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Six Free Sermon Books
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We are over-stocked with sermon books by Dr. Arthur Graf (LCMS). They include Sermons for Special Occasions, The Apostles' Creed, Brought With A Price, Walking and Talking With God, Joybells of Life, and No Other Name.
For May we will provide all six books (a $61.70 value) free with any order that you place. Email us with your order and ask us to include all six books at no charge. |
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Mother's Day
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"Be honest that one of the greatest pains in a mother's heart is when her child does not know Jesus. To be apart in life is hard, but to contemplate an eternity without those you love is a pain impossible to express. Acknowledging this is not easy to say (which is why you're saying it for Mom), and it's not comfortable to talk about on this happy day. But love is honest about the consequences of a life lived apart from God." ( Outreach March & April, p. 116)
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For Pastor's
Eyes Only
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8 new NIV Bibles. Blue hard cover for your church. 8 Bibles retail for $70.00. Free (including shipping) to the first pastor who emails us. |
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Improving Your Meetings
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Make it a rule to begin with a brief Scripture reading and fervent prayer. End the meeting with prayer. Throughout the meeting stop for a moment of prayer - something to be thankful for, a problem or challenge, etc. It is amazing what Scripture and prayer can do for people and the meeting.
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Another Meeting Must
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Have a printed agenda in the hands of everyone. Remember that agenda items must help the church accomplish it's mission - if it doesn't - skip it.
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For Church Secretary's
Eyes Only
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The Mother's Topical Bible. Bound in leather, printed on gilded paper, 85 subjects, 1800 Scripture verses. 320 pages. New. $19.95. Free (including shipping) to the first secretary (or office administrator) who emails us. |
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Shipping Costs
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They continue to rise. You save money by ordering items once a year (larger quantities) than to do so twice a year. The saving is considerable. The church office will also save money by signing for a package when delivered by UPS. Church secretary or administrator should ask UPS driver to get their signature for all deliveries.
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We Didn't Learn It This Way
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Once upon time in a faraway country there lived a little girl called Red Riding Hood. One day her mother asked her to take a basket of fruit to her grandmother who had been ill and lived alone in a cottage in the forest. It happened that a wolf was lurking in the bushes and overheard the conversation. He decided to take a short-cut to grandmother's house and get the goodies for himself. The wolf killed the grandmother, then dressed in her nightgown and jumped into bed to await the little girl.
When she arrived he made several nasty suggestions and then tried to grab her. But by this time the child was very frightened and ran screaming from the cottage. A woodcutter, working nearby, heard her cries and rushed to the rescue. He killed the wolf with his ax thereby saving Red Riding Hood's life. All the towns people hurried to the scene and proclaimed the woodcutter a hero.
[read more - you'll never guess how the story continues]
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5 Hymns for Funeral of a Child
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(1) "He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought"
(2) "Jesus Loves Me"
(3) "I Am Jesus' Little Lamb"
(4) "O How He Loves You and Me"
(5) "No Tears Past the Gate"
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Notes from Newtown, CT
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By Katelyn Beaty
From far beyond Connecticut's borders, chaplains arrived to support first responders, the families of victims, and residents. While some Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) leaders were wringing their hands after a Newtown pastor took part in an interfaith vigil, the denomination sent comfort dogs as a ministry of presence. "Just heard about the goldens you sent to Connecticut," wrote one Newtowner on a Lutheran website. "I'm an agnostic, but reading about [work] like this makes me doubt my own beliefs, or lack thereof." (LCMS president Matthew C. Harrison later apologized for the debacle, honoring the Newtown pastor as "a source of constant affirmation that God is indeed here in Newtown.") (April 2013 Christianity Today, p. 7).
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Cancer
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Cancer - Courage through Christ is an excellent booklet available from Lutheran Hour Ministries. Call them at 1-800-876-9880.
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Greetings!
"O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into our hearts.
Enlighten the dark corners of our neglected dwelling
and scatter there Thy cheerful beams" - St. Augustine
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On the Wings of a Snow White Dove
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 Sermon for Pentecost on John 14:26 by Pastor Don Ginkel We read in Matthew 3:16, "As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him." What a day! In the Gospel song, "On the Wings of a Snow White Dove," Bob Ferguson writes - When Jesus went down to the water that day He was baptized in the usual way. When it was done, God blessed His Son. He sent Him His love on the wings of a dove. Fast forward. The place is Jerusalem. It's 50 days after Easter. The believers, 120 in number, are together in an upper room. At Jesus' ascension He had told them to wait in Jerusalem until He sent the Holy Spirit. As believers they already had the Holy Spirit, but now something very miraculous was going to happen. The New Testament Church was about to be born. There were three phenomena.
Phenomenon # 1: At 9:00 in the morning there was the sound of a furious wind coming from the sky. Undoubtedly this symbolized the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. The loud sound made its way to where to where the disciples were. It focused on that building and went inside it. The noise attracted thousands of people to the location of the building. [read more]
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Stack of Stuff
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 Some times we need to tell the truth: "If you do not want to eat with the Lord at the banquet feast in heaven, your wish will be granted - you will be excused (Matthew 22:4-6).Two articles in the April Newsletter had font problems so they could not be read by some. We are carrying them again in a user friendly font. To read the sermon by Pastor Don on Genesis 25:7-10, "The Faithful Believer Must Also Die," just click " Faithful Believer." The second is " A Review and Orientation Night at the end of an adult membership course is always in place. We've put together 30 questions that deal with basic Christian doctrine. Run off a hard copy for future use. Concludes with this question: Just wondering how many of your members would be able to answer these 30 questions on basic Christian doctrine correctly? " Click Review. Five questions to answer: - How many people are on your active prospect list?
- Considering your community, how many people should really be on that list?
- In what way is your active prospect list more important than your membership list?
- Why is it wise to consider many of your non-attending members as "prospects"?
- What should be your "plan of action"?
Value yourself! The only people who appreciate a doormat are people with dirty shoes. "Follow the most compelling of many options at any cost." - Dr. Hans Finzel The best compliment you can pay your pastor's sermon is to bring someone along to hear the next one. For beginning of worship service - (O Worship the King, Psalm 93) All Sing: O worship the King all glorious above, And gratefully sing His wonderful love. Pastor: "The Lord reigns, He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and is armed with strength (93:1). [read more] Rev. Dr. Waldo J. Werning, longtime pastor, author of 30 books, church growth champion, served the church in the U.S. and Canada and in 16 countries overseas, was called Home by the Lord on April 10th. He was 91 years old. We give thanks to the Lord for the gift of Dr. Werning to so many pastors and people during his long ministry. "Well done, good and faithful servant . . . Come and share your Master's happiness" (Matthew 25:21). Hoping that you, too, want to spend eternity in the Master's happiness!
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5 Steps to Get Beyond the Sacred Cows In the Church
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 By Thom S. Rainer
Many years ago I was serving as a pastor of a church where I was an avid supporter of door-to-door outreach. But I struggled with leading people to be involved in the ministry. We kept decent records, so I got out the old "outreach cards" for the previous year. My brief research shocked me. I estimated that we had invested nearly 1,500 hours of our members' time in this ministry during the past year. The apparent result of our ministry had resulted in, at best, two Christian families joining our church. If you assume a workday of eight hours, our members had worked 187 full days with no evangelistic fruit .
1. The Encounter
When I presented my research to a leader in the church and suggested we look at other alternatives, he raised his voice almost to a scream: "But we have always done it that way. And then years ago we saw dozens of people become Christians through this ministry every year. We're not about to change!" When I asked what we should do about 1,500 hours of apparently fruitless ministry, he said we should try to increase the number to 3,000 hours. [ read more]
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Top 10 Reasons Why People Don't Go to Church
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 10. Last time I kneeled I had a hard time getting up again. 9. I relate more to "Rock" than to "old" time hymns. 8. People THAT happy just give me the creeps. 7. I'm a good person (and I want to avoid hearing otherwise). 6. A real pastor doesn't respond to my remote control. 5. Would rather sleep in my bed than in a pew. 4. The only thing "Holy" about me are my jeans. 3. Already gave at the "Home Shopping Network." 2. I don't-eth understand-eth. And the #1 reason people in our community don't go to church is - they havn't tried (name of your church).
Church CAN be different . . . and we'd like to prove it to you. Next Sunday, May 19th, at 8:15 or 10:30 a.m., begin a new start at a church that understands the realities of everyday life and knows how to apply the Bible to them. Bring the kinds . . . your relatives . . . or just come on your own! We don't expect you to be anything other than who you are. And that includes your kids. No dress code. Never been to church before? No problem! Single, married, young . . . or wish you were . . . come on out. Do it Sunday morning. We are (name of church, times of worship, easy directions to follow). This article is for your church newsletter AND run it as a special ad in your local newspaper AND mail it out to everyone on your prospect list AND as a flyer for your members to give to neighbors and friends. Begin a series of of timely messages starting on your target date. Be sure the worship service is uplifting . . . plus all your Sunday School classes. You get the idea.
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Deep Preaching
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 By Dr. J. Kent EdwardsIt is "the Spirit [who] searches everything, even the deep things of God.... no one knows the concerns of God except the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. 2:10-11). No one knows God as intimately as He does. Not me or you. Only the Holy Spirit is privy to the deep things of God. The Holy Spirit is the secret of deep preaching. Only with His assistance we have a hope of preaching sermons that will impact lives for eternity. Unless He illuminates our minds, our time in the pulpit will be spent in the shadows of superficiality and irrelevance. We will be guilty of playing marbles with the diamonds of God's words. I challenge you to move beyond the resources of your seminary training, academic books, and cool software programs. I dare you to set them aside after your exegesis is complete and look for inspiration beyond your Starbucks coffee. Enter the solitude of your closet and meditate and pray over what God is saying. Beg the Holy Spirit to illuminate your heart and mind. Ask for the mind of Christ, that you may be filled with all spiritual wisdom. Ask that the Spirit would allow you to grasp the grandeur of God's Word so powerfully and personally that when you preach, people would hear the words of God, see the face of God, feel the presence of God, and gladly surrender their wills to God. Ask Him to help you preach deep sermons (Deep Preaching, page 160). 202 pages #351 $19.99. To order click Deep Preaching or email us.
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Let Christ Control and the Holy Spirit Change the Church
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 By Dr. Waldo J. Werning
One thing does not change: Biblical truth and Christian doctrines! The thing that a healthy church can and will change is its style of communication and methods. Through the Holy Spirit by the Word, the church must constantly be "re-formed" and transformed in its practice. It must be washed clean of the traditional barnacles that may attach themselves to the congregation, which come out of culture and human habits. Far more is involved than a shift from hymnbooks to praise choruses. Nor will the church be renewed by one day retreats or a church council/board of directors resolution. Rather, it necessitates a complete overhaul of our understanding and attitudes of what it means to be Christian and to be the church. "Traditionalists" whistle into the winds of change, insisting that everyone accept a single, absolute style or form from the past, and often maintain that this is the way to preserve Biblical truth. Often, the result is cultural Christianity or a local form of legalism. Those who desire Biblical church renewal. . . . will also take seriously a removal of barriers. They will adopt styles and forms which do not obscure or muddle the New Testament model. Who dares to continue to carry on business as usual in the face of dramatic cultural transformation or to assume that the people to whom we preach and teach today have the same spiritual concerns or are raised in the same religious context to whom we ministered in the 1950's and 1960's, or our fathers did in Europe in 1850. Will we avoid wasting time and energy on styles of worship, teaching and ministry that no longer meet spiritual needs or reach the ears of people? A congregation can be irrelevant to such an extent that it reaches no one but its members and does not retain many of its children ( 12 Pillars of a Healthy Church, p. 25). ( Note: These are powerful words. "Pastor's desiring theirs to become a Life-giving church will want to read this book" - Dr. Ray Ellis. "Werning's approach provides an effective path to increased fruitfulness" - Dr. Eugene Bunkowske. Werning served congregations and districts for over 60 years and in 16 countries overseas. He went to be with the Lord on April 10th. To order a copy of 12 Pillars of a Healthy Church click here, email us or call 888-772-8878.)
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Good Website
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We like the large and very informative website for St. Lorenz Lutheran Church (LCMS), Frankenmuth, MI, Rev. Mark Brandt, Senior Pastor. Take a peek for ideas. Click St. Lorenz. Excellent website.
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