OFFERING

Jesus Christ should be the focus of the service , not a method that was pretty much invented by Charles Finney in the early 1800's.

 

The church I attend has the offering at the end of the service. Although the offering is a form of worship it can be a distracting time where the focus is on writting checks or searching for wallets. Announcements are give when the service first starts, when the people are still roudy. We start worship usually with lively songs, progress to some worshipful hymns, then right to the sermon. Offering is last.

Rob

 

Christ should be the focus of the service, not the invitation. The reason we don't take the offering last is because I want the fresh thing on people's mind to be the message from God's word. I don't think taking the offering in the middle is a distraction. Giving is part of worship and does not have to be tacked on the end, IMO>

 

Too often the invitation is a quick hurried event just before the people are dismissed. A pastor friend of mine gives the invitation at the very end. People can come forward for prayer or to talk with someone about most anything. The people can choose to leave as well. It is never a hurried event. Sometimes the pastor is there for quite awhile after the service. There are other people in the church who stand at the doors and greet people as they leave. Too often the invitation is another message tacked on at the end. I think the invitation should be a related to the message and tie in with it. Every invitation should relate back to the message in some way. I believe the message should build to require an appropriate response. When preaching in a church there are believers and non-believrs who are struggling with life. The sermon should reach each person in some way. The sermon should encourage each person in some way to live for Christ not just be saved. A non-believer who says that he wants to live for Christ and follow Him is a now a believer. Also a Christian who says that he wants to live for Christ has his faith encouraged and reinforced. The non-believer is encouraged for salvation and the believer for spiritual maturity.

The invitation should not be a time of manipulation but a time to reach out to the people to serve them. Sometimes people are struggling and want someone to feel like they care and pray for them. Sometimes they come forward for salvation. I can remember one time when a lady came who was not a believer and was struck by the care I demonstrated to those who came forward. That was a positive witness to her. God used it to grab her attention. Another time a lady came forward because a cousin of her had just been murdered. Another time a young man came forward to tell me that he wanted to learn how to share his faith. People come forward for a variety of reasons. So we must be sensitive to their needs at the moment. I believe the people must be taught that it is a time to be quiet before God. The people must learn to be sensitive to those coming forward.

The invitation is a time for people to bring themselves before God.

As for the offering: I have been in churches that had boxes at the door and other that passed the plate at various times. When you have a box it doesn't put non-believers or those who don't want to or can't give in a place of embarrasssment. Putting a box up adds time for other things in the service.

 

Our offering has been at the end of service this past year. We have our invitation time and counselors take out those who have made decisions. Offering is taken up and if someone has come for church membership or with a decision and has already been counseled by our pastor, they are presented after the offering. We reach across the aisles and all hold hands, have an ending chorus of some sort, a prayer and the pastor will begin a verse and ask those who know it to finish it with him and we are dismissed. There's always a lot of hugging and hand shaking as we leave. We have a very loving church family of just under 1,000 members.

Diane