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One week from today is Epiphany, the day when the church celebrates Christ’s manifestation to the Magi (January 6). For your church to commemorate this important day, we invite you to consider using Epiphany clipart or pictures in your sermon PowerPoint or bulletin.

Because of its importance to the church, it would be helpful to explain to your people the significance of this event, and to discover together some of the details regarding the arrival of the Magi. It is a perfect opportunity to reflect upon fulfilled prophecy and the reign of Christ.

Get started by browsing our collection.

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During this next year, the ShareFaith blog will be bringing you helpful advice on how best to use e-mail for your church. Because of the importance of this communication medium, it is important to know how best to use it in your ministry. To begin with, however, you need a way to organize, refine, and streamline your e-mail. Constant Contact is an ideal solution.

What is it?
Constant Contact is well-known as a marketing and communication tool for many small businesses and organization. With its vast features and enormous database power, it is perfect for reigning in all those loose e-mails, newsletters, surveys, reminders, addresses, and whatever else you need. Churches have realized its time and money saving potential for ministry. It’s more than just an e-mail list manager. It’s a comprehensive solution for all your online communication needs.

Want to try it?
Constant Contact is one of those programs that you don’t realize how great it is until you actually start using it. You can check out the program and even try it for free for a couple months.

We woud like to introduce you to this powerful program, and let you experience the ease and power of enhanced online communication. Much of the information we’ll share in the upcoming months will build off of the Constant Contact software and give you additional advice on how best to use it.

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2010 is going to be a big year–a year of God’s blessings, growth in grace, and answers to prayer. However, you choose to celebrate on New Year’s eve, consider making a countdown timer part of the occasion. Using the unique designs from Sharefaith is a great way to keep track of the minutes, seconds, tenths of seconds, and (yes) even the hundredths of seconds before the New Year rolls in.
Here are a few of the countdown timers available.

This one has exploding fireworks a one minute counter and even a dropping ball.

Welcome the New Year with a worshipful spirit, using this five-minute countdown timer. The picture is that of a man on a hilltop with his arms raised in worship.

Many churches choose to welcome the New Year in prayer. Here is a countdown timer that features a pair of folded hands and a large digital clock counting down from two minutes.

In addition to the many options of countdown timers, you may also want to check out our New Year bulletin covers, New Year PowerPoint templates, and other New Year media.

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As you prepare for your church’s New Year service, keep in mind the New Year’s bulletins that we have available. These bulletins commemorate the spirit of the New Year with sharp, fresh images. For example, the bulletin to the left combines a beautiful picture with rich imagery to welcome the New Year.

Since New Year’s Day falls on a Friday this year, the following Sunday comes at an ideal time at the very beginning of the New Year. Here are some suggestions of what to include in a New Year’s bulletin, apart from the ordinary.

• Suggestions for New Year’s resolutions of a spiritual nature.
• A Bible reading schedule for 2010.
• Bible verses that provide guidance for the New Year (Jeremiah 29:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Isaiah 40:31)
• Scriptural advice on how to keep New Year’s resolutions.
• A theme verse to memorize for the year.

Even if people do not pay attention to the preaching, are not interested in the singing, or do not participate in the worship, they will most likely read the bulletin that they receive. Make sure that your New Year’s bulletin is packed with encouragement, hope, and instruction for the New Year.

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As you prepare for your church’s New Year service, keep in mind the New Year’s bulletins that we have available. These bulletins commemorate the spirit of the New Year with sharp, fresh images. For example, the bulletin to the left combines a beautiful picture with rich imagery to welcome the New Year.

Since New Year’s Day falls on a Friday this year, the following Sunday comes at an ideal time at the very beginning of the New Year. Here are some suggestions of what to include in a New Year’s bulletin, apart from the ordinary.

• Suggestions for New Year’s resolutions of a spiritual nature.
• A Bible reading schedule for 2010.
• Bible verses that provide guidance for the New Year (Jeremiah 29:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Isaiah 40:31)
• Scriptural advice on how to keep New Year’s resolutions.
• A theme verse to memorize for the year.

Even if people do not pay attention to the preaching, are not interested in the singing, or do not participate in the worship, they will most likely read the bulletin that they receive. Make sure that your New Year’s bulletin is packed with encouragement, hope, and instruction for the New Year.

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When Isaac Watts put his pen to paper in 1719, he had no idea that he would be writing one of the world’s best-loved and most-sung Christmas songs. Isaac’s passion for sound music started when he was just a boy. Being raised with age-old liturgy and time-worn songs, Isaac complained to his father that the songs they sung in church lacked genuine meaning and substance. With severity, Isaac’s father reprimanded him: “If you don’t like the hymns we sing, write better ones!”

Isaac Watts did write better ones. One of his projects was to take some of the psalms and put them to music. The words of “Joy to the World” were inspired by Psalm 81—“Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.” Although Watts’s composition was not written for Christmas, the words are relevant and meaningful during the season we celebrate Christ’s birth:

Joy to the World, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,


And Heaven and nature sing,


And Heaven and nature sing,


And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

The final verse is triumphant in its look ahead to the ultimate reign of Christ:

He rules the world with truth and grace,


And makes the nations prove


The glories of His righteousness,


And wonders of His love,


And wonders of His love,


And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Sharefaith would like to wish you a Merry Christmas. We are committed to spreading the joy to the world through attractive media and appropriate Christmas messages. As you serve and worship Jesus Christ, keep in mind that the Lord has come, that he is our King, and that our heart must prepare Him room.

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Young people thrive on communication–constant, immediate, instantaneous, interactive communication. To effectively keep contact with your youth group, it’s important to use a form of communication that is up-to-date, attractive, and effective. One of the best and easiest ways to make great e-mails with sharp graphics and a readable layout is to use Sharefaith’s church e-mail solution.

It’s easy to get started, and once you do, you will be surprised at the results. Youths appreciate receiving information via e-mail, and you’ll be glad at the way that it engages them in youth group life. So, the question is–how do you get their e-mail addresses to begin with? It’s not too hard. Here are some suggestions.

• Just ask. A Sunday School sign-up sheet or clipboard will do the trick for most. Just ask the teens to put down their name with an e-mail address. Or, you can hand them an e-mail request card.
• Facebook. If you’re friends with the teens on Facebook, you should be able to to access their e-mail addresses easily. Besides, Facebook is a great way of keeping up with what’s going on in their lives.
• Form a website or Facebook group as a means of networking and collecting e-mail addresses and contact information.

As you build an e-mail address database, you can them in a spreadsheet and upload them to your Sharefaith/Constant Contact email service. Sharefaith makes it easy to send out top-notch e-mails. With all the pictures, headers, footers, and features you could want, excellent e-mails are just a few steps away. Find out how to start a free two-month trial.

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New Year’s Day is a day for celebration. Many churches welcome the New Year with a special watch night service or New Year’s Eve service. If you are planning an event like this, whether a prayer meeting, Bible Study, teen party, or just a celebration with games and food, consider announcing it using one of Sharefaith’s New Year flyers.

Besides being very attractively designed, these flyer templates are totally customizable. You can add detailed information about the event location, time, directions, etc. Be sure to add your church name in the proper location. Since each template can be downloaded in Microsoft Word format, it’s easy to download, print, and post wherever you need it.

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New Year’s Day is a day for celebration. Many churches welcome the New Year with a special watch night service or New Year’s Eve service. If you are planning an event like this, whether a prayer meeting, Bible Study, teen party, or just a celebration with games and food, consider announcing it using one of Sharefaith’s New Year flyers.

Besides being very attractively designed, these flyer templates are totally customizable. You can add detailed information about the event location, time, directions, etc. Be sure to add your church name in the proper location. Since each template can be downloaded in Microsoft Word format, it’s easy to download, print, and post wherever you need it.

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