Satisfaction Survey

I recently had to go to the Department of Public Safety to renew my driver's license.  When I received my new license in the mail, there was a card enclosed which requested that I go online and submit a customer satisfaction survey.  "Please use the link below to help us create a faster, easier friendlier driver license experience" the card said. This experience caused me to stop and think about the experience people have when they visit our church. Perhaps our "visitor cards" should include a brief customer satisfaction survey with statements to which the visitor could provide feedback about their experience.  Imagine that you are a first-time visitor at your church and complete the following survey.

Our church wants to provide an atmosphere in which all worshipers will feel welcome, have a meaningful  encounter with God, and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.  You can help us to know how well we are meeting our goal by completing the following survey.

When I arrived, I was greeted warmly and made to feel welcome.

STRONGLY AGREE     AGREE     DISAGREE     STRONGLY DISAGREE

The Sunday School class I attended provided meaningful Bible study.

STRONGLY AGREE     AGREE     DISAGREE     STRONGLY DISAGREE

The worship service led me straight to the throne of God.

STRONGLY AGREE     AGREE     DISAGREE     STRONGLY DISAGREE

The music in the worship service provided a good mixture of styles.

STRONGLY AGREE     AGREE     DISAGREE     STRONGLY DISAGREE

The pastor's message was Biblical and inspiring.

STRONGLY AGREE     AGREE     DISAGREE     STRONGLY DISAGREE

I found what I was looking for at your church.

STRONGLY AGREE     AGREE     DISAGREE     STRONGLY DISAGREE

I will definitely attend your church again.

STRONGLY AGREE     AGREE     DISAGREE     STRONGLY DISAGREE

I would definitely recommend your church to my friends.

STRONGLY AGREE     AGREE     DISAGREE     STRONGLY DISAGREE

How well would your church do in this survey?  If the answer is, "Not as well as it should." The question to ask yourself is, "What can I do to make it better?"

After writing this post, I found an interesting article by Thom S. Ranier entitled "Eight Terrible Church Visits" which tells about experiences of "mystery guests" who were paid to attend churches and then write a review of their experiences.  You might find it interesting reading. 

Things I'm Thankful For

November is the month when we stop to give thanks for all of our blessings.  On Facebook, Twitter, and blogs , I see that many people are observing "Thirty Days of Giving Thanks." Each day during the month, they post one thing for which they are thankful.  What a great way to observe the season.

When I was teaching school, I taught the children a song entitled "Things I'm Thankful For." As we sang the song, I walked around the room with a hand-held microphone.  It wasn't connected to anything, but that didn't matter.  When we came to the refrain, we sang, "I'm thankful for..." and I held the microphone up to one of the children who would name something for which they were thankful.  I don't know about the children, but I loved it!  I was always touched by the way the children responded, naming so many things that we often take for granted!  That song always comes to my mind whenever someone asks, "What are you thankful for?" 

There are many things I am thankful for,
I can find them near and far.
There are many things I am thankful for,
Let me tell you what they are.

I'm thankful for...

    Each new day,
    for time to work and time to play
   
I'm thankful for....

     Our daily bread. a nice warm bed
    and a roof overhead

I'm thankful for...

    Family and friends who through the years
    have stood beside me in laughter and tears

I'm thankful for...

    Pastors and teachers in church and school
    Who teach us to live by God's golden rule

I'm thankful for...

    The sunshine and I'll be thankful for the rain
    whenever God chooses to send it again

I'm thankful for...

    Freedom to worship and freedom to pray
    and for those who serve to keep it that way

I'm thankful for...

    So many things today
    But most of all, I'd have to say
   
I'm thankful for...

    God, the Father, and for Jesus his son
    for it is through him that the vict'ry is won

No matter how you do it, make every day this month one when you "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name."
Psalm 100:4   
       

Frequently Asked Questions Part 2

Recently I wrote a sermon about Jesus being asked, "Which is the most important  commandment?"  Jesus responded by giving not only the most important commandment, but the second most important commandment as well. It reminded me of a recent post on this blog about the most frequently asked question I receive at Sermons4Kids. The most frequently asked question is, "Do we have permission to reprint the sermons and activities from the Sermons4Kids web site?"  Now that you know the answer to that question, it seems appropriate that I now deal with the second most frequently asked question.

The second most frequently asked question received at Sermons4Kids is, "Do you have a sermon about _____?"  You can fill in the blank with any subject you might imagine.  Whenever I receive such a question, the first thing I do is to go to our Site Search Tool.  You will find this valuable tool in the left column of all main pages on the web site.  Every Monday morning our entire web site is indexed to insure that the most recent sermons will be included in the search results.  So, if someone writes and asks if I have a sermon about communion, I type communion in the search box, click the search button and a page opens showing that we have six sermons about communion!

It is very helpful to know something about how a search engine works. If you use our site search tool to search for the word love, it will yield a list of 356 documents!  Not very helpful, is it?  If you search for "love your neighbor" with the phrase in quotation marks, it will find only those pages with that exact phrase.  The results will yield 12 documents.  Now, that's more like it!  Looking for a sermon for Mother's Day? Search for mother's day without quotation marks and you will find 495 documents because it will find every sermon that has the word mother or the word day.  Search for "Mother's Day" in quotation marks and you will find 7 documents.

To help you know how to get the best results from your searches, we have a Search Tips page on our web site.  It will give you many suggestions on how to make your searches more productive.  Oh, by the way, these tips will work on Google, Yahoo, Bing or just about any search tool. I hope after reading this post you will visit our web site and try our "Site Search" tool. Play with it! Type in "John 3:16" and see how many sermons you find.