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Your family member is now at rest and now is the time to create an everlasting tribute to them. But how do you decide which type of stone, what color lettering to use and which inscription? Memorials and headstones are available in many different materials, colors and sizes – for example marble, stone and granite memorials are all readily available. Choosing between them can be confusing and tiring.

You should start with the color. What was your loved ones favorite color? Granite headstones come in pretty much every color, so you are not restricted to choosing from just black, gray and white.

The majority of cemeteries allow various colors of headstones and memorials, unfortunately churchyards tend to be stricter. Your cemetery or churchyard should be able to provide you with a copy of the rules and regulations.

Once you have chosen your color, think about what you want the headstone or memorial to say. You should definitely include the name, date of birth and date of death of the deceased, but the rest of the epitaph is free for you to add your messages of love or favorite sayings.

You can also personalize it with a design too. Many different designs can be sandblasted or laser etched on to it. These can range from simple flowers to pictures of your loved one, or engravings of their favorite pastime or pet.

Most headstones and memorials come in set sizes, from really small to very big. Bigger is not necessarily mean better, and a smaller, better quality one can be equally as nice. Churchyards will only permit headstones or memorials up to a maximum height, whereas most cemeteries normally allow them to be any size.

You can get ideas by looking on the Internet; you will find lots of websites that have online catalogs of them. You can also take a walk around a churchyard or cemetery in your local area to see which styles look most appropriate.

Make a shortlist of details that you want, or even draw a rough sketch of how you would like it to look. Once you have done this, it is time to contact a few stores which make and memorials and headstones to ascertain if they are able to create the style and design that you have in mind.

As with everything in life, prices will vary and are negotiable, so be sure to enquire about discounts and be prepared to visit at least a few stores. Once you have placed your order, you can expect the memorial or headstone to be completed in less than a month.

When I was in seminary, I remember the professor one day handing out a resource for us entitled, “How to Build A Sermon in Only Ten Hours.” We had been taught that the average time it took to build sermons was 20-40 hours per sermon. Most people simply do not realize the time that pastors and Bible teachers put into building sermon outlines and Bible studies.

With all the other demands on spiritual leaders, a huge time crunch is created when it comes to preparing for the message of the week. Like or not, ready or not, Sunday morning comes around. And for a lot of pastors, so does Sunday night, Wednesday night, and the weekly radio program, the weekly Bible study, the monthly men’s group, the frequent funerals and the occasional revival meeting. Preaching is such a wonderful calling but that does not lessen the time constraints.

Fortunately, we are in the advent of new methods of communication. There are some wonderful resources available for preachers that offer quality materials that also save time. The computer is having a great impact on the landscape of sermon preparation. Think of these factors:

1. A pastor can Google any Bible verse, word, or question and instantly get tens of thousands of pages representing a volume of study that someone has undertaken.

2. The hours of preparation time that are taken over the course of a year in just flipping pages and looking for a resource are eliminated in a click. This is certainly a wise use of time. Why take ten minutes to scour through Strong’s Concordance looking for the meaning of a Greek word when you can do a one second click and find every reference to that word in Strong’s and other word-study resources?

3. An idea library awaits at the nearest PC for every Bible teacher. Many times just reading one idea another preacher shares can ignite pages of thought. This is iron sharpening iron. There are tens of thousands of free sermons to be read and studied online.

These factors are just three amidst many that could be listed. Now a word about abusing privilege. Some people are concerned that pastors will simply come to rely on the work of others without studying themselves, so they discourage the use of the computer in Bible study. To this concern let me say four other quick things:

1. Yes, some will. Eden was perfect but it was still abused.
2. Some still do without the computer by just using books, cd’s, etc. Any thing good can be misused,
3. The use of other’s material to guide us can be blessed by God as we receive it into our own hearts, experience its truth for ourselves, and then share it with others and let them know where we first heard it.
4. Taking an idea that blesses us and building upon it is a method of learning we all use in every area of our lives and we should.

So, just make sure you do your study, whatever the method, with integrity and true heart hunger, and I believe you will be in a safe place and be used by God in what you do.

This article written by Eddie Lawrence, who is a pastor and also the overseer of Sermon Seedbed, a free online Bible study site.

Getting the Most Out of Your Sermon Outlines

I once had a professor in one of my seminary classes state that every sermon ought to have at least one point, or else it is pointless. The goal of preaching is to communicate the truths of Scripture in a way that connects with people with accuracy and relevancy.  Being accurate relates to properly communicating the original message of the Scripture for the audience at the time it was written; relevancy relates to applying the Scripture in a way that it somehow helps the people that are hearing it.  A sermon should be outlined in such a way that people who listen to it can do the following:

1. They should be able to endure it.

Preacher jokes abound about long boring sermons.  The mind can only absorb what the seat can endure. Honestly, evaluate how long you stay in front of the people. They are use to sound bytes and frequent commercials in their everyday life. In addition, technology continues to make the learning process more and more interactive.

Here are some suggestions:

-When your outline becomes term paper sized, you are in trouble. Trim it down. Go over it several times making it more and more simple. You will be surprised how much more people will get out of it. If you have been preaching an hour, try aiming at 45 minutes this week. If you have been preaching 40 minutes, aim at 30 and so forth. When you land under 20 minutes consistently, you may be cutting your people a little short.  This is not the issue with any preachers I know. One Sunday I preached a 19.5 minute message. Honestly, it took a lot more prep time than it would have, had I gone 40 minutes. A good pair of scissors might help most of us preachers.

– Don’t bury your sermon in endless sub points. People will struggle keeping up with you. Using PowerPoint can help this, but honestly when you go to the second page of section three under sub point two on page six……. You get the drift. Your audience are not at a required class in order to graduate. They volunteered to come hear you preach, don’t make them regret it.

-On average keep your main points to five or less. 

-Vary the way you present your main points so that you do not become overly predictable. Always alliterating your messages can cause the people to become more interesting in the way you have built your sermon than it what it says.  Sometimes state your points in the form of principles, or in terms of analogy, or a hundred other ways.

-Work on your introduction and conclusion meticulously. A sermon with a good start and finish helps make a lasting impression upon people.

2. They should be able to enjoy it.

Please do not misunderstand me here. I am not saying the preacher’s goal is to entertain. Just as there are pastor resources for you to use, you are a resource that your people will use. So preach in a way they will remember and enjoy. I am saying that  a even a very serious topic can be presented in a way that people are engaged, challenged, and leave knowing they have been given something that can change their lives or at the least something they can chew on. It both cases, they are interacting. Their minds and hearts are participating. This is an enjoyable part of life. It is filled with adventure and agony all at the same time. It lifts us up and onward. There is nothing unspiritual in preparing a message in a way that people can receive it more easily. If the core truth presented is offensive, fine. But if it is how it was presented, that’s a shame. The truth was hindered by the truth bearer in such a case.  Think about the following ideas:

-Use stories, quotes, and anecdotes to communicate bible truths in a way the common man can understand and relate to. Ever noticed that Jesus teaching style often involved parables and short sayings that the people could really bite into?

-Under each main point, make sure you have three elements present. Explain what your main point means. Illustrate the point to people. Thirdly, make sure you apply it to their lives. Answer the question, so what difference does this make to me?

-It’s alright to laugh in church. Jesus definitely used humor in some of his teachings. You are a preacher not a comedian, but a preacher is a person and laughter is a healthy natural human emotion that God gave us.  Sometimes well placed humor can give the audience a little breather as well as giving them the opportunity to vocally interact with the message, both of which are good things.

A good outline will highlight many of these areas and give a fullness and a steady pace and direction to your sermons.  Visit my Sermon Seedbed site to check out all kinds of sermon outlines which are yours free of charge. Remembering the above ideas may help you to avoid some of those longhorn sermons. You know the kind that has two points and a bunch of bull in between!

Eddie Lawrence is a pastor and author and holds an earned Doctorate in Expository Preaching. He oversees Sermon Seedbed which offers free pastor resources for pastors and Bible teachers.

I love the quote, “The journey of a thousand begins with one step.  Likewise, the preaching of a great sermon begins with one thought. In this article I will share with you three simple methods of getting ideas for your sermon starters folder. These are not meant to replace your Bible study at all, but just ways to lead you into the Bible for a relevant preaching idea. Having a seedbed of starters is a great resource for any preacher or Bible teacher.

Idea Number 1: Record That Thought!
I wish I had all the great ideas for those sermons that never got preached because I failed to record the inspiration that whizzed through my mind. These are the big fish that got away because I did not set the hook. Writing down that inspired thought is the way the preacher sets the hook to reel in a good sermon.

Keep a little notebook with you, record it into your cell phone, send yourself a text message….just get a record of the thought some way. Have you ever awakened in the middle of a night having had a dream that was very vivid. You thought of getting up and writing down the details, but you thought it was so vivid and clear that you could never forget it. The next morning when you got up, you could not remember it to save your life. Where did the dream go? It went to the same place those great sermon starting ideas go that you didn’t write down.

Idea Number 2: Read That Title!
I have been amazed at the times I have read the title or headline of a newspaper article, an internet news story, the title of a book, and of course, the titles of other people’s sermons and gotten an idea that started me on a quick jog into sermon building paradise. Just the title which is the leader board of a story to follow can set your imagination in motion. With the idea that a title pops in your mind, you will often begin imagining what it is about before you ever read further. Your mind will begin building your own sermon just from the title. Notice these things and consciously think about them as sermon starters. Even billboards can stuff a sermon starter into your cranial cavity form time to time.

Idea Number 3: Research that Question!
This one will unleash an avalanche of sermon ideas for you. Think of questions that people ask about life, love, and problems and then research them. You will be swamped in an hour with a mountain of sermon ideas, sermon illustrations, and starting points for topics that people are hungry to hear about. Then you can add what the Bible teaches on that subject and you are on your way to helping others through a relevant heart touching Bible based sermon.

Now that you have three simple ideas for sermon starters, all that is left for you to do is to get started. That great sermon is just waiting to be thought of, inspired with creativity, and launched to waiting ears. God bless you as you get going.

Written by Eddie Lawrence, who is an author, pastor, and overseer of Sermon Seedbed a resource site for pastors and Bible teachers which provides free sermons and sermon outlines.

Think of any memorial service and you see flowers. It really is barely astonishing that both funeral directors and florists declare that funeral wreaths and sprays come 3 rd in their leading 5 selling goods. Flowers have already been utilized at funerals for years and years. In ancient times, not simply were they decorative, they were practical, given that their perfume assisted to cover up unpleasant odours.

These days, flowers are seen as a classic expression of grieving and, as with the rest of the funeral, they feature a great amount of social grace. Floral sprays – and also what are frequently known as as sympathy plants – usually are sent direct to the memorial service residence when the death is announced. On the day of the funeral, these are put in the hearse, arranged on and across the coffin, accompanying the loved one on their ultimate journey.

Typically, the most popular funeral flowers consist of lilies, carnations, chrysanthemums, gladioli and also roses. Muted colors tones will always be common, in particular for a feminine touch, whilst red-colored suggests unequaled love and white signifies tranquility. The particular season may also impact on accessibility to certain flowers.

Nevertheless, florists are the experts and will often provide advice. They can create unique tributes, which range from easy ‘cottage garden’ baskets and arrangements to sophisticated, contemporary arrangements. Wreaths are a common option, since they are made by means of a circle, that is the symbol of eternal existence. Flower sprays tend to be equally well-liked. These lie flat, exhibiting the blossoms much more openly for viewing from just one single side.

The important thing to selecting proper flowers should be to pick an offering you think family members is likely to appreciate. Some families request that donations be made to a particular good cause instead of flowers. This is a more pragmatic approach, as floral tributes are usually discarded by funeral directors following two or three days and in the case of cremations they are usually disposed instantly following the service.

However, few funerals are totally without flowers. Unlike the commonly sombre tone and dress of the mourners, they bring in a warm component of beauty and colour. Flower tributes display regard to the deceased, whilst offering great comfort to the family members, as they visibly convey emotions that many find hard to put into words.

Even though traditional, floral tributes don’t need to always be limited by the time of funeral or cremation. A lot of funeral directors will tell you that bereaved families value receiving blossoms within the weeks and even a few months following the memorial service. They provide a comforting reminder that people have not forgotten their loved one, especially if combined with a little individual note.

One integral part of that helps in reaching different people in different places and winning them for God are portable communion sets.

The Holy Communion is part of an important Christian tradition.

Normally, when you hear of Communion, it is different from Baptism wherein the latter is done once while the former is a practice done all throughout a Christian’s life.

Catholics mainly follow the Communion simply because the Lord said so. During communion, Christians are expected to remember Christ and his sacrifice and suffering for humankind.

In this holy practice, there are several essential elements. However, the top two would include the bread and wine.

There are three essential views that Christians hold regarding the bread and the wine.

One view is that there is transubstantiation that occurs and the bread and wine actually becomes the real body and blood of Christ.

Another view that is held is that the bread and the wine remain unchanged, but the Lord’s presence is made spiritually real through their faith.

The last view that most Christians hold is that the bread and wine are used as merely symbols. It represents the body and blood of the Lord and remembers the sacrifice that he has done for the people.

Anybody can go ahead and participate in a Communion. Normally, you will find this done in regular churches, but there are also priests that are assigned in remote places where there is no proper church.

People who live in these places and want to participate in a communion can now do so since there are portable communion sets available.  Hence, a priest can go ahead and conduct it to them.

Portable communion sets are necessary tools for a priest or any member of the clergy in any denomination to have especially if he is visiting a remote place or region.

There are many places that a clergy might make use of these portable sets.

For instance, it can be used in a hospital, a nursing home or even during the battlefield. This makes it easier for people to join and participate in this sacred worship without having to attend the church.

There are four main elements that make up communion sets. There is the cruet, paten, chalice, and pyx. There are small as well as large communion sets that you can use.

There will also be a carrying case for the set. Some pieces in the sets are ornate while others are simple and made of silver.

Each piece also has a specific function during the service. The cruet is a small container or bottle that is used to hold the wine during the service. The Paten is a small disk or plate that is used to hold the communion bread during the service.

Then you have the pyx, this is a small, often round, container that holds the host inside. Finally, you have the chalice. This is also known as the communion cup, where the wine is poured onto and drank from.

All of these help to make up the elements that are part of portable communion sets.

When shopping for communion sets, you may also consider customizing your own set by choosing what design of Communion plates you wanted or the style of communion cups you prefer, thus making it even more personal.

Were you ever been in a situation where you are awakened by a call in the middle of the night?  Thinking it was an emergency, you frantically take the call, anxious who would be calling at such a time.  What would you do if you found out the call was a prank?  What would you do when the caller keeps bothering you every night?  You would not be angry. Instead, you would want to know who your mysterious caller is… and why on earth he or she would be doing that?

Well, at one point we have had experience with prank callers.  For some people, though, prank calls become regular and could become harassment.  Questions like “is someone stalking on me?  Worried about your privacy, you are in dire need of answers.  Just exactly WHO is this caller?

One of the first things that might come to your mind is to hire a private investigator.  A PI can be helpful, yes, but you should also be considering of the money you are going to shed out once you have hired one.  Your case, for sure, will be a lot of work for him doing the research as to who owns that number.  Another thing you could also try is to do a reverse phone lookup at one of the many free sites available, but most prank callers don’t use public landline numbers – which, sadly, are the ones these free sites can provide you with.

Your best option is to go through online reverse phone lookup. With just a single fee, you will have an unlimited access to millions of records, including information on cell phone, unlisted, and landline numbers. 

This may sound unbelievable, but you will also be provided with advanced tools like free search assistance, access to expanded people search database records, even family member information!  Once you have entered the area code and the seven digit number, you will get the information you need in seconds – the number owner’s name and address , his or her background, all helpful in putting an end to your sleepless nights with those annoying prank calls!

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