I have been reading a book entitled Marketing the Church. The author of that book asks a question that I think is worth asking to every one of us. He said, “How many of you have ever met an unsaved person who is craving for a sermon? Or how many of you have ever met an unsaved person who has sought diligently a place where they can sing ‘The Old Rugged Cross’?” Dear friends, people out there aren’t craving a sermon, so it doesn’t do any good for you to tell them how wonderful your pastor is and how marvelous his sermons are. They are not craving sermons. And they are not looking for a place where they can sing “The Old Rugged Cross,” so there’s no need to tell them about the marvelous choir program at your church. But they do have needs, and if you can identify that need in their life and share with them how Jesus Christ can meet that need, you will find them intensely interested in what you have to say. All around us there are people who are lonely, and there are people who are empty, and there are people who are depressed, and there are people who are weighted down with guilt, and there are people who are seeking direction in their life. There are people whose marriages are troubled and who are having problems with their children. If you can identify those needs and show them how God through Jesus Christ can meet those basic needs in their life, you will have their ears.
