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Evangelistic Endeavor 22 (Sun, 10/1)

SUNDAY, 10/1/06

NINTEENTH MESSAGE

There’s nothing like a thrilling Redskins victory to lift the spirits before the meting. The topic of the evening was Righteousness by Faith. Where was this in the beginning? I missed quite a bit of it because the team met for a while to get on the same page as we head into the last week. Obviously, this is the key week for sealing decisions and making sure everything is in order for the baptism on Sabbath afternoon.

From what I heard of the message, it still ended up being about the need to keep the law and obey God. Instead of providing hope, it was more of the same.

The attendance tonight is very low with about 30-40 people in attendance. The large contingent of teens and pre-teens is not here tonight because the parents don’t want their kids out late on a school night. This raises a very important issue--these meetings are not family friendly. There is no way for families to get home before 9:15 and if they have kids with school in the morning no one is going to get enough sleep. Also, there is virtually no opportunity for family-time.  I’ve been trying to think of some family friendly outreach programs.

One idea is to create a whole family night at the church. The church can be open by after-school time and parents and kids can come and make sure the HW gets done. Then, a meal should be provided for everyone. After that, you can do a family activity that is fun and involves everyone working together. Finally, there could be a 15-20 minute slot where the different age groups separate for age-appropriate instruction/activity. This should all be done by 7:00/30 at the latest so the kids can get home to sleep. Anyone else with ideas?

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