Children's handouts free

Free Children's handouts that follow the RCL for various ages including colouring in sheets and puzzles are available at; http://www.homiliesbyemail.com/leaf/cas/current.html

Also take home family devotion placements based on one of the readings for the Sunday available at: http://www.lutheranyouth.org/FamilyTable_Devotions__Year_A.150.html

Understanding Christian freedom

Christian freedom is something many Christians hold tightly to...
Saying it is one thing, understanding it is another!!!

Jeff Silcock a lecturer at Australian Lutheran College has written a paper that is easy to follow and may help understand and even help you explain what Christian Freedom is about.

The paper is available at http://www.lutheran.edu.au/tools/getFile.aspx?tbl=tblContentItem&id=646

A simple approach to mission

This Christmas why not encourage families as they gather for their Christmas meal,
to grab a bible
and before they begin to read and reflect on the Christmas story as found in Luke 2:1-20 or Matthew 1:18-2:12

with more and more families being a mix of people who are Christians and those who are not, what a simple approach to sharing the Good News and reminding people why we are here...

Something to consider

Rather than ask what we would like to do as a congregation/parish....
how about considering/asking what does God want us to be doing in this place....
influenced by the book the Living Lutheran and its author Dave Daubert

Church revitalisation, renewal, replanting

This topic will probably not close:

Here is some more resources on revitalising congregations
http://www.comebackchurches.com/ a web site that backs up the book with more resources including books, web sites and stories.

Here are some must reads suggested by two church revitalisation consultants before attempting to replant or renew:

• Guder, Darrell L., ed.Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998.
• Malphurs, Aubrey.Pouring New Wine into Old Wineskins: How Change a Church without Destroying It. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1993.
• Schwarz, Christian A.Natural Church Development: A Guide to Eight Essential Qualities of Healthy Churches. Carol Stream, Ill.: ChurchSmart Resources, 1996.
• Southerland, Dan.Transitioning: Leading Your Church through Change. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000.
• Van Gelder, Craig.The Essence of the Church: A Community Created by the Spirit. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000.
• Wood, Gene.Leading Turnaround Churches. St. Charles, IL: Church SmartResources, 2001.
• Schwarz, Christian A., and Christoph Schalk.Implementation Guide to Natural Church Development. Carol Stream, Ill.: ChurchSmart Resources, 1998.
• Rainer, Thom S. and Eric Geiger. Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006.
• Reeder, Harry L., III and David Swavely.From Embers to a Flame: How God Can Revitalize Your Church. 2004.
• Alan Roxburgh, Fred Romanuk, and Eddie Gibbs The Missional Leader. 2006.
• Schwarz, Christian A.Natural Church Development: A Guide to Eight Essential Qualities of Healthy Churches. Carol Stream, Ill.: ChurchSmart Resources, 1996.
• Stetzer, Ed and David Putman.Breaking the Missional Code. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2006.
• Towns, Elmer and Ed Stetzer.Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church. Chicago, Moody Publishers: 2004.

plus a web site or two

http://www.donatechurch.org/

http://www.crmleaders.org/