There are very few activities as a pastor that are more exciting than Baptism.

Seeing new believers “go public” with their faith in Jesus and celebrating the change He’s making in their lives is amazing.

So to help you raise the value of Baptism and celebrate it in your church, here’s a tip…

Make a Baptism video and show it when you’re promoting the next opportunity to be baptized!

Here are just a few of the benefits of recording and showing a Baptism video:

• Allows your church to celebrate those whose lives are being transformed
• Reminds those who were baptized about their commitment to Christ
• Motivates people who might be considering Baptism to move forward
• Raises the value of Baptism throughout your church

Here’s an example of one of our recent Baptism videos from The Journey:

And don’t let the technology keep you from using this powerful tool – there’s probably a teenager or young adult in your church right now who would love the opportunity to help out on a project just like this!

Be sure to make the Baptism video a key element in your church’s Baptism strategy.

Here’s to baptizing more people this Summer than ever before!

Nelson

P.S. Want to learn my valuable five-step system that will equip you to PROMOTE, PREPARE, PREACH, PRESENT and PRESERVE every Baptism in your church?

TODAY Only – You can pick up my “Maximizing Baptism Seminar” resource for HALF OFF (Regularly $99.95).

Click here to read more and secure your copy for just $49!

“Baptism separates the tire kickers from the car buyers.”
–Max Lucado, Pastor and Author

Summer small groups are also an ideal way to raise up new group leaders, for two reasons.

Number one, many of your regular leaders will want to take the summer off. In fact, we encourage a summer break. You don’t want leaders to get burned out. And through their break, you open up the opportunity for people who have never led before to step in.

Number two, many of your potential leaders will be most interested in leading their first group during the summer. Since the atmosphere is more casual and the groups do plenty of fun activities together, summer groups are easier to lead and provide good training ground. They are the perfect initiation for brand-new small group leaders.

Remember that sweet taste of freedom that summer brought with it when you were a kid? Well, the great thing about being a church leader is that you still get a new kind of freedom each and every summer. You get the freedom to be creative, to think outside the box and try new things.

Some of the things you try will work and some won’t. That’s okay. You’ll come out of the summer heat with new ideas, new people plugged in, and huge momentum for the season to come. Summer is just around the corner! Plan now to plant, so you can reap the harvest this fall.

Learn how your church can maximize the opportunities of summer.

Sign up for  your FREE Grow Your Church Webinar here:

http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/index.php/free-stuff/grow-your-church-webinar

Many churches decide to take a break from small groups during the summer, which is a perfectly legitimate thing to do. But if your structure allows for it, summer groups can be extremely effective for getting new people plugged in… especially if you do them creatively.

The summer weather gives you and your group leaders the opportunity to plan lots of fun groups that wouldn’t work during other semesters. You can do regular groups outside, sports-themed groups, or picnic groups. You can do just about anything that combines peoples’ desire to be out in the sun with their desire to meet new friends, learn more about God and have some fun.

As you start filling these summer groups, you’ll find that new people will often join just because they are interested in hiking or biking or whatever the group may decide to center around. That interest will get them connected so you can start the process of discipleship.

Since people have fluctuating schedules during the summer, we also like to set up a few open groups in the park. These are groups that require less dedication than a regular small group. They keep the people who can’t make a true summer commitment connected by giving them a group that they can pop into as they are available.

Plus, open groups are a perfect way to get brand-new attenders involved over the summer. Say a new person comes to church one Sunday and decides to attend a movie play group the next Friday night. Then, they learn about the open Bible study in the park on Tuesdays and decide to stop by. You aren’t asking them for a big commitment yet, but you are getting them connected and setting them up to become fully involved in the fall.

Learn how your church can maximize the opportunities of summer.

Sign up for  your FREE Grow Your Church This Summer webinar here:

http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/index.php/free-stuff/grow-your-church-webinar

Summer is the time to be extra creative in your message planning.  You have the freedom to intentionally teach on topics that will draw a crowd.  Around The Journey, we always plan this kind of “attractional series” for the summer, in an effort to reach people who may not otherwise come to church. 

Each year we do a series called God On Film, where we pull spiritual themes out of the summers biggest movies and teach on them.  This series always attracts new people.  Especially if a movie is creating a lot of buzz in the media, people in the community want to know what the local church is going to draw from it.  One of the key advantages to this series it that it is fresh every summer.  The messages center on new movies, so there are always new themes to talk about.

In planning your summer teaching, make sure you structure your series so that all of the messages fall into the same theme or category, but don’t build on one another.  You want your new and sporadic summer attenders to be able to connect with the few messages that they may hear, without feeling like they are missing important background information because they haven’t been around for the entire series.

Whether you are doing a ten-week series or two shorter series, let each message under the umbrella stand as its own entity. Use every one as an opportunity to bring someone new in and help them get connected.  If you do,  you’ll find yourself with a lot of new people who are excited about going deeper with you in the fall.

Learn how your church can maximize the opportunities of summer.

Sign Up for  your FREE Grow Your Church This Summer webinar here: 

http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/index.php/free-stuff/grow-your-church-webinar

Summer is one of the best times of the year to reach out to the community around you.  The weather and the relaxed mindset open doors that stay closed during other months – literally.  Everyone is out and about.

Your potential attenders are throwing Frisbees in the park, making small talk at baseball games and mingling on the closest beach.  You have unprecedented opportunities to make connections with people you may never see in another season. So plan some creative outreach.  The possibilities are endless.

At The Journey, we try to be as creative as possible when it comes to summer outreach.  At least once a week, all summer long, we will have groups doing Servant Evangelism in local parks.  This simply means that they hand passersby a cold bottle of water and a postcard invitation to the church.  It’s a great way to provide people with something that meets a need (cold water on a hot day) and some information about the Journey.  On top of Servant Evangelism, we’ve been known to do everything from dog parties for dogs and their owners to neighborhood block parties to big barbeques.

In the summer, people are much more open to doing something that doesn’t fit with their normal routine.  They are more willing to attend an event that sounds like fun, even if they may not know anyone there.  If you set up something that interests people in your community, they will come.

If you aren’t sure what to do, try piggy-backing on an event that people in your area will be attending anyway.  For example, if everyone in your area goes downtown to watch fireworks on July 4th, use that to your advantage.  Why not set up a July 4^th fireworks outing through your church and encourage your attenders to invite their friends?  If they are going anyway, why shouldn’t they go with you?

Learn how your church can maximize the opportunities of summer.

Download your FREE Maximizing Summer E-book here: 

www.churchleaderinsights.com/summer

Summer means many things.  We get longer days, luminous weather, leisurely vacations…. and lastly  church growth.  Okay, maybe that last one seems a little out of place.  As church leaders, we all know that summer is the worst time of the year for church growth, right?

When the temperature rises, we stare down a slump that’s as inevitable as a breaking wave.  We’ve been taught by those who have gone before us that summer is a time to strap in and make the best of what we’ve got, while look forward to the tide’s turning in the fall… but what if that thinking is all wrong?  What if it is actually possible to grow our churches through the summer?

Since it’s launch in 2002, The Journey Church in New York City has seen growth each and every summer.  How?  By discovering what it takes to use the tricky months of June, July, and August to our advantage.  If you know how to maximize summertime, you can continue to be effective throughout the season and set yourself up for a huge growth spurt in the fall.

The key is to keep your attendance consistent when our regulars head out for their vacations by using the summer to reach new attenders.  While you may not see actual numerical increase over the summer, you will see consistency and you will set yourself up for a strong start when school is back in session.

So, the onset of warmer weather means that you have a decision to make.  You have two options before you pack away those jackets and sweats: You can either choose to plant in the summer or beg in the fall.

We recommend planting, planting, and planting some more.   Plant the seeds of the gospel in the the summer sun by making an intentional decision to be creative in three important areas:

• Creative with Outreach
• Creative with Message
• Creative with Small Groups

Learn how your church can maximize the opportunities of summer.

Download your FREE Maximizing Summer E-book here:  

www.churchleaderinsights.com/summer

In all the excitement of Easter last month, I don’t want you to miss out on one of the best possible “bounce back” opportunities for your Easter guests… MOTHER’S DAY (Sunday, May 12)!

Historically, Mother’s Day has been a natural draw because mothers want to attend church with their family – even those who rarely (if ever) attend.

At The Journey and in my 1,100+ coaching alumni churches, we’ve discovered several keys to leverage that natural draw to make Mother’s Day a high-impact opportunity to reach the people of your community and get your Easter first time guests to return.

So I’m challenging you to make Mother’s Day a BIG DAY at your church, just like I teach in my 3-hour resource, “The Ignite Seminar.”

Today thru Monday, I’m giving you “The Ignite Seminar: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church” for 50% Off (regularly $99.95 – Yours for $49)!

I want to help you implement a proven, step-by-step plan to create immediate growth by harnessing the power of a Big Day – and mobilizing your church for evangelism.

And TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE if you want to cooperate with God for maximum impact on Mother’s Day (and again throughout the year)!

This three hour seminar will teach the proven principles that I’ve identified, honed and tested over the last decade – it’s been called “the ultimate how-to training for pastors who want to bring more first time guests through the doors and reach more people for Jesus!”

Because Big Days are most effective when you’re leveraging an existing draw (back to school, Easter, first of the new year) – Mother’s Day is a great time for you to put these principles into practice.

In this practical, easy-to-implement resource you will learn:

• How to DOUBLE your church in a day (it can be done!)
• How to immediately raise the evangelism effectiveness of your church
• How to mobilize your congregation to reach their friends
• How to spark growth in a stalled church
• How to keep momentum year after year in a growing church
• How to excite your people, even if they’ve not been motivated in the past
• How to influence your leaders to reach out to the community
• How to plan and implement a proven BIG DAY process
• …and much more!

This resource contains three hours of audio training, a listener’s guide, sample files, documents and graphics! You’ll receive everything you need to start implementing these important principles immediately.

All of that for HALF OFF – only $49 through Monday (because I don’t want you to miss out on the opportunity that Mother’s Day provides):

Click Here – Secure The Ignite Seminar for Only $49 (reg. $99.95)
Available ONLY through Monday, April 22

And that’s not all!

As a fellow pastor, I realize that there are several factors – in your church and in your personal life – that go into successfully reaching your community and honoring God. So I have an added opportunity for you…

Secure The Ignite Seminar for only $49 today and you will get a FREE month of membership in my new Renegade Pastors Network.

While Ignite will help you lead your church to plan and implement a Big Day to reach more people, this network will help you grow personally, professionally and pastorally.

It’s designed to help you achieve personal growth, ministry-life balance and accomplish great things for God’s Kingdom.

In the network, you’ll have access to monthly leadership calls, author interviews, monthly book summaries, and much, much more!

I’d like to give you a free test drive of what membership in the Renegade Pastors Network is all about:

Click Here to Pick Up The Ignite Seminar for Only $49 AND Get a FREE Month in the Renegade Pastors Network – Today thru Monday

But hurry – this opportunity only runs through Monday, April 22!

I hope you’ll let me help you reach more people on Mother’s Day and accomplish all that God wants to accomplish through you and your ministry.

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

P.S. I’ve only shared this 50% Off opportunity on The Ignite Seminar with a limited number of pastors like you, but if you know of someone else who might find it beneficial, feel free to share this link:

http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/index.php/specials/ignite-25

It’s only available today through Monday, April 22!

With Easter Sunday less than two weeks away, I want to share with you one of my greatest frustrations (and give you a 50% off opportunity to avoid having to deal with it yourself).

Perhaps my greatest source of frustration in ministry can be summed up in two words:

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

Nothing can ruin my day like realizing that our church could have made a bigger impact for the Kingdom, but we missed out for one reason or another.

And after coaching more than 1,200 Senior Pastors and serving over 80,000 Church Leaders through our ministry, I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.

In the church I pastor and all these other churches, the one area where missed opportunities are most painful (and damaging) is when it comes to New Believers.

Pastors tell me they’re praying for twice as many new believers this Easter, but when I start asking questions, it’s obvious that they’re not prepared for God to send them!

I hear statements like…

• I’ll buy some New Believer Bibles after we have some New Believers to give them to
• We’ll clean out the Baptistery (aka: storage closet) after we have someone ready to baptize
• I’m going to prepare a letter to send to New Believers after I hear from them.
• …and I’m sure you get the point.

But that’s not how things work in God’s Kingdom!

Here’s the truth: 
God will not bless your church with more New Believers than you’re prepared to adequately follow up with, encourage and help grow in their new faith.

With Easter on the horizon, time is short – but THERE IS TIME TO PREPARE for God to answer your prayers and double your New Believers this Easter… IF you get started this week!

So, Today through Thursday only, I’m giving you my proven, step-by-step “New Believer Seminar” resource for HALF OFF (Regularly $99.95 – yours for only $49)!

That’s right, this is one of my newest resources – three hours of audio training plus The Journey’s New Believer checklist (that we use each week) and all my follow-up materials, yours this week for just $49.

In the New Believer Seminar, I’ll lay out for you the valuable system I’ve developed over the years (from my own experience and that of my 1,200+ coaching alumni churches) that will equip you to follow up with every new believer God brings to His church.

In this comprehensive downloadable resource, you will learn:

• How you can increase the number of people who indicate their decision for Christ (Hint: you probably have more people coming to Christ than you realize…they’re just not telling you)
• How to ensure that every person is discipled and that “No New Believer Gets Left Behind”
• What to do and NOT do in the first hour after someone becomes a Christian and the four opportunities you have to follow up with new believers, and the importance of each opportunity
• Why your preaching calendar is crucial to your new believer follow-up
• The one thing you MUST do in order to see new believers grow
• How to cultivate the connection between prayer and new believers
• …and much more!

Your New Believer Seminar resource includes nearly three hours of MP3 audio training, the complete fill-in-the-blank Listeners Guide and a Leaders Guide (if you choose to teach this to your church’s leaders).

PLUS, I’ll include the actual editable new believer follow-up strategy that we use each and every week at The Journey! This one document alone – where I walk you through “why” and “how” to use and edit everything else – has been described by many as being worth the full investment in this resource.

All of that for HALF OFF – only $49 through Thursday (because I don’t want you to feel the pain of missing your best opportunity of the year to reach new people for Christ):

Click Here – Secure The New Believer Seminar for Only $49 (reg. $99.95)
Available ONLY for the next 3 days – Through Thursday

And that’s not all!

As a fellow pastor, I realize that there are several factors – in your church and in your personal life – that go into successfully reaching your community and honoring God. So I have an added opportunity for you…

Secure The New Believer Seminar for only $49 between now and Thursday and you can get a FREE month of membership in my new Renegade Pastors Network.

While the New Believer resource will help you lead your church to prepare for, equip and nurture more new believers this Easter (and every week after that), this network will help you grow personally, professionally and pastorally.

It’s designed to help you achieve personal growth, ministry-life balance and accomplish great things for God’s Kingdom.

In the network, you’ll have access to monthly leadership calls, author interviews, monthly book summaries, and much, much more!

I’d like to give you a free taste of what membership in the Renegade Pastors Network is all about:

Click Here to Pick Up The New Believer Seminar for Only $49 AND Get a FREE Month in the Renegade Pastors Network – thru Thursday ONLY

I don’t want you to miss this opportunity for us to partner together to reach more new believers for Christ.

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

P.S. Do you know any other pastors or church leaders who might be on the verge of missing this Easter opportunity?

Feel free to share this link:

www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/EasterNew

It’s only available through Thursday!

I want to help you DOUBLE your church’s impact this Easter – and with Easter Sunday (March 31) just over 3 weeks away, NOW is the time to get started.

To that end, I want to give you my BRAND NEW, 3-hour “Maximizing Easter Seminar” AND over $1,155.00 in Bonuses for Only $99!

But here’s the catch – I want you to succeed in maximizing your impact this Easter and time is already short, so…

This resource is going “Back in the Vault” after tomorrow (Thursday, March 7), and will NOT be available again until next year.

It’s not worth it for me to give you a resource without the proper time to implement the principles it contains – so this is your LAST CHANCE!

I have had the privilege of coaching over 1,100 pastors in my coaching networks to double their Easter impact since 2006 – both in Easter Sunday attendance and through effective follow-up after the Big Day.

During this time, I’ve developed a list of 25 proven ideas (that we’ve used at The Journey and I’ve seen work in all these alumni churches).

Now, I’ve compiled all 25 of these practical, easy to implement, but often overlooked ways to double your Easter attendance into one comprehensive, three-hour resource, The Maximizing Easter Seminar (a $299.95 value).

But since time is of the essence to make the most of THIS Easter (only 24 days away), I’m giving you an added incentive to secure your copy and get started ASAP:

Order “The Maximizing Easter Seminar” Today or Tomorrow for only $99 ($200.00 savings) AND you’ll receive over $1,155.00 in Bonuses – see the P.S. below for a full list of your bonuses.

In addition to your savings and your bonuses, you’ll receive scores of sample files, documents, promotional pieces and the complete Journey Church Easter Checklist, and (most importantly) you’ll learn:

• The first – and most accessible – action you can take to double your Easter attendance.
• How your faith will dynamically affect how you plan, prepare and implement your Easter plans.
• The three times when people in your community are most likely to attend church.
• Why and how you can educate your community (and your people) on when Easter falls on the calendar.
• How to raise the intensity of your promotion as Easter approaches.
• The unmatched opportunity Easter provides to try new things.
• What to do (and what NOT to do) with your Easter preaching plans to celebrate the resurrection and help attendees grow spiritually.
• How to ask for commitment from first time guests to return again.
• The essential elements of a successful Easter service (and why “normal” is a good thing).
• Why Easter Sunday is NOT the right time to bring in guest speakers and musicians.
• How to utilize your post-Easter calendar to re-engage your Easter guests.
• Who to expect in attendance the week after Easter.
• Why your new sermon series shouldn’t get top billing in your Easter promotion.
• How much of your annual promotional budget to invest in Easter (and why).
• How to mobilize your leaders to pray, prepare and invite others in advance.
• How to incorporate prayer and fasting, church-wide, in preparation for Easter.
• The tools and timing of how to mobilize everyone in your church to invite friends.
• Why your personal Easter invite list (or lack thereof) could be limiting your attendance potential.
• How to promote your Easter Sunday service(s) without scaring away the unchurched in your community.
• The “principle of spiritual readiness” and how to insure that you’re ready for whomever God chooses to send on Easter.
• The 100%, non-negotiable requirement for post-Easter follow-up.
• How to give your Easter attendees a reason “why” to share their information with you.
• How a maximized Easter will help your church grow in the fall.
• The final step of celebration you should include in each year’s Easter plan.
• …and much more!

I’ve gone through and broken down each of the 25 ideas in such a way that you can easily implement them in your church.

PLUS, you’ll receive sample documents and files that will help you see how we prepare at The Journey to maximize Easter!

And as one of your bonuses, you’ll receive a FREE month in my Renegade Pastors Network – where I can personally walk you through planning and implementing your best Easter ever, including answering your specific, “how can I do this in my church” questions.

Here’s the link to secure your copy now:

www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/easter

Don’t delay – this resource goes back in the vault after TOMORROW (Thursday, March 7) and won’t be available again until 2014.

Your Partner in Ministry,

Nelson

P.S. Download The Maximizing Easter Seminar today or tomorrow for just $99 (regularly $299.95) and you’ll receive the following bonuses (over $1,155.00 value):

FREE first month of my Renegade Pastors Network – including Immediate Bonuses ($912.20 Value)	Starting A Second Service ($29.95 Value)	The Big Day ($29.95 Value)	The Top 5 Evangelistic Outreach Tools ($19.95 Value)
Maximizing Easter E-Book ($23.95 Value)	The Power of a Combined Service ($19.95 Value)	Maximizing Easter Podcast ($19.95 Value)	The Evangelism Seminar ($99.95 Value)

Secure your copy of The Maximizing Easter Seminar today or tomorrow at:

www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/easter

Hurry – this resource will be unavailable after tomorrow (Thursday, March 7)