Heavenly Father, I pray today for those who visited our class this past Sunday, and those who will come this next weekend.
Some of our visitors are Christians from out of the area who have come here for different reasons. Encourage them in the faith. Help them to feel welcome in our church, even though their visit may be brief. Work through them to encourage our class, that we might see in a new way how You are working around the world to build Your Church.
Other visitors are not Christians. We pray that their time in our Sunday school class will be enjoyable and profitable. We know that many of our traditions have become so ingrained in us that we do not even recognize how confusing they are to outsiders. Help us to know how best to ease new people into our religious patterns.
Help each visitor to our class to feel welcomed but not suffocated, accepted rather than isolated, and challenged instead of bored. Help our class to prepare ahead of time for guests so that we will welcome them appropriately when they come.
In Jesus’ name we ask all this. Amen.