Church Signs

[Mutzrein]

I was driving past a church on the way to work the other day and noticed LARGE sign on the back of a truck, parked right outside a local church. It said something like, 'They call it a house of God. I call it a den of thieves'.

Mmmm - UGLY - definitely not a good look for the church so I emailed the national body of the denomination and suggested they might need to deal with the problem ASAP. I never heard back from them but later in the day I noted the sign was gone

Now this is obviously not a good example of what we like to see outside our churches but it has made me aware of the signs that churches themselves erect. How do you view them? Good, bad or ugly? And what do they say?

[bethshemaiah]

I was driving past a church on the way to work the other day and noticed LARGE sign on the back of a truck, parked right outside a local church. It said something like, 'They call it a house of God. I call it a den of thieves'.

Mmmm - UGLY - definitely not a good look for the church so I emailed the national body of the denomination and suggested they might need to deal with the problem ASAP. I never heard back from them but later in the day I noted the sign was gone

Now this is obviously not a good example of what we like to see outside our churches but it has made me aware of the signs that churches themselves erect. How do you view them? Good, bad or ugly? And what do they say?

I enjoy driving past the churches and reading their verses on their church signs.... but as a non-believer they did nothing for me except to condemn me, they really bugged me..... I can assure you that reading these "messages" did not make my want to run in and find out what was going on inside, in fact they made me feel bad and like an outsider. Course, I was.... an outsider. I hope that no one considers these a good witnessing tool... they aren't, at least in my opinion.

[ray]

One sign that I saw was Today Jesus walks on water. Tonight sermon How can we find Jesus? I thought this was so funny because if don't know an anything about Jesus, well duh! now I don't have find he's at the bottom of the ocean because went walking on it early today.

[LossForWords]

A church around here had a sign that said:

Read the Bible, it will scare the Hell out of you.

In GA (where my dad used to pastor) a church sat on top of a hill while their cemetary sat at the bottom of the hill. The church's sign happened to be at the bottom of the hill next to the driveway (next to the cemetary). The topic of that week's sermon...

How did we all get here?

[Arthur Durnan]

I simply LOVE and appreciate outdoor lighted church signs which I call BILLBOARDS FOR JESUS based on Habakkuk 2:2. Here are several I've posted on the large outdoor church sign where I serve as Senior Pastor -

Jesus Made Me Kosher! (when I spoke on Isaiah 53)

Playboy Loves Abortion. Both Exploit Women. (during a debate)

The 10 Commandments Are Not Multiple Choice. (series on Exodus 20)

World Cup Won For All Nations....By Jesus! (during World Cup matches)

Remember: God Bats Last! (put up during World Series)

Jesus Is Alive. You're forgiven. Come Home! (I spoke on Prodigal Son)

TIME: Short-Hop, Non-Stop Shuttle To Eternity. (put up during Canaveral lift-off)

People do read them & do come in!

http://arthurdurnan.freeyellow.com

[bethshemaiah]

I simply LOVE and appreciate outdoor lighted church signs which I call BILLBOARDS FOR JESUS based on Habakkuk 2:2. Here are several I've posted on the large outdoor church sign where I serve as Senior Pastor -

Jesus Made Me Kosher! (when I spoke on Isaiah 53)

Playboy Loves Abortion. Both Exploit Women. (during a debate)

The 10 Commandments Are Not Multiple Choice. (series on Exodus 20)

World Cup Won For All Nations....By Jesus! (during World Cup matches)

Remember: God Bats Last! (put up during World Series)

Jesus Is Alive. You're forgiven. Come Home! (I spoke on Prodigal Son)

TIME: Short-Hop, Non-Stop Shuttle To Eternity. (put up during Canaveral lift-off)

People do read them & do come in!

http://arthurdurnan.freeyellow.com

well those are some interesting signs.... and creative... but I still wouldn't have come in, what got me in was the Holy Spirit convicting me that I wasn't "going to church" and my son's friend's mom inviting me to her church right about then. They got me in, Jesus got me saved, yet I had gone to church all my life. Slightly off topic, sorry........

Bethany

[Mutzrein]

well those are some interesting signs.... and creative... but I still wouldn't have come in, what got me in was the Holy Spirit convicting me that I wasn't "going to church" and my son's friend's mom inviting me to her church right about then. They got me in, Jesus got me saved, yet I had gone to church all my life. Slightly off topic, sorry........

Bethany

Thanks Beth. Do you think there is any place at all for this kind of 'advertising' - if not for yourself, then others?

[bethshemaiah]

well those are some interesting signs.... and creative... but I still wouldn't have come in, what got me in was the Holy Spirit convicting me that I wasn't "going to church" and my son's friend's mom inviting me to her church right about then. They got me in, Jesus got me saved, yet I had gone to church all my life. Slightly off topic, sorry........

Bethany

Thanks Beth. Do you think there is any place at all for this kind of 'advertising' - if not for yourself, then others?

I actually do think that there are things that the churches do that draws people in, cliche's on church signs are not very effective in my estimation but the proof of that would be in the "How did you hear about us" question on a visitor card. Our church has a huge billboard sign and if a person is looking for a church then that would be effective. I was stating that the lost are not drawn in by these signs, and that is who in the end we are after. We don't want other church's members, we want the un-churched and lost. So what works is that which ministers to the needs of people. For example, we have on many occasions, "opened our church doors" to the community and offered the building that God has given us to meet the needs that are out there. We have a 144,000 square foot building complete with loading docks and open convertible spaces. Ours is the biggest building in the county, the Sanctuary, Administrative office, school and the "Family Fun Center" take up part of it, we also have a youth hall, but there is also unused or convertible spaces. When WalMart came to town and needed a space to do their hiring from, we offered the building free of charge to them. After the hurricane we opened a Shelter that housed over 100 families and when the Red Cross came in, they said we needed to show them how to open a shelter (that gave God the glory), and it helped alot of families some who are still living in our area. We stand ready with loaded trailers to open a shelter within 24 hours now, and this ministers to the hurting and needy. We offer "huge" alternatives to Halloween and invite the entire community, three thousand or better always attend and all of it is free. We don't preach to these folks, but we show them a good time and love on them. We advertise in the local paper for parents with troubled teens to bring them to our youth services, and we provide a "lock-down" type environment with police chaparones and lots for the kids to do and we minister to them, with many of the now young adults who have been where they are to help. All of this is "advertising" our church and the power of the love of Jesus. Our name is definitely out there, we have been in our new building that seats 1200 and are at 85% capacity in under two years and adding a second service prior to a build-out that will add another 1000 seats. We began in a store-front old hardware store in 1993 with under twenty people.

What works the best though is God using his people to touch the hearts of someone who needs to be saved, like me.... bound in a religious system (or completely un-churched), deceived and thinking that I was not in need of salvation, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?????? what was that, somehow in all my church days I had missed that part, I was hurting, lost and wondering why all my "God if you get me out of this mess" prayers weren't working? If they were not able to get the salvation message in me, they got me to a place where I could get it. Being led to a Bible believing, Spirit-filled church, and today I live in victory.

SO DID I ANSWER THE QUESTION, OR DID I GO OFF ON A TANGENT?

... and all before my second cup of coffee......

God Bless,

Bethany

[Iryssa]

I drive by one church in particular that always has a clever little truth on it put humorously. I love it! Some of them, though...*shakes head* you just have to wonder "what were they THINKING?" I found a website one time that had a whole bunch of church signs that were hillarious for different reasons. Some had really BAD grammatical errors that made the sign say something completely different from what they must have intended, some had trite sayings that were SO groan-worthy, and some...were just plain hillarious. I should try to find that site again...hours of amusement.