One time I was talking to a little girl in her home at Hobart, IN. I was explaining who Jesus was. She interrupted me for a moment, ran into another room, and hollered at her little brother, "Come in here and listen to this man who is telling me about Jesus." This boy and girl, 5 and 6 years of age, made no demands. They listened and they believed what Jesus said to them. Two weeks later it was my privilege to baptize both of them at Church.

A few years ago I was at a roller skating rink and observed a little girl who was roller skating for the first time. As soon as she would get up she would fall down again. After awhile she was rescued by the owner of the rink. She looked up to him with tears coming down her cheeks and said, "I've been trusting Jesus to help me skate. Do you trust Jesus, too?" You see, no questions, just trust - no demands, just believing - that Jesus loves her so much that He can even help her roller skate.

"Jesus called a little child and He had him stand among the disciples. And He said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.'" A child-like faith is absolutely necessary. Trusting Jesus for this life and the life to come takes the faith of a humble man. It takes the faith of a humble woman - and then Christmas becomes ours because it is for children of all ages who trust Jesus Christ.

Come to Jesus today and every day. Come to Him with a child-like faith that believes like a child that He came to the cradle and then the cross to save you. Then you will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christ and Christmas is for children because you are a child - a child of the King. I'm 74 years old now. From one child to another, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

..."We don't have to reach out to our community. They know where we are. Let them come if they want to come."
..."That new translation of the Bible sounds like it is right off of TV. In an attempt to be modern, it loses the dignity of the version I learned when I was young."
..."That contemporary service dumbs down worship. It's an insult to God."
..."I want my children in church with me. That is the way I grew up."
..."Those teenagers ought to dress better for church. Their clothes are disrespectful."

In Luke 10:8 Jesus said, "Eat what is set before you." In this context, He was sending out the 70 disciples. He told them to preach, teach, heal the sick, and drive out demons. "Eat what is set before you." What does that mean?

Luke 10:8 is a universal principal for every Christian. It is one of the most valuable teachings of "Missionary 101" for Christians today. When you are serious about reaching anyone for the Kingdom, the more mature Christian always subordinates his/her agenda and comfort to that of the person they are trying to reach - as long as it does not compromise biblical teaching.

The apostle Paul said, "I will become all things to all people that by any means some might be saved." Every great movement of Christianity has been accompanied by contemporary music, new Bible translations, new styles of worship, and new ways to reach out to people. God does His best work through those who are willing to put aside stylistic ways that they have become comfortable in order to reach others.

As I travel overseas teaching pastors, I have practiced this principle, to "eat what is set before you." I have eaten some things that aren't on my cultural menu: elephant, zebra, hippopotamus, mopani worms, dog - you get the idea! Why? Because as mature Christians, helping emerging Christians, we are willing to sacrifice our comfort for the sake of others. It's a servant's approach. Missionaries don't demand that people do everything "the way we have always done it." That would be evangelist imperialism: I am better than you are, my way is better that yours. That was the style of the Pharisees, not Jesus.

Focus on these issues:

1. Christians, do not put the responsibility on others to find the church or the truth.
2. The use and style of a particular language is a strategic issue, based on whether or not the message gets through to the intended audience, not what is familiar to the one doing the outreach.
3. Worship in the heart language of the target group always delivers more meaning.
4. Another style of worship that is different from your heart language isn't necessarily inferior. It is just different.
5. Parents, being more mature Christians than their children, should want to worship with their children. So, go with them and sit on the floor in children's church. You don't want to practice parental chauvinism either. Many have done that and lament that their children have "drifted from the church."
6. Be cautious about judging others by their outward appearances. You can not see into their hearts. If teenagers are dressed differently from your standard, rejoice and thank God that they are in church.

Let the person you are reaching set the menu. Don't risk the relationship and an opportunity to bring Christ by offending those who eat strange foods, like different music, or are used to different styles. It is Missionary 101. Eat what is set before you! It is an act of grace.

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

Your Christmas Eve Candlelight Service is a great time to have more music than usual. Don't embarrass guests by having them stand or raise their hands. Be sure that your nursery staff is increased. For your children's talk ask a little child to bring a birthday cake up for Jesus (he/she can help mom make it). At the end of the talk light one candle and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. Ask all worshipers to join in. We are attaching a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. It's in Microsoft Word. Feel free to use part or all of it. Just click Candlelight Service.

Dr. Michael Neudow, the atheist lawyer, is continuing his rampage against expressions of Christianity. He is now suing the U.S. Congress in hopes of stripping our national motto, "In God We Trust," off of our coins and paper money. People like Michael are not giving up. The radical Islamists are not giving up. The militant homosexual activists are not giving up. Neither should you!

From a Quaker hymn: "Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?"

Please send us ideas, programs, news, humor to consider for future newsletters.

Secrets of Healthy Churches. Thom S. Rainer writes about one of them in Outreach: "The healthy churches are highly intentional about evangelism. They have ministries, programs and emphasis that lead members to reach out with the Gospel to their unchurched friends, relatives, co-workers and acquaintances. As a doctrinal note, the leaders in these churches believe in a literal hell. Their evangelism is thus motivated not only by the good news of the Gospel, but the bad news of rejecting the Gospel."

2,500 high school students drop out of school each day! Home schooling continues to flourish. Perhaps parents of kids in your church should consider home schooling. 55% is the percentage of 12-year-olds who eat dinner with a parent each evening, and the percentage decreases to 26% for 17-year-olds. Try to give encouragement to parents in this area. It's important.

Congregational newsletters are more important than ever whether it's hard copy or email. If your church does not have a monthly newsletter, why not decide now to start 2007 with one. Put someone in charge - not the pastor. He should write one article each month and not be involved beyond that.

A little boy who lived in an apartment received a toy drum for Christmas. On Christmas Day he was marching up and down the hallway beating that drum as loud as he could. Finally, a man came out of one apartment, handed the little boy a knife, and said, "Guess what's inside the drum!"

Last week I made a quick trip to Michigan to preach at the funeral of my cousin, Denny. Many said Denny was one of a kind. He could be loud, brash and profane. He had anger over hurts he experienced as a kid and over his divorce years ago after only a year of marriage. He trampled over most of the 10 Commandments. You never wondered what Denny was thinking, because he was up front with it. He died of cancer at the age of 60.

Denny had struggled with what he described as his "doubting faith." He asked one of the cousins, "Why does faith come so easy to some and so hard to others like me?" Denny was not alone. Even though the disciples of Jesus witnessed His miracles, they were confused, frightened, forgetful and full of doubt when Jesus died. They forgot that He said He would rise, and when He rose, they didn't believe it. They thought He was a ghost. When "Doubting Thomas" heard it, he wouldn't believe it unless he saw with his own eyes.

The Bible urges us to "seek the Lord" while there's still time. Seeking the Lord is exactly what Denny did during his last days, and the Lord promises that "If you seek the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, you will find Him" (Deut. 4:9). God was faithful to that promise when Denny got hold of a DVD called, "Jesus: Fact or Fiction - Explore the Evidence." Denny later said: "Steve, this is exactly was I need!" The Lord answers prayer and keeps His word!

Denny was fully aware of his own sin. By his own admission, his life was pretty wretched. He even bought a black grave stone because he thought of himself as the black sheep of the family. But thank God for His amazing grace! "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me."

Denny saw Luther's seal on his parents' grave, and when he found out that the seal stands for the forgiveness of sins that Jesus earned for us by dying on the cross and the hope of eternal life that Jesus guaranteed for us by rising from the dead, he had it inscribed on his black tombstone, which goes to show that even BLACK sheep can be saved by the Good Shepherd! Thank be to God through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Pastor Stephen Miller, a man who has a deep love for Jesus and those for whom He died, is pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Cumberland, WI.

As the pastor at Child of God Lutheran Church and School (LCMS) in St. Peters, MO, I regularly get to echo those imaginary words of the women on that first Easter. When people ask what it is like at Child of God my conversation usually begins, "Well, you are not going to believe this! The School started in the basement of a local church with only 10 kids in kindergarten and in seven years the Lord has turned it into a School of 163 children in preschool through 6th grade. But wait, that's not all, and you're not going to believe this either: The Lord started the Church out of the School in 2003 with only 33 charter members and as of November 2006 we are a congregation of 170 members, 68 of which previously did not have a church home.

And if you don't believe that, you really won't believe that when the congregation ran out of space for classrooms, and worship was getting cramped, they took an amazing step. With the help partner congregations, our people built a 5.3 million dollar, 44,000 square foot building to share the Word with the lost. They trusted that the Lord would provide the needed funds.

Child of God has been a miracle from start to finish. It is even unbelievable how God has accomplished His work. His methods range from people reading His Word to people picking up information at a craft fair. Some have been brought to faith through a worship service and others have been saved by a school child asking mom and dad at dinner, "Why don't we pray at home like we do at School?" Some have been moved by hearing about God's forgiveness for their tortured souls and others have been touched by a conversation in the car line as they wait to pick up their kids.

The Lord has regularly shown me that He knows no limitations. He didn't let people's ideas of what He could or couldn't do stop Him from saving us, and He hasn't allowed what people say about what He can or can't do with a mission congregation stop Him from accomplishing amazing things at Child of God. "You're not going to believe this!" should be every Christian's motto; it should be what we tell everyone. It describes the amazing grace we have been given, and it depicts the wonderful miracles that the Lord does in our midst.

So today, if you are sitting at your computer and you are frustrated at how your ministry is going, do not lose hope. Get into the lives of your parishioners and, as Pastor Ginkel's June Newsletter article said, ask them about "their day" or even "their hat." Then trust in the Lord and His Word. He still does miracles. He still touches lives, and He still saves souls. And when He does something beyond your wildest expectations, make sure you go running to your congregation, out of breath and shouting, "YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE IT! LOOK AT WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE!"

Pastor Kurt Klaus is a 2004 graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and is an energetic young pastor on fire for Jesus and people for whom He died. We praise God for what He is doing!