Saved You a Seat

Series Overview

We want Transit to be a fun and engaging place every Sunday for all students.  While it might be easy to congratulate our selves for engaging the students who come to Transit consistently each week, we want to make sure that we stay aware of one key truth – there are hundreds of students in our sphere of influence who do not have a relationship with Jesus. Over the next two weeks, we want to focus on the students who are not in Transit.  We want to talk about how our students can be better prepared for when new students who up for the first time because we want all new students to know that we “Saved You a Seat.”

Week 1 (March 3, 2013)

Isn’t it interesting that students will know someone’s favorite color, favorite movie, and what boy or girl they like but, if you asked them if their friends goes to church, they will shrug and say “I don’t know.” Students will take the time to memorize their friends’ class schedules, but ask them which friends are Christian and you’ll get a blank stare.  It seems it is not a lack of compassion on their part, but a lack of awareness. It simply has never entered into the lens of how they view people.  So, today, we want to point out to all our students that eternity is a reality, that students have been called to share the gospel and Transit is here to partner with them.

Talk with your students about how you invest in other people in your life. Ask your student who they can invite to Transit and BigStuf this summer.

Week 2 (March 10, 2013)

The natural pull of any organization is to begin to focus on the insiders.  After all, they are the ones who are there every week.  They are the ones who will tell us what they need, want, and expect.  So it is no wonder that organizations drift toward serving and anticipating the needs of their most dedicated members.  The challenge for Transit – and any ministry, for that matter – is to fight this pull and remember we are a part of the great commission to bring in new believers.  The good news this morning is that, as a whole, the students of a church love to invite their friends.  The hard news is that not every student they bring sticks around.  Why is that?  Is there something more each small group could do to make people feel more welcome?  Remember, new students are always going to be coming to Transit. We need to decide now what we want their experience to be like, so we are prepared when they show up.

Ask your student what their first experience in Transit was like, and how they can help create a great experience for a first time student in Transit.