Tradition tells us that Jeremiah sat outside the walls crying as the city lay in ruins. It has been said that he was crying in about the same place that our Lord cried when He looked over the city 635 years later. Jeremiah writes in this funeral hymn that the city is in ruins, the children are starving, women are boiling their babies for food, and it all could have been prevented if only the people would have turned from their sins and accepted God's love and mercy. No wonder Jeremiah cried.

You may feel like Jeremiah, like just giving up. It was difficult enough to be a preacher, but to be a preacher for twenty years and then see his congregation go up in smoke was especially difficult. Most of us would have given up. But Jeremiah didn't. Despite the fact that he cried a lot, he was known as the weeping prophet, still, in this funeral hymn, he shows that he was able to have hope. Look at what the Spirit moved him to write: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning" (Lamentations. 3:22-23a).

Every day God greets you with open arms. That is amazing. Every day He assures you that His love for you will never die. Every day He removes your sin and guilt as He promises, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" Matthew 11:28).

When all seems lost, and at times it will, here is the formula that worked for Jeremiah and stopped him from being a basket case: "The Lord is good to those whose hope is in the Lord, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord" (Lamentations. 3:25-26). This is His promise. This is your hope! Make it yours everyday.

Is there a McDonald's next to your church?

Three factors have changed the world in North America greatly. First, North America has become a destination culture. When I was younger, we went to the mall to actually buy something. My grown children go to the mall just to hang out with their friends. Today, malls have game rooms, theaters, ice rinks, and restaurants.

Second, being a highly-mobile society, people no longer shop at neighborhood stores. People "cocoon." They get away and hide. Consequently, churches located in neighborhoods have about 20-30 years to relocate or die.

Third, America has become a secular nation. The increasing secularization means people do not feel obligated to find and attend a church.

Focus on these issues:

1. The world has changed. America is now the third largest mission field in the world (behind China and India).
2. The church, in order to be effective, must return to Matthew 28:19-20: "Go, make disciples..." "Y'all come" strategy doesn't work.
3. Your church and its ministries must be visible. If McDonald's wouldn't locate there, your church shouldn't either.
4. Your church must be accessible. It should be easy to tell someone how to get there: only one turn from a road everyone knows. It also means your church should provide ease in parking, parking attendants, greeters, and internal signs.
5. Your people need to be outward-bound. If they want an unchurched friend to come to their church, they should not invite them but bring them. Likewise, churches should take ministry to the marketplaces.
6. Increasingly, churches are developing outreach clusters. These are groups of Christians who, instead of attending church on Sunday in a church building, are meeting in neutral sites in the community. These groups of 20-40 people invite unchurched friends. Watch for this growing phenomenon.

The world has changed. The location for ministry has moved out of the church. It is like letting God out of the box - the church (institution) box. This is most similar to the way it was during the time of the New Testament Church, one of the fastest growth periods of the Christian Movement in all of history!

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.

Altar and Pulpit Fellowship: At their June Convention the American Association of Lutheran Churches (AALC) and at their July Convention the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) approved fellowship with each other. The declaration recognizes agreement in doctrine and practice between the two bodies and permits the members of each to commune at the other's altars and for their pastors to exchange pulpits.

Periodically make this note in your bulletins and newsletters: If you know of anyone who is being hospitalized, has a new baby, a death in the family, or a long-term illness, please notify the church at (phone number). This will enable us to visit them (pastor, elder, and others), send them a card of encouragement, share their needs with the Prayer Chain or to mention them in the bulletin.

Wednesday, July 11th, marked the day this year when the average American worker will have earned enough to pay for his or her share of government taxes (federal, state, & local). That is amazing. That is also something to think about the next time politicians talk about raising your taxes "just a little bit more."

Need some help with your midweek children's ministry program? Pioneer Clubs can help children get excited about coming to church and bringing their friends, build healthy relationships with adults and peers, grow in their faith, and put it into action. For more information go to www.pioneerclubs.org or call 800-694-2582.

Insight: "They are your neighbors. When you pull out of your driveway, you wave at them as they water their lawn. Your kids attend the same school; they play touch football together in your yard. You may have even picked up their mail while they were on vacation. But have you ever invited them to your church?"

Surprise: "Many people who are not currently attending a church are receptive to going. In fact, about 38% of the unchurched are highly receptive to attending church. The reason they do not attend is that they have yet to be invited. If invited and escorted, 82% of the unchurched we surveyed are open to attending church with a friend or acquaintance. Unfortunately, only 21% of active church-going Christians invited someone to church last year." A brief excerpt from an article entitled, "Getting to Know Today's Unchurched" by Thom Ranier and Sam Ranier III in the May/June issue of Outreach.

Lorenzago Di Cadore, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released July 10, 2007, that says other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation. For in-depth study get a copy of the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (original text with English translation) by Rev. H. J. Schroeder.

Your August Freebie: I Have Good News For You - a ten-lesson course on basic New Testament Christianity for teen and adult membership classes. Can also be used for Bible study groups led by lay people (should either have the DVDs or the Leader's Guide). We pay for shipping. Just email us with your address and ask for #101F.

Ezekiel 1:4-28 is amazing. The prophet has trouble finding appropriate nouns and adjectives to describe the scene, and the scene is real. The wheels that moved in concert, the sparkling jewels, the lightning, and the brilliant light are pictures of God's power and glory. We cannot fully understand this description of God's glory, but Ezekiel is endeavoring to paint a word picture of the sovereignty, majesty, and glory of God. Take a look and see for yourself.

A 7th grade student, Carla, shares her thoughts in a moving poem, The Dream, while taking the popular junior confirmation course, Getting Closer To God. Take a minute to read it. Perhaps you can dream, too.

Lesson 1 of Getting Closer To God is titled, "How Close Am I?" Many people do not know for sure. See why this Bible study is so popular with teens and adult study groups. Take a look at the first two pages of Lesson 1 and you'll see.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidently left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.

The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I've arrived
Date: October 16, 2006

I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S. Sure is hot down here!

Most songs are covered by CCLI; copyright information is provided for all songs including those not covered by CCLI.

There are 55 pages of indexes. Every book in the Bible is referenced in the Scriptural index. Other indexes include topical and keys and tempos. Songs are in keys good for voice, guitar and keyboard (includes guitar chords). There are three presentations:

• Full Music Edition, 392 pages, spiral bound, 9" x 12". #600 $35.00
• Lead Line Edition, spiral bound, melody line, text, and chords, lays flat, 480 pages, 6" x 9". #602 $15.95
• Pew Edition, same as Lead Line except that it has perfect binding. #601 $13.95

Just hit www.churchpress.com

217 pages #353 $14.99. Go to Church Growth on the website or email us.

Help Wanted
Mature or immature adults to fill vacancies on Sunday from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. Must be alive and have open or closed mind (preferably open). Coffee, home made cookies and bars will be waiting for you. Call (put in phone # of church office) or report to Adult Bible Class next Sunday morning at 10:10.

Sales Opportunity
Experienced or inexperienced Christians (no age requirements) to attend training course each Sunday morning to prepare to give mansions away to public. Special training needed on textbook to be able to properly present your product. More details at interview. Report to Bible Class Teacher, Pastor (name) at 10:15 sharp on Sundays. Above average pay with unending benefits.

Acreage
Free acreage in heaven with mansion. No upkeep or taxes. Applications may be made Sundays, 10:15 a.m., at Adult Bible Class in Church Fellowship Hall where descriptions of property and process for ownership will be fully described.

Deaths
CHURCH MEMBER, I. A., died last week after suffering for years from Bible Ignoramus. Family requests memorial for Adult Bible Class on Sunday morning made up of you.

Note: In my parish ministry I worked as hard to get all members in Bible Class as I did to get them to worship. No effort was spared. Example: Home made rolls, bars, and cookies were a must! The men really go for this. My personal goal was to bring one new person to Bible Class each Sunday. Brother pastor - why not make this a goal for your church? It pays very BIG dividends! - D. F. Ginkel

We carried a story last month on this man. The hits on this link were awesome. We're carrying it again for those who did not take a peek. You need to know what he did on the Titanic and then in the frigid waters of the Atlantic. Take a few minutes to read this or make a hard copy and read it later. Go to John Harper. Thanks!

A personal note from Pastor Don: There is more, much, much, much more to John Harper than what happened in the north Atlantic on April 14, 1912. I've come across an amazing little book entitled, The Titanic's Last Hero. It goes into some detail on what happened that night, but it goes into even greater detail on what Harper's life was like up to the time of the Titanic. His life is amazing. He can be a great inspiriation for us today. I encourage you to read it. Get a copy to give or loan to your pastor. If you are a pastor, have someone run a copy down for you. Only 152 pages. The bad news is that it is out of print. We've purchased four slightly used copies through half.com for only $7.50 or less including shipping. Most prices are in the $4 - $5 range plus shipping. Here are some suggestions on getting the book:

• Local library (If they don't have it, they can get it through interlibrary loan)
• www.half.com
• www.amazon.com
• www.ebay.com
• www.abebooks.com
• www.a1books.com
• www.alibris.com

The elders should meet at least monthly with the pastor. A secretary should keep notes and pass them out at the following meeting.

The elders should assist the pastor in the general and specific spiritual welfare of the congregation. They should individually and collectively, by word and actions, encourage their pastor in his work, pray for him, and should stand ready at all times to help him in the difficult problems of ministry.

They should keep themselves informed as to the church, communion, and Bible study attendance of the members assigned to them (not more than 12 family units). They should seek to speak a word of commendation and encouragement to fellow Christians.

They may use special events and moments in the lives of members as opportunities to speak that word of encouragement or joy or hope or comfort. Some of those special opportunities are:

• The birth of a child.
• An anniversary or birthday (each elder should have this information).
• A hospitalization.
• Bereavement and death.
• An accident or lingering illness.
• Confirmation.
• Graduation from school.
• Other periods of testing such as domestic problems, business reversals, etc.

Each Monday the church secretary should record the church, communion, and Bible study attendance of members on Sunday. In other words, she maintains a master list and passes a copy of the master list on to the pastor. She should then record attendance on the Attendance of Members sheet similar to the one attached. This sheet should then be passed on to the elders at their monthly meeting. The benefits of such record keeping, visitation, and personal encouragement will go far. Obviously this means that elders are to be faithful in church, communion, and Bible study attendance. The elder should visit each family unit at least once a year. In the case of single women, the elder's wife should always join in the visit. As often as possible he should briefly greet his people before or after worship and Bible sudy.

In terms of seeing radical life changes in individuals, nothing can take the place of Spirit-anointed preaching. The message is still the most important element of a worship service for the unchurched (and the churched). Saddleback's growth - in spite of hot gymnasiums, cold tents, and crowded parking - has shown that people will put up with a lot of inconveniences and limitations if the messages are genuinely meeting their needs.

Here are a few tips I tend to share with pastors when they ask. You should provide an outline with the scriptures written out. There are a number of reasons that I do this:

• The unchurched (and some churched) don't own Bibles.
• It relieves embarrassment in finding texts.
• You can cover more material in less time. I once counted the number of times a well-known pastor said, "Now turn to this" in his message, and I timed how long he took. Seven minutes of his message was spent just turning pages!
• You can have everyone read a verse aloud together because everyone has the same translation.
• You can use and compare multiple translations.
• The audience can circle and underline words for emphasis and take notes in the margins.
• It helps people remember the message. We forget 90 to 95 percent of what we hear within 72 hours. That means by Wednesday your congregation has forgotten all but about 5 percent of what you said Sunday if they didn't take notes.
• People can review the verses later. They can tape the notes to their refrigerators for review. It can become the basis for small group discussion.
• Members can teach the outline to others. We have a number of businessmen at Saddleback who lead office Bible studies using the previous Sunday's outline.

The long-lasting value of a message outline with scriptures written out continues to amaze me. Recently a high school biology teacher told me about how God used an outline in his life. He got a call from his teenage daughter, who had been in a car accident. She was fine but the car was totaled - and to make matters worse - it was her fault. He went to pick up his daughter, and, while they were waiting for a tow truck, he sat down on the curb and began to think about how irritated he was at his daughter for being reckless.

As he was getting angrier and angrier, he noticed a piece of paper in the gutter. Recognizing it as one of my sermon outlines, he picked it up. The message and Bible verses were on the topic of "Defusing Your Anger!" He now keeps that outline folded in his wallet.

There are so many positive benefits to this method I never speak without using a handout now.

From Rick Warren's Ministry Tool Box, Issue #316, June 20, 2007. Used by permission.