you want to be His channel of love, mercy, and acceptance to others who attend church that morning.\u00a0 If you have others in the car, pray about this issue out loud together.\u00a0 If you have small children, walk them through the process step by step and encourage them to be friendly\u00a0to every person in their Sunday School class.<\/p>\n

Walking into the Building<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Be on the lookout for someone who may be new.\u00a0 Put a big smile on that face of yours.\u00a0 Greet others warmly and express authentic interest in who they are and what brings them to church today.\u00a0 Offer to show them around the building and serve them any way you can.<\/p>\n

Sitting Down<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Please do not just plop down in the place that is most comfortable or with the people who are most familiar.\u00a0 Open your eyes–look for someone who might be sitting by themselves.\u00a0 Go sit by them–introduce yourself–thank them for coming.\u00a0 Let’s set a goal together that no one will ever attend our church and leave with the same feeling they had when they last put gas in their car.<\/p>\n

What do you think?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Do you agree that the words “being alone” and “being in church” should never go together?\u00a0 Why is this such an important issue?\u00a0 What would it be like for a person with no church home who is hurt, confused, or discouraged to finally attempt to visit a church and never be greeted or welcomed in any way?\u00a0 What lessons have you learned in this area?\u00a0 If\/when you visited church, were you made to feel welcome?\u00a0 If you are a parent, how are you teaching hospitality to your children?\u00a0 What best practices have you used or observed that you would be willing to pass on?<\/p>\n

Sunday is coming.\u00a0Where are you going to sit?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year our church has adopted the theme of Living Life Together.\u00a0 We have already been talking about dozens of ways to make this\u00a0theme a reality, and many men and women are taking positive steps of growth.\u00a0 However, sometimes a lot of ideas translate into little or no action.\u00a0 It becomes information overload.\u00a0 Like the… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4161,4160,110],"yoast_head":"\nWhere Do You Sit? - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/where-do-you-sit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where Do You Sit? - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This year our church has adopted the theme of Living Life Together.\u00a0 We have already been talking about dozens of ways to make this\u00a0theme a reality, and many men and women are taking positive steps of growth.\u00a0 However, sometimes a lot of ideas translate into little or no action.\u00a0 It becomes information overload.\u00a0 Like the... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/where-do-you-sit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-28T00:34:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-12T14:28:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/files\/2011\/01\/seat.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Viars\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Viars\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/where-do-you-sit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/where-do-you-sit\/\",\"name\":\"Where Do You Sit? - Faith Church Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-01-28T00:34:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-12T14:28:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/b83c7b6a62eab6b6e07c6659b204826c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/where-do-you-sit\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/where-do-you-sit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/where-do-you-sit\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Where Do You Sit?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Church Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/b83c7b6a62eab6b6e07c6659b204826c\",\"name\":\"Steve Viars\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408121939\/ViarsSteve.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408121939\/ViarsSteve.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Steve Viars\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Viars has served as a pastor and counselor at Faith since 1987. 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