It’s Gospel Meeting time again. With all this effort being put into our Gospel Meeting, what can I do to make the most of this effort? The following are some suggestions.

1. Look Upon the Meeting as an Event. Gospel meetings need to be more than just a bump in the road. These Meetings need to be special events for the local church. When I first began preaching, gospel meetings were the highlights of the year. As soon as one of our gospel meetings finished, I looked forward to the next one. In my mind, my local work progressed from meeting to meeting.

If more members took this approach to our Gospel Meetings, they would put more work into them and thus get more out of them. Put our Meetings on your calendar at home. Begin counting down the weeks as they draw closer, emphasizing increased excitement and involvement.

2. Pray. I need to be praying for the preacher, for his health, safe travel, boldness in preaching, etc. I need to pray for his family while they are separated. I need to pray that visitors will be present to hear and respond to the Gospel.

3. Attend Every Service. A Gospel Meeting is just that: it is a meeting! We meet to worship God and study His Word. My presence in these assemblies will be an encouragement. My absence will be a discouragement. As a member, I must make a commitment to support the meeting with my presence in every assembly. This will require a sacrifice on my part, but any hardship involved will not be reflected in my attitude toward supporting the meeting. Like David, we must be glad when they said, “let us go into the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1).

4. Invite People. When Cornelius knew he was going to hear words by which he could be saved, he prepared for Peter’s arrival by inviting his relatives and close friends to be with him (Acts 10:24). We need to be inviting people throughout the year, but a gospel meeting is a special time to invite people to come and worship with us. Denominations have their special events (Christmas programs, Easter Egg Hunts, pancake breakfasts, carnivals, etc.). A gospel meeting is our event. Invite everyone you can. Make a list. Make a goal. Get excited about the meeting, then get the word out!

5. Welcome Visitors. What do we do when visitors show up? We welcome them! They need to be treated as honored guests. When you see a new face in the assembly, go to them, introduce yourself to them, tell them you are glad they are here, and invite them to come back. You may not think this is important, but it is VERY important. Most people, when they visit a place for the first time, make up their mind about whether or not they are going to return within the first five minutes. For visitors to gospel meetings, this timeframe usually expires before the actual worship begins. The time before and after worship is a time for you to be busy greeting visitors.

6. Engage in the Worship. Come to the assembly prepared for worship. A gospel meeting is not a time to become casual in our appearance or our attitude. Get here early enough to get settled in before worship begins. Sit up and sing out. Good singing is pleasing unto God. Good singing will make a good first impression on those who are visiting. Good singing makes for good preaching, which makes for a good meeting.

7. Encourage the Preacher. Most brethren are in the habit of expressing kind words of appreciation to the preacher after his sermon. These words are a source of encouragement to the preacher. However, consider being more specific in your comments. Instead of the normal, “Good sermon,” pick out something specific. Maybe it was a point in the sermon. Maybe it was a text that he used. Maybe it was an illustration. Doing this will assure the preacher that you really were listening to his sermon. Also, let him know that you are looking forward to the next sermon.

8. Reap the Harvest. A time of harvest naturally follows a time of sowing. Follow up on open doors, contacts, and opportunities that have presented themselves during the meeting.

The time after a gospel meeting is also a time for self-examination. Did the preacher touch on any areas that you need to improve? Make the needed changes in your life. This will truly make the gospel meeting a success.

Concluding Thoughts: While gospel meetings may not generate the interest from visitors (and even members) like they once did, they are not a thing of the past. If planned and used correctly, they are still effective ways of carrying out the work of evangelism and edification. As long as the gospel is preached, they are a success. However, like anything else, the level of benefit we get out of them will depend upon the level of effort we put into them.