First Things

 When someone comes into my church or to a meeting for the first time, as searchers, I don’t try to win their trust.  That would take quite more than one visit.  I recognize them as new and searching.  They are not tourists looking for information.  A searcher has a hole in their soul, their life, and it is a deep enough wound to bring them here.  One thing may get them to come back.  It is not good coffee or a treat, or friendliness.  They probably don’t do friendliness with strangers very well.  What will bring them back is HOPE.  They have to hear a message that gives them hope, that whatever we have, might be a solution for them.