Illustrations

Eighty-five percent of church members who were formerly unchurched said that they are active in Sunday school or small groups. Seventy-two percent of churched people said the same thing.

Eighty-six percent of new Christians who remained active in their church for at least five years were active in Sunday school as well.

Source: Surprising Insights, Thomas S. Rainer

Only one person is reached for Christ for every eight-five church members in America.

Source: Surprising Insights, Thomas S. Rainer

At the age of five, Hannah made an insightful statement about her newfound faith. She told her mother, “I think Jesus has moved out of my heart.” With curiosity and concern, her mom asked where Hannah thought Christ had gone. She replied, “He has moved to my throat, because all I want to do is tell people about Jesus.”

Source: Mature Living, March, 2009

Ninety percent of people said that friendliness or facilities was a major factor when deciding where to attend church.

Out of 353 people interviewed about the first time they attended a new church 311 mentioned the friendliness of the church. Out to those same 353 people 117 specifically mentioned greeters or welcome centers.

Ninety-one percent of formerly unchurched people said that the beliefs of a church were important in their decision about where to attend church. Eighty-nine percent of those who transferred their membership said the same thing.

1. Become genuinely interested in other people. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

2. Smile. If you want to draw others to you, light up your face with a smile.

3. Remember names. A person’s name is the sweetest and most important sound to that person.

4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests. Treat others the way they want to be treated.

Source: How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

“John 3:16 addresses a number of ‘isms.’ The phrase ‘For God’ responds to atheism, which claims there is no God. The phrase ‘so loved’ responds to fatalism, which asserts God is an impersonal force. The phrase ‘the world’ responds to nationalism, which says God loves only one group of people. The phrase ‘that He gave’ responds to materialism, which says it is more blessed to receive than to give. The phrase ‘His only begotten Son’ responds to Mohammedism, which says God has no Son.

Herman Edwards is the colorful and witty coach who was with the Kansas City Chiefs. When it came to his thoughts on teamwork he said, “The players that play on this football team will play for the name on the side of the helmet and not the name on the back of the jersey.”

Source: Houston Chronicle, 1/6/2010

In an old Peanuts cartoon, Lucy demanded that her brother Linus change TV channels and then threatened him with her fist if he didn’t.

“What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asked Linus.

“These five fingers,” said Lucy. “Individually they are nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.”

“What channel do you want?” sighed Linus.

Turning away, he looked at his fingers and said, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again;

Cha Sa-soon became famous for her perseverance. The 68-year-old woman from South Korea passed the written exam for a driver’s license on the 950th try. Sa-soon, took her first test in April of 2005 and failed 949 times before making the minimum score necessary to pass of 60 percent in November of 2009. She spent over $4,200 in application fees. Hopefully she won’t need as much perseverance to pass the driving portion of her test.

Source: In Other Words