I've been preaching at a wonderful Lutheran church in northeast Colorado for some time. When I started I asked if they had children's talks in their worship for the little ones. They said no. I asked if I might have permission to start them. They said yes. On August 25 we had our children's talk as usual.

I asked the kids to come to the front. Eight of them came up. They formed a line facing the congregation, and I gave each of them a one dollar bill. When I asked one sweet four year old girl named Cadence what she did to get the dollar she replied, "I don't know." I assured her that that was a good answer. We then went into some detail on the passage from Paul that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus just like the dollar bill was a gift from me. Then we prayed about it.

Early Monday morning I received a call that little Cadence was killed Sunday evening. Her father's pickup truck flipped and landed on her killing her instantly. Her father, William, was flown here to Denver for treatment. The mother, Kim, told me that when the offering plate was passed Sunday morning, Cadence was holding up her dollar. Kim told her that she didn't have to put it in the plate. When the plate came to Cadence she put her dollar in while wearing a big smile. That children's talk was the last chance I had to really talk to Cadence about her dear Savior. I'm grateful for that.

Do you think the congregation was glad that I suggested children's talks at the beginning of worship? Oh, yes! All of us can do various things to improve our ministry for Jesus as it relates to our church, family, friends, and ourselves. What can you do to improve your ministry? It may require some changes, but the impact on people can be significant and more than worth it. Let's do it!

1. No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2. When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3. Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
4. You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
5. Reading what people write on desks can teach you a lot.
6. Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7. Puppies still have bad breath, even after eating a tic-tac.
8. Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
9. School lunches stick to the wall.
10. You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk

1. Brighten up your building. The visitor's first impression does not begin with your opening hymn, but with what they see when they drive into the parking lot. Have specially designated visitor's parking. Increase the brightness of your sanctuary with higher wattage bulbs than you are currently using; and take a weekly walk through your facility to spot things that may seem like clutter to the first- time visitor.
2. Work on your welcome. Station greeters more toward the parking lot than toward the front doors of the church; open your worship service with words of welcome; ask everyone (not just the visitors) to register their attendance; and avoid ushering people out since this has a way of limiting fellowship after the service.
3. Graciously give directions. Visitors need verbal directions when to sit and stand, where to find the next hymn, and where the congregation is in the bulletin or service.
4. Show sensitivity to when and how often you stand up during worship. Such movement can be especially difficult for older people and for families with young children.
5. Emphasize music that inspires and uplifts. Because unchurched people are not usually familiar with public singing and have varied tastes, it is wise to have singable hymns and a variety of music in every service.
6. Look out for Christian "lingo." Many of the words in our worship service may be meaningful to us but difficult for the unchurched to understand. Occasionally, litanies and hymn verses may need to be rewritten so that they are understandable to the first-time visitor.
7. Start, stay and end positive and personal. Most unchurched people are hunting for a worship experience that provides inspiration, motivation, and rejuvenation.
8. Print a quality bulletin. It's helpful to ask yourself these questions about your bulletin: Can it be easily followed the first time? Does it start in the right place with the right information? Is it attractive and does it convey excellence? Does it tell the unchurched what he needs to know to become involved?
9. Identify the felt needs of the unchurched by going out and listening to them. At Our Savior's, we use a questionnaire that asks, "Why do you think most people don't go to church?" and "If you would ever become active in a church, what would you want to see in that church?" The answers can help in designing appropriate ministries and worship experiences.
10. Follow up on first-time visitors within 72 hours of their visit, since studies have shown that a visit within that time frame dramatically increases the number who return a second time.

1. Set the date for the new class early. Don't wait until you have people who are interested.
2. If you use I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU, order books, bulletin inserts, tract cards, and posters. Place posters in prominent places with a sign-up sheet placed to the side of each poster.
3. Speak of the class in sermons (It's easy to work this into most texts), prayers in worship services, bulletin paragraphs, newsletters, etc.
4. Develop a list of people who should be contacted for the class and another list of those who have indicated they plan to attend. Aim to expand both lists. Ask certain members to invite and bring certain prospects. Develop and maintain a regular Prospect List (Ask for one of our Prospect Cards).
5. Beside non-Lutherans, be sure to invite Lutheran transfers to go through for a refresher and get to know you better and for you to become better acquainted with them. Two very important things happen here: First, the Lutheran transfer usually enters into a new and higher level of discipleship, and, second, the discipling bond between pastor and member increases.
6. All members of the congregation should be invited and challenged to attend and to bring a friend. The Good News Bulletin Insert helps greatly with member enrollment with a section on the insert for this purpose.

There are some pretty strong arguments that the Bible is God's Word. Here are just four:

1. The amazing way in which all the prophecies of the Bible have been and are being fulfilled. In the O.T. there are 333 prophecies dealing with Christ alone and all were fulfilled. The only way one can explain how all Bible prophecy can be fulfilled is that Someone was behind the writing of that Book who knew the future, namely, God.
2. The Bible has been the most maligned and hated book in the world. If any other book would have been attacked as the Bible has been we can be sure that it would not have survived. The only explanation for its survival is that Someone very great has been standing behind it.
3. It has amazing unity. 39 men wrote 66 books over a period of 1,600 years on a very controvial subject - religion; yet, there is complete unity. There are no contradictions. The only explanation is that Someone must have guided the men who wrote it.
4. It also has tremendous power. Who has heard someone say, "I used to be a murderer or a thief and after reading Shakespeare and Plato I became a changed person."? But thousands, yes, millions of people have had their lives changed into a marvelous new adventure after coming into contact with the Bible.

We would say, "Don't believe the Bible for any of these reasons. Rather, study carefully and see for yourself." At this point it would be good to share the Gospel of Jesus with the person from your heart and/or invite and bring the person to the next adult class using the course, I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU. Literally tens of thousands of people have started this course as skeptics and left as firm believers!