Ernest Smith

I realized this week that I never gave an update on how our first preview service went…soooo, here are five thoughts I have in regards to what we experienced at Front Range Christian Church on Dec 8^th.

1. We have an amazing launch team!

It was clear, based on talking with the people who showed up for the service, that our launch team is doing the hard work of building relationships. Most of the people who came did not show up because of a mailer they were sent or because we had great giveaways…they came because they had built friendships with people who are already a part of FRCC. Building relationships is the number one way to grow a church..that was proven for us that day.

2. People will show up even in bad weather!

My greatest fear came true at the first service of FRCC…the weather was terrible. With the temperature reaching a high of five degrees and snow falling hard and steady, I could not have imagined a worse day to start…and yet, people showed up. In fact, one couple walked about a mile to make it. People won’t allow anything to get in the way of building community and experiencing the presence of God.

3. Follow-up is more important than we can imagine!

One of the reasons church planters go with the preview service model is to test their follow-up systems. These systems are instrumental in helping people get connected and feel cared for. Our follow-up was AMAZING!!! Whether it was hand-written notes to each person who filled out a card, a letter to those who gave financially for the first time, an e-mail to those who indicated they received Christ…we followed up with each person in some form or fashion. Our team believes in the importance of following up with people….and it worked.

4. FRCC is starting off as an extremely generous church!

One of our core values is contagious generosity. We just believe we are supposed to be generous. This value played out well on the 8^th. Not only did we have over 80 volunteers show up to give of their time, but we were able to implement a new idea from the beginning. Each worship service, we will count how many people we had and give $1 for each person to a local organization. This is just one way we can bless our town and one way we can live out this contagious generosity.

5. There are no previews for God!

We had no clue what to expect with a preview service. To us, it was a chance to test systems, grow our launch team and see how everything was going to run and what would need to change.  To God, this was a chance to bring more people to faith. In fact, we had 9 people indicate on a card they wanted to receive Christ…9!!!! That is incredible and it simply reminded me that God is always trying to draw people to Himself and He will use whatever opportunity He can, including a preview service.

Dec 8^th, 2013 will go down as a day to remember not just for my family and I, but for Front Range Christian Church. We were so blessed to see so many people serving, a bunch of people show up to build community and so many give their lives to Christ. The day could not have been better.

Can’t wait to do it again….on January 19^th, 2014.

For more info about FRCC, check out our website.