A GENERAL LOOK AT CHURCH VISITATION

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    There are things that churches can do to facilitate the growth of the church.

1.      Engaging, sound worship services

2.      Active evangelism program

3.      Activities geared toward all age groups in the church

4.      Exciting, scriptural Bible classes

5.      Programs that are directed toward the local community

 

B.      There is another work that also aids the growth of the church:  a vibrant church visitation program.

1.      OceanSide has a visitation program.  We refer to it as our Outreach Program.

2.      Due to the CV19 pandemic, visitation has fallen on some tough times.

a.      The church has fewer visitors.

b.      Members of the church are staying home instead of coming to worship.

c.       We are a small church and have to make the same contacts week after week.

3.      Too, sometimes we, as members, just get lax in our participation in a visitation program.

 

C.     In this lesson, we want to encourage each of us to renew our commitment to visitation.  The title of our lesson is:  “A General Look at Church Visitation.”

 

I.                   A FEW STATISTICS

 

A.    The “churched,” that is, those who go to church:

1.      40% of the population, 132 million, say they go to church.

2.      20% of the population, 66 million, actually go to church.

3.      Thus, 66 million people say they are church members, but they do not go to church.

 

B.      There are about 100 million people who are “unchurched,” that is, they do not belong to a church.

1.      51% do not know the name of one church within 15 minutes of their house.

2.      65% say they know someone who attends church.

3.      90% say they have never been invited to the church.

4.      12 million of the unchurched claim to be Christians.

 

C.     Population:

1.      The area:

a.      Mayport:  146 (NOTE:  We did not include Naval Station at Mayport).

b.      Atlantic Beach:  13,831

c.       Neptune Beach:  7,297

d.      Jacksonville Beach:  23,669

e.       Ponte Vedra Beach:  29, 495

2.      Total:  74,438

3.      What would the number be if we included the population from Beach to 202 and from San Pablo to Hodges?  Too, what if we included the population of the Naval Station in the count?

4.      One percent of 74,438 is 744.  If just 1% of those along the Beaches were Christians, we would have 744 Christians in the area.

5.      Pre-virus, the two churches located on the Beaches were lucky if they had 1/5 of that number, about 150 people attending.  This is .002% of the population on the Beaches.

 

D.    Three interesting facts:

1.      Growing churches retain 25% of their visitors.

2.      Growing churches contact their visitors within 36 hours of the worship service.

3.      When paid staff does the visiting, the visits are 50% less effective.  The people visited believe that these people are paid to come to their house.

 

E.      What these statistics tell us:

1.      The fields are white unto the harvest.

2.      We need to be out sowing the seed of the kingdom.

3.      Too, we cannot afford to lose anyone.

4.      Too, we need to take advantage of all who come through our doors.

 

II.                VERSES ABOUT VISITATION

 

A.    Mark 16:15

 

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

 

1.      We use this verse because visitation often involves visiting those who were guests at our church services.

2.      Some of them are lost and need the gospel of Christ.

 

B.      Matthew 25:34-36

 

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was a hungered , and ye gave me meat:  I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:  I was a stranger, and ye took me in:  naked, and ye clothed me:  I was sick, and ye visited me:  I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

 

1.      This is one of the most powerful passages about visitation.

2.      It is all-encompassing when it comes to those who are to be visited.

3.      It teaches that visitation is part of the standard of judgment.

 

C.     Acts 20:35

 

I have shewed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

 

1.      We are to support the weak.

2.      Visitation enables us the opportunity to seek out needs and fulfill them.

3.      In our labors, we need to remember:  “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

 

D.    Galatians 6:1-2

 

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

 

1.      Visitation is often about recovering those overtaken in a fault

2.      According to James, when one of these individuals comes back, we save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins (James 5:19-20).

 

E.      James 1:27

 

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

 

III.             WHY WE FAIL TO VISIT

 

A.    We neglect it as a priority.

1.      Most of us do not really prioritize our lives.

2.      We simply do the things that need to be done.

3.      If we prioritized as God wants us to do, spiritual things would always be at the top of the list (Matt. 6:33).

 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

B.      We dismiss it as our duty.

1.      We often believe that we can hire our responsibilities out to another person.

2.      When we do this, we dismiss things that we should be doing as not part of our responsibility.

3.      God will hold us accountable for all that we are responsible for in serving Him (Matt. 25:45).

 

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

 

C.     We fail to see its value.

1.      We call and visit the same people.

We call on a visitor and they do not return.

We speak to one who is unfaithful, and he does not return.

2.      Defeat after defeat piles up, and we begin to think what we are doing it useless.

3.      Aren’t we glad Noah did not get that way and cease building the ark.

a.      He was a preacher of righteousness (II Pet. 2:5).

b.      The only ones who were found in the ark were Noah, his wife, his daughters and their husbands. 

c.       Noah understood the value of what he was doing.  He was extending God’s grace to all.

d.      When we visit, we, too, are extending God’s grace to other individuals.

 

D.    We forget it is Biblically commanded

1.      We often get busy with the affairs of life.

2.      When we do, we fail to think of all the things God has commanded us to do.

3.      We forget to make a phone call. We forget to pick up a card.  We forget to run by the hospital.  We forget to stop in and call on a shut-in.

4.      James addresses this type of forgetfulness in James 1:25.

 

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

 

E.      We are fearful.

1.      Visiting and talking to others, especially those who are lost or those who have fallen away, causes fear to swell within some people.

a.      We fear having to say something that might not be received very well.

b.      We fear not being able to say something the right way.

c.       We fear that we might forget what needs to be said.

d.      We fear the person’s anger and rejection.

2.      Paul assures us that God has not given us the spirit of fear in II Timothy 1:7-8.

 

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me his prisoner:  but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.

 

IV.             NATURE OF THE CONTACTS

 

A.    Visitors to our services

 

B.      Our shut-ins

 

C.     Members who were not in attendance this week:

1.      CV19

2.      Out-of-town

3.      Working

4.      Sick

5.      Erring

 

D.    Three simple actions:

1.      A personal visit

2.      A telephone call

3.      A card

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    Church growth involves a mixture of many things.

 

B.      One of the vital elements is visitation.

 

C.     Last point:  If we are going to do it, we must do it well.

1.      We must complete our assignment.

2.      We need to turn in the results of the assignment.

3.      We need to keep a good attitude about our assignment.

4.      We need to be in it for the long-haul.

 

D.    In connection with this lesson, we want to take a few minutes and encourage you to take part this year in our Outreach Program.  Mike Wenzel will take over this part of the program.