But many Christians still live in an impossibility world. They are limping when they should be walking strong. They are crying when they should be laughing. They are being defeated by problems. Many folks, including too many pastors, are bored with life, tired of living, struggling every hour, and failing when they could be succeeding.

Remember, my friend, how much you are loved by the Savior. He says to you, "Here's forgiveness; give Me your sin. Here's peace; give Me your guilt. Here's life; give Me your death sentence." Paul believed these things. He knew that Christ now lived inside Him and because of that he could do impossible things. Paul was a possibility, so much so that -

• He ended up writing fourteen books of the New Testament
• He started hundreds of churches.
• He led thousands to Christ.
• He turned his jail cell into a pulpit to preach.
• He called the scourging he received a blessing.
• He went without food and drink and considered it a joy.
• He considered his disease an opportunity to be filled with Christ's power.
• Every potential problem was turned into a possibility.

Look again at Paul's words: "I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." The power of Jesus Christ lives inside you and is ready to explode into hundreds of possibilities. Turn your problems into opportunities. Imagine the possibilities for you in your life. Imagine the possibilities for your family. Imagine the possibilities for your church and ways to get the message of Christ to the people in your community.

The obstacles become stepping stones when you and the Lord team up. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you! You have possibilities galore! Thank You, Jesus! Thank You!

Gasoline prices notwithstanding, we live in a society where people are constantly on the go. It is likely that the people in your church, collectively, travel over a million miles each year, even if your church has about 300 people in worship!

Where do they go? Young families follow their kids to sports tournaments, band contests, academic festivals... the list goes on. Globalization keeps business travelers on the move. Our wealthy society affords many to have a second residence. It seems like one-half of the population of southern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, have a cabin or cottage in the north. In Florida, it's a beach condo. In Utah, it's a place in the mountains.

There is a related wrinkle: the technology age connects us with people globally. One result is that more people work beyond the Monday through Friday routine. When does your church provide worship opportunities? What about Bible studies and other growth and learning opportunities? I recently worked with a church in New Richmond, Wisconsin. They provide three services on Sunday and one on Saturday evening. But what about the "cabin crowd" that's gone many weekends?

Focus on these issues:

1. Learn about the lifestyle challenges of the people in your church.
2. Learn the lifestyle habits of the unchurched or non-practicing Christians in your community. (This is what churches almost never consider.)
3. Provide worship services accordingly. For example, if you have a community with a large number of retirees, Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m., followed by a catered lunch at an inexpensive price might give you the change to preach the Gospel to those who would never come on the weekend. Don't forget a Thursday evening service for the cabin/beach crowd.
4. Record Bible class teaching. Offer it to commuters on CD so they can listen in their car, as they make their way to work five days a week. Provide your preaching and teaching on DVD for those who have a television at the condo or the cabin.
5. Recognize that most people aren't against worship or learning. They are just torn between their lifestyles and a church that hasn't recognized them.
6. For this mobile society, an increasing number of churches are providing the opportunity for members to give financial suppose by automatic, electronic withdrawal. Does your church provide that choice?

You don't have to like the hectic lifestyles of our society. You may even believe they aren't the best for spiritual formation. However, will your church do whatever it takes to enrich people's lives with the good news of Jesus Christ? Isn't that what Jesus did by coming in the flesh? (See Philippians 2:5-11).

Dr. Kent Hunter is nationally known as the Church Doctor. You can contact him at (800) 626-8515, or visit his Web site at www.churchdoctor.org.

From the lips of a cool dude: "I date this girl for two years and then the nagging starts: 'I wanna know your name. I wanna know your name.'"

Altar and pulpit fellowship was unanimously recommended by representatives of the American Association of Lutheran Churches (AALC) and The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) at their latest meeting July 13-14 in St. Louis. Both church bodies must approve the recommendation at their conventions in 2007. The AALC is already training future pastors at Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN.

"How to quadruple attendance at your Bible study group!" Rev. Larry Wesolik of St. Paul Lutheran Church (LCMS), Westlake, OH, can tell you. He normally conducts a Wednesday evening Bible study with 20 students. A few weeks ago he told his congregation that he was about to begin the course, The Quran and the Bible. Imagine his surprise when 51 people signed up. Then imagine his surprise when 80 people showed up for the first session. Then imagine his surprise when 95 people showed up for the second session! Deanna is the church secretary, and she keeps ordering more books. "The first session was absolutely unbelievable," she says. Author Rick Richter has 26 units of searching questions for the course. You'll find the The Quran & The Bible on our website. Every believer in today's world of war and conflict should know the basic teachings of the Quran and how they compare with Holy Scripture.

At some place in every worship service, before, during, or at the end, ask everyone to turn around and introduce themselves to one person and find something interesting about them!

It is vital that your church has good communication with all members. Informed members are much more effective for the life of the congregation. Use multiple avenues to communicate important news: fax machines, voice mail, newsletters, worship bulletins, cassette tapes, prayer chains, postcards, and one of the most effective means today: the Internet. Ask every worshiper to record their email address for the church office on the attendance card or pad.

Want to worry less? Then pray more. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7). Do this anytime, but especially in the early morning and late in the evening.

Order Outreach for your pastor. Its a bimonthly publication loaded with ideas and encouragement for church growth. It's a magazine that every pastor should receive and read. Why not call him now and ask if he receives Outreach. If not, do him a favor and purchase a one year subscription for him. To it today! 1-800-406-5319 or go to www.outreachmagazine.com.

"Once upon a time a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, and the thorns grew up and choked that man. And he went on and met the Queen of Sheba, and she gave that man a thousand talents of gold and silver and a hundred changes of raiment. And he got in his chariot and drove furiously. And when he was driving along under a big tree, his hair got caught in a limb and left him hanging there. And he hung there many days and many nights, and the ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink. And one night while he was hanging there asleep, his wife, Delilah, came along and cut off his hair and he dropped and fell on stony ground, and it began to rain and rained 40 days and 40 nights. And he hid himself in a cave. And he went out and met a man that said, 'Come and take supper with me.' But he said, 'I cannot come, for I have married a wife.' And the man went out into the highways and byways and compelled him to come in. He went on and came to Jerusalem, and he saw Queen Jezebel sitting high up in a window, and when she saw him she laughed, and he said, 'Throw her down.' And he said, 'Throw her down out of there again.' And they threw her down 70 times 7, and of the fragments they picked up twelve baskets full. Now, whose wife will she be on the day of judgment?"

You laugh, but... how is your Bible knowledge and that of the members of your church? Could you and they pass a simple test on the basics of Christian doctrine? The best place to take care of this is for you and all the members to get into a good, instructive Bible study group. We suggest two right now. Ask your pastor to teach everyone a course on Bible basics, a course like I Have Good News For You. And then attend a weekly Bible study by someone gifted in teaching and where the study is Holy Scripture. It's time to get going. Do it now.

Within weeks of being installed as the new pastor of St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Stockton, CA, we began advertising this course for everyone in the congregation. We promoted it as an opportunity to get to know the new pastor, to be refreshed in the pure milk of the Word, and to grow in community with each other.

After two months of advertising, we began the course with a class attendance of over one third of our worshippers (that meant more than 100 people taking the course). People of all ages and in all stages of the Christian walk participated in the class, and it was clear that everyone, no matter how long they had been in the faith, grew in their knowledge and relationship with the Lord and with someone else in the congregation.

What many people in our congregation enjoyed was having the class arranged around tables with people in groups of 6-9. We would move back and forth from lecture/discussion in the large group to small group discussion during the course of each class. This helped people grow together as well as grow in the faith

I heartily recommend I Have Good News For You to any pastor who wants his people to grow together and in God's Word.

The desire to serve does not come naturally, and I'm sure you're quite familiar with the human ego. We crave recognition. There is no formula to conjure up a service mode except the age old way of confessing and being forgiven. We need to go to the source: Christ. Once the servant heart is in place, there are a few practical things to remember while on stage.

First of all, situate musicians to see everyone. It is necessary for communication so that choruses are not repeated unnecessarily, vocalists follow the instrumentalists and vice versa, pages are not turned loudly, and the leader can lead. The less confusion on stage, the more focus on the source of our worship

Secondly, think about outer appearances. When you dress in the morning, dress with a servant heart and use common sense. Take a water bottle on stage with you, but don't gulp excessively at awkward moments. Be discreet. If logistics require the music leaders to leave the stage to sit in a designated area, do so quietly and in an appropriate time of the service (rather than a prayer). Be focused on what's happening during the worship time.

Finally, facial expression and body language is key. I've seen leaders look extremely bored. They stood stiffly straight like a wooden board and stared blankly into our faces. The emotions were somehow transferred and I felt like I was part of a funeral religion, mourning the death of our Savior rather than celebrating His resurrection. It shouldn't be that way! Even during a service that is centrally focused on a Lenten theme or a somber event, it is possible to maintain a look of awareness. Be present in the service. Raise eyebrows, sway slightly, lift your hands, and if you feel strange looking into the faces in front of you, stare at the back of the church. Or perhaps, most importantly, focus your gaze on the cross or the area in your sanctuary that reminds you of Him. There is nothing more powerful that we can think on.

Amy Kopecky is a graduate of Concordia University, Seward, NE, with extensive training and experience in music. You may contact Amy with questions at: amy.kopecky@cune.org.

I remember a busy farmer, who had barns full of dairy cows and acres of crops to care for, telling me, "Pastor, I'd like to come to your religion class because I know how much my wife gets from her church, but I really haven't got time!" Here was a man who was probably speaking his honest conviction, but he was a man with bad priorities.

I responded, "Howard, I spent 18 years of my life on the farm and there's one thing I learned. There are some things of which I never said, 'I haven't got time.' Have you ever once planted and watched a field of wheat mature till it was dead ripe and then said, 'Sorry, I haven't got time to harvest it'? How did you find time? Again his answer was simple, "I took time."

I continued, "Howard, one of these days you will quit harvesting wheat and milking cows and then you will wish you had taken time to get ready for eternity!" Howard decided he would take time, and to this day he is taking time to spend with His Lord and to nourish his faith with the bread of eternal life.

You see, it's not really true that we don't have time; we all have exactly the same amount of time. We have 24 hours in every day. We have 168 hours in every week. Time is precious. It's the one commodity we can't store up; we either use it or lose it.

So we do well to set proper priorities. Every week can be divided into three categories of 56 hours each - 56 hours for God, family and recreation; 56 hours for work and occupation; and 56 hours for rest. And there is ample time for each category. I know a lot of devout Christians who are a living proof of this. The man who takes time to spend with his God will never regret giving priority to learning to live and learning to die with our gracious God who provides all necessities for both.

Dr. Richard J. Foust (LCMS) resides in Ovieda, FL