10.  Preparing our hearts:  Take a moment as you walk from the car to say a short prayer to ask the Holy Spirit to prepare your heart for that morning (Scripture, people, singing, etc.)

9.  Look for new people:  New people are always fun to talk with, even if they are just “New to You.”  Ask them, “How long have you been coming?  How did you hear about North Village?  Where do you live in Austin?”  Those are just a few go-to-questions to get you started.

8.  Arrive early:  I know it seems hard, but we have people praying every Sunday at 9:30-9:45.  You can just drop in and pray or  be encouraged.

7.  Active listening:  Energetic listening goes a long ways.  Taking notes, making eye contact, nodding your head, laughing at the jokes (even if they aren’t that funny sometimes), and putting your phone on vibrate go a long ways.

6.  Singing:  Our church is doing a great job of singing.  Keep it up!  It is always encouraging to hear our church singing out worship to Jesus.  Take a moment to reflect on the words and sing out in worship.

5.  Logistics:  Help the people around you find a Bible, a pen, the passage of Scripture, and generally look to be helpful.

4.  Greeting one another:  Make sure to sit in different places on Sunday.  I know.  It confuses me also when you are not in “Your Spot” but it allows you to meet different people in the church and further those relationships.

3.  After church discussing God’s Word:  Make a point to go out to lunch with different people and talk about the message.  During the sermon think of questions or issues to raise with others over lunch.  Asking “What did you think of the sermon?” will usually put your friend into a coma, but making a specific comment like “I didn’t know Paul was an apostle. What makes someone an apostle?”, may generate a fruitful conversation.

2.  Email / Phone:  Encouraging new people to give us their name and email is really helpful.  Tim or I will try to meet them for coffee, hear their story, share our story, and help them connect with Jesus and NVC.  It is also one of the ways people get invited to participate in the City.

1.  STAY LATE:  Don’t take off so quick.  Stick around to help pack the trailer, box up equipment, talk to people, and further relationships.  Let the kids run around and burn off some steam, and stay late to connect with more people.  We only have a little over an hour on Sunday.  Make the most of every minute!