We went to an outlet mall on a day that was 93 degrees. Every store had their AC cranked up high for the comfort of their patrons. The traffic in the mall was moderate for a hot summer day. There were three stores that had their doors flung open. A perfume store, a chocolate store and a bread store. What was interesting is each of these stores had more traffic than the stores. The fragrances that were flowing out of the stores were amazing. Because of their aromas they attracted lots of people with an open door on a hot day.
I wonder what fragrance would people experience if you left the doors of your congregation open. Would they experience the aroma of hospitality, the fresh smell of grace or the sweet smell of God’s unconditional love? People have many choices for a house of worship. When visitors show up your congregation has one shot at having the fragrances of God’s presence overwhelm and attract them. The goal is to have visitors desire to come back to find out what is the bouquet of aromas that makes your church so attractive.
August 16, 2010 at 11:50 pm
I once wrote a sermon on the smell of God and this post related to my thoughts on that topic. I was thinking about the “aroma” of God we give off as individuals but I like this analogy of a church giving off an “aroma” of God and what would that smell like. Thank you for sharing this. Blessings, Dana Werts