How To Make A Gospel Meeting Successful

Introduction. Next week we are going to start our gospel meeting. I know that we will find the lessons to be scriptural (which is the most important quality of any sermon), encouraging (which is something we all need at times) and uplifting. This week I want to encourage each one of us to begin thinking and meditating on making this a successful gospel meeting.
“Why have a gospel meeting?” Having a man come and preach for a week is a sacrifice (of time and money) - it is a challenge of our love for one another and the lost - why should churches even have gospel meetings?

  1. It is a way for the church to carry out its responsibility to preach the gospel. (Acts 20:7) Paul was supported to preach. (Pulpit preaching isn’t the only way but it is one way.)
  2. It is an opportunity for evangelism. Note: the results of sound, understandable teaching (I Corinthians 14:23-24)
         (It’s easier to invite someone to something than it is to just begin to study with them. Gospel meetings can draw people from the community that we can follow up on latter in efforts to teach them.)
  3. It is an encouragement to a congregation.
     (Hearing new ideas, or the same ideas restated through a different mouth can stir us up from time to time.) (Ephesians 4:11-16)
“What can make such an effort successful?” Note: What do I mean by success?
     I don’t just mean lot’s of people. We sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that spiritual success and large numbers equivalent. There are religious efforts in the religious world (and among our own brethren) that are having monumental numerical showings, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that spiritual victories are being won. Scripture says -
“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil;...” (Exodus 23:2 KJV)
We should always work for good attendance but that isn’t always the mark of a successful gospel meeting. By successful I mean three things:
  1. It glorifies God. (Colossians 3:17) (False teaching or weak teaching no matter how popular will not do this - nor will unscriptural practices.)
  2. It advances the cause of Christ. (Luke 15:4-7) (If one soul is stirred to think about obedience to the gospel who had never before considered it the cause of Christ has been advanced - that may or may not show itself in a conversion during a meeting, but the cause has still been advanced.)
  3. It builds up the congregation. (The easiest thing about a gospel meeting should be to edify the congregation itself yet it is amazing how often we fail to take advantage of the opportunity we have in a gospel meeting to grow. If one Christian is enriched with a morsel of truth which can help them defeat the assault of the enemy in our lives there has been success.) (Ephesians 6:13-17)
“How then can we make this gospel meeting a success?”

I. By inviting people to come.

- Non-Christian co-workers
- Those we socialize with.
- Members of other congregations.
     Not time-consuming - probably one minute to ask them to come with you. (I’m going to try to have some cards ready by this Wednesday that you can give to them to encourage them to be here).
     We sometimes are very timid in such invitations just asking and leaving it at that. I’m going to ask you to try something this week (and I’m going to try it myself) - invite them directly. Say...
“Would you come with me Monday night? (or Tuesday night, whatever)?”
     Then keep asking people until you get at least one person says yes whom you can count on! Do you realize what kind of impact we could make on the lives of those around us if each of us here could bring (not just invite) only one person? (150 visitors?)
- Young people (school mates)
- College age (classmates)
- Work force (co-workers, clients, employees)
- Stay at home moms (other moms, neighbor children, PTA friends etc.)
- Retirees (old friends, neighbors, family members, grandchildren, etc.)
Remember the power of an invitation: (John 1:35-42)

II. By faithful attendance ourselves. Things that hinder attendance:

  1. Work schedule. (Try to juggle things a little - work harder this week to take some time off next week. Allow that to be an opportunity to stand up for your faith - tell your boss “My church is having a series of studies next week that I really would like to be off for.” Not only will it make a good impression on your boss but you might be able to get him (or her) to come with you.
  2. Class schedule. When I was in college it didn’t take much of an excuse for me to “cut class” - why not make next week a time when you cut for a noble reason - or ask your teacher if you can get the material before hand.
  3. Fatigue. Hard to avoid. If possible go to bed earlier, get up earlier. If there is nothing you can do a week is really a short period of time. Catch up on your rest next week.
  4. Illness. Cannot be avoided.
  5. Feeling that your presence will not matter. If there is any attitude which seems to me to be tearing at the fiber of Christians to day it is the feeling that “nobody cares about church anymore!” You think your presence doesn’t mean anything? It is one way to show others that isn’t true of your ( and you’ll try to help it not be true of others!)
         If you will commit yourself this next week to be at each and every service you possibly can I will guarantee the following benefits:
  1. You will learn something you didn’t know before. (Matthew 13:52)
  2. You will grow stronger in your personal Christian life. When the word of God is taught grow will take place - (Acts 20:32)
  3. You will help someone else go to heaven. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

III. By having a mind ready to study.


     It is really amazing sometimes the attitudes we bring to worship God. We say that our worship is a spiritual sacrifice, right? (and it should be). We say that we have come to worship and glorify God, right? (and we should). But we bring to God the concentration and alertness of a bored student in their least favorite class. Or our mind may be on what funny story we are going to tell someone after services. God deserves our best!
     (Malachi 1:6-8) Would we give the readiness of mind we bring to worship to our teachers? employers? parents? some celebrity?
     That doesn’t mean we have to be intimidated if we feel that someone may have more skill in this area or that. Our task is to give God the very best of what we have!
     The noble Bereans: (Acts 17:10-12) (KJV “noble”).

IV. By Praying for the success of the meeting.

“What can we pray about?”
  1. That we will have someone to bring with us.
  2. That the congregation will be faithful in their support of the effort. (Philippians 1:3-6)
  3. That someone’s heart will be touched to conform more to the truth. (Colossians 4:2-4)
  4. That the preacher will have a safe journey here, a clear memory of his material while he is here, that his lessons will be sound, and that he will have a safe return to his home.
  5. That the congregation will have the wisdom to discern the soundness of the lessons. (II Timothy 4:3,4) Christians must “Test all things; hold fast what is good.” (I Thessalonians 5:21)

Conclusion. God has given us the responsibility to preach the truth, and to do what we can to advance the cause, yet ultimately the real spiritual increase will come from him. (I Corinthians 3:5-8 ; Isaiah 55:10,11). Let’s us do what we can and pray that God will give us spiritual increase.