What are the two most important minutes of a church service? Is it the invitation or call to action at the end of a sermon? How about the first two minutes you arrive on campus? Or the two minutes in which you hand off your beloved child to a nursery or pre-school worker you have never met?
Here are two other options – the first two minutes of a service? We all know how much effort Hollywood puts into a movie’s opening scene. If it’s not the first two minutes of a service, how about the first two minutes of a sermon? After the sermon’s first two minutes, your people will either be leaning forward in anticipation of the next 20-30 minutes or you have lost them.
All of those options are incredibly important and I could make a compelling argument for each one. However, none of what is mentioned above happens without money. Let me explain.
How much ministry can you do for $100? As much as you try to tell me about the five loaves and two fish, the reality is not much. You can do $100 worth. How much ministry can you do for $1 million? The answer is $1 million worth. See the difference.
Therefore, the two most important minutes of a church service are…….THE 2 MINUTES BEFORE THE OFFERING!!! Nothing else happens without it.
The most effective way to maximize this period of time is with a Giving Talk (click HERE for a FREE webinar to learn more about Giving Talks). What is a Giving Talk?
Giving Talks should be done EVERY week. This is the 2-3 minute presentation given right before you receive the offering. It’s focused. It’s intentional. And hands down its the simplest way you can create a healthy financial culture in your church.
Here are some Giving Talk ideas:
- Ask a volunteer to share a 2-minute story about why he or she gives to the church. It’s powerful when someone who isn’t paid by the church props up the ministry of the church.
- Involve people from different ministry areas. For instance, let your student pastor thank the congregation for their generosity. Encourage him or her to tell a story that illuminates how those contributions are making a difference in the lives of teenagers.
- Invite the person who is in charge of stewardship or generosity to share. People in these roles often critique church spending but do very little to create money. Ask him or her to give the congregation a 2-3 minute update on where the money is going.
The key to the success of Giving Talks is to connect people’s giving to the advancement of the church’s mission and vision. You must show how $1 given to the church results in $1 of human life change. Giving Talks done well are compelling and move people to action.
Giving Rocket, the organization I work for, provides its customers a Giving Talk each week, 54 per year, already written for you.
This Tuesday, July 9th at 1:00 PM EST, our owner Casey Graham will be conducting a FREE 1-hour webinar on how to effectively develop and deliver Giving Talks. If you would like to be part of this coaching, click HERE to get signed up. Once again, it’s FREE and we would be honored to serve you.
I would like to hear from you. What do you do at your church to make the offering effective and memorable?
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