I read about an incurable cynic. He was trained to be a parachutist. On the day of his first jump his instructors gave him his last final briefing: "First of all, when we reach the correct altitude, you will jump out of the airplane. You must count to ten slowly and then pull the ripcord. If the chute doesn't open, pull the second cord and the auxiliary chute will open. Keep calm. You will float down to earth and a truck will be waiting to pick you up."

When the time came for the parachutist to jump, he was a bit hesitant. But his instructors pushed him out of the plane, and he began to fall. He counted to ten, but not as slowly as he should have. Then he pulled the ripcord, but the chute didn't open. Slightly unnerved, he pulled the second cord, but the auxiliary chute didn't open. Feeling totally exasperated, he said to himself, "I bet the truck won't be there either!"

I believe that it is the Lord's will that you be positive and confident as you face opportunities during the remaining months of 2007 - possibilities with your family, with your work, with your church, with your personal Bible study, with the unbelievers you know, and other important areas.

How is all that possible? Because Christ makes this promise: "I am the Vine; you are the branches. If a man (that's you), remains in me and I in him, HE WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT" (John 15:5). Set multiple goals in the key areas of your life and then set up the mechanisms to reach them. Don't be a cynic. By the strength the Lord gives you will reach many of those goals. Be positive. Be confident. Be a blessing.

"Children's Sunday school is disappearing. It will be all but gone 10 years from now." This was the doom-and-gloom talk a decade ago. Was it accurate? Yes and no! In some churches, Sunday school is dwindling. In others, it is not only booming, it has become an outreach mechanism for the church. What is the difference?

Sunday school for children, as a ministry, is a great and visible example of change - or unwillingness to change - in the church. The principles never change. The methods always change. When methods don't change, the principle is lost. Sunday school for children is a visible example of this reality.

Focus on these issues:

1. Make Sunday school for children a priority. This priority will show in the budget, enthusiasm of the senior pastor and staff, energy of the people, and commitment of time.
2. Get a grip on the changed audience. These children are the second and third generations of those who grew up on Sesame Street, then moved over to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. They began to learn the computer in preschool. They are visual observers, interactive learners, and multi-sensory receptors.
3. Get creative. Through television and other media, children today are exposed to the best in creative environments. Take a field trip to a church that has creatively engineered a whole environment for children. Some of my favorites include Lima Community Church of the Nazarene (Lima, Ohio), North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, Georgia), Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, Illinois), and Granger Community Church (Granger, Indiana). If you think only the mega-churches or newer churches can do this, visit St. James Lutheran Church (Burnsville, Minnesota). No matter where you live, there's likely to be a church nearby that has developed a creative environment.
4. Get experiential. The cognitive days of Mrs. Snyder's Sunday school class are distant memories of the great grandparents of today's children. Children no longer learn that way in school. It doesn't work for Sunday school either.
5. Get environmental. Immersion experiences are the key to learning and living the faith. When children come to Sunday school, they should be immersed in an interactive environment. Those older people who complain that the children just come for "entertainment" are ancestors of people who, in ancient history, complained about flannel graph! (What are those?)
6. Teach adults to subordinate. When adults want to hold a meeting on Tuesday night in a room decorated like Noah's Ark, remind them that mature Christians always subordinate "distractions" better than kids fight boredom.
7. Get in touch with cutting-edge Sunday school ministries. For a free list of Web sites, get my (free) e-newsletter, The Church Doctor Report, Volume 3, Number 1 (February 2007).

In the last 10-15 years, Sunday school innovations have brought new life for churches commited to sharing Jesus with 21st Century kids. Sunday school? It's here to stay - but it's not your grandfather's Sunday school!

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.

How about a detailed sermon outline by Pastor Don with text and supporting Scripture verses on Revelation 19:1-10? It's in Microsoft Word. Feel free to adopt or adapt it. It is approprietly titled, "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hal-le-lu-jah!" The Hallelujah Chorus was written by Handel in 1741 on this text. Hit Revelation 19:1-10A for a handout to worshippers. Go to Revelation 19:1-10B for the pastor's expanded outline.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met recently in Chicago. It passed a resolution approving clergy members who are in homosexual relationships to serve in their Church body. This is a no no!

We notice more pastors holding up a loaf of bread and then breaking it in preparation for the Lord's Supper. It's a good visual demonstration of what the Lord did on the night He instituted this special Meal (Matthew 26:26).

Mark Twain was not a Christian, but he did have some worthwhile things to say. One of his great statements: "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them." One attainable goal: Read one good book a month!

A not so notable quote from Paul Dickson: "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig."

Can anything be done to improve your worship services? Why not ask folks who are not members, perhaps a friend, to attend a worship service? Ask them write down their observations on the music, sermon, and all other aspects of the service. Then treat them to coffee at Starbucks. Their assessment can prove very hepful. To get a broader assessment ask each elder, church officers, or members to try to enlist just one non-member for this effort.

You can order a Good Giver Stewardship Kit #700 for only $2 plus shipping. It contains a sample of all the materials.

in 1953 she wrote: "There is such terrible darkness within me, as if everything was dead. It has been like this more or less from the time I started 'the work.'"

Mother Teresa may have had saving faith in the Savior, but she desperately needed to be comforted with the love and forgiveness that only Jesus can bring.

This is especially for you or for any of your friends in your moments of doubt: "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened (with sin), and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). He has paid the debt of your sin. He is saying now, "Come! Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life" (Revelation 22:17). Don't wait 50 years. Don't wait another day. Come now. Come even as a little child (Matthew 18:2-3).

For more info or to order hit Bible studies.

The Story of Angels

• Their Beginning and Being
• Satan and the Fallen Angels
• Angel Titles, Names, and Activities
• The Angel of the Lord
• Guarding and Avenging Angels
• Watching and Communicating Angels
• Angels and Jesus
• Evil Angels Today
• Angels and Believers Today
• On Judgment Day and Forever

It sells for $6.95. It's yours free. Email us and ask for #150F plus include your name and address. It will be sent media mail.

We saw the Perseid Meteor Shower this weekend, a dazzling display of particles from outer space entering our atmosphere, streaking across the night sky, "shooting stars" we call them, here only a second, noticed by few. We saw them in the mountains at 10,000 feet on the backdrop of a million real stars, those faraway specks that always light the night sky.

That morning we worshipped at the Air Force Academy Chapel with our cadet niece and heard the timeless message of God's grace for us passing creatures, ours by faith in Jesus Christ. And I wonder, are people like shooting stars?

Secular scientists tell us humans live a mere moment, meaningless flashes across time. But the Triune God says believers in Christ are among the heavenly bodies, destined to remain His precious souls for all eternity. We are not meaningless, but His blessed ones.

Joseph and Edith are not shooting stars. We met them before as visitors at Epiphany Lutheran. They live in Larkspur, CO, and for years have come each Sunday to help as they can, assisting the AF chaplain by serving cadets donuts and coffee after chapel each week. I asked them why they did it.

"We are at war, and this is how we can do our part," they said. Joseph and Edith came from Hungary 35 years ago and know well of true oppression, of war and the enemies of freedom. Now American citizens, they spend a few hours each week encouraging tired cadets, worshipping with them, and helping make their Sunday morning a little more pleasant.

God's people are the real stars, not the clever or the rich or the wise of this world. Believers make their mark for eternity by faith which shows itself in works of love. God's mercy and forgiveness in Jesus Christ are ours forever. Those who trust Him will never fade away. The actions of God's people do make a difference in this fleeting world. You are God's child, not a meaningless speck in time.

Thank You, Lord, for our soldiers, their families, and all those who support them. Bless and protect them all. Thank You for the freedom You have given us, and thank You most of all for our eternity by faith in Jesus, Your Son. Amen.

The public is always welcome to worship with our cadets.

Rev. Bob Tasler (LCMS) lives in Castle Rock, CO. He writes a weekly message like the one above and emails it to hundres of people around the country free. You may subscribe by emailing him.

We encourage churches to abundantly use promotional paragraphs in their bulletins and newsletters before the next membership class. We offer one sample.

Our next ___________________ Class begins Sunday, September 23, at 6:00 p.m., in the _______________ Room. We will study a course which over half a million people have taken: I Have Good News For You. It's a ten week Bible study which covers all the basic teachings of the New Testament. The student grows immensely in knowledge, but even more important, he moves closer to God, knows it, and likes it. That's very important in any Bible study.

People from various church backgrounds are usually in attendance, which promotes good discussion and excellent questions. Students are made to feel comfortable knowing that they can ask questions without any embarrassment.

The sessions are informal, which makes for a better learning situation. A good dose of humor is used. This helps even more. CDs and DVDs are available when a student must miss a lesson, which means that one can easily keep up with the class.

This course helps people know what our church and pastor believe and teach. So many times people join a church without this knowledge. At the close of the class those who wish may become members of our church. That is a nice approach.

You may attend just the first lesson or all ten of them. Why not give it a try? We are sure you will discover that this Bible study is unlike any you've ever attended before. The impact it will have on your life will be surprising and pleasant.

The church elders were examining a candidate for membership by transfer. One of the questioners asked the candidate: "What part of the Bible do you like best?" "I like the New Testament best." "What book in the New Testament?" "The book of Parables, sir." "Would you kindly relate one of those parables to this committee?" So the uncertain candidate bluffed his way as follows:

"Once upon a time a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, and the thorns grew up and choked the 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? Could you pass a simple test on the basics of Christian doctrine? The best place to take care of this problem is to get into a good, instructive Bible class. We suggest two right now. The Adult Bible Class meets on Sunday morning at 10:15 in the Fellowship Hall. The special Bible study on basic new Testament theology entitled I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU meets on Sunday evenings at 6:30 in the Fellowship Hall. It's time to get going. Do it Sunday!

Note: Use this parable in your bulletin, newsletter, or include it with a letter of invitation to all members from the pastor. Adapt it to suite your circumstance.