Some information that will help you to understand the purpose of this tape and booklet combination.   

The "Good News" booklet and tape has been translated into several hundred languages.

The 40 pictures with accompanying cassette are intended to give the non literate listener an  understanding of God's plan of salvation, as well as some basic Christian Truths that will  help establish them in the Christian faith.  

Each picture has a condensed account of a Biblical teaching.  It is not intended to be  extensive or give full details of the account, but to be short and concise focusing on a  certain progression.   Thought builds upon thought and takes the listener through basic  information necessary to understand the Sacrificial Death of the Lord Jesus Christ.    Adequate explanation is given to bring these truths home and give the listener an  opportunity for personal response.   It is intended to be "User Friendly" to the peoples of  N. Africa and the Middle East.

This script has been adapted to make the cassette messages usable with or without the  picture booklets.

The message is carried in the explanation on the cassette in the listeners mother tongue.   The pictures are intended to add interest and aid in retention.  

The style is in a teaching, narrative form,  intended to give the listener a clear  understanding that this is important truth and not fiction.   

GOOD NEWS

Introduction --  Music -- Fade --   Hello, my friend, and welcome.  What you are about to  hear are some of the most important words you will ever hear in your life.   They explain  the relationship between God and man. 

It is not necessary to have the picture booklet, but if you do have it, it will help you to  remember the information of thismessage. You  can stop at any time to think about  the things you are hearing.   We suggest that you listen all the way through, the first time.   Then, go back and listen again, stopping from time to time, to think more deeply  about the things you are hearing.

When you hear this sound, (bridge music),  it is time to look at the next page.   Start now  at the first page.

Picture 1.   In the beginning, only God existed.  There was nothing else.   God made the  world and commanded the light to shine.  He made the sun to rule the day and the moon to  rule the night.  God is good, and He rules over everything.

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Picture 2.  The information you are hearing comes from God's book.  This book is the  Word of God and it tells us about God and His ways.  It contains the writings of many  well known Prophets.   God loves all people.   This book explains why God had to separate  Himself from the people He loves so much.  It also explains how God made a plan to bring  the people back to Him, to be His friends and His children.  This book is called the Bible.

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Picture 3.  God made everything by the words that He spoke.  He said, "Let it be," and it  was as He said.   He spoke, and made the sky.  He spoke, and made the sea.   He spoke,  and land was made.    Then He created all living things in the same way:  the fish in the  water,  the birds in the air,  and all the animals.  In this way God spoke everything into  being.  God was pleased with all that He made. Everything that God made was good.  It  was all very good.

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Picture 4.  God made the first man from the dust of the earth and the first woman from the  rib of the man.   He called them Adam and Eve.  God loved Adam and Eve.  He gave  them authority (control) over everything He had made.  They were God's friends.  God  made a beautiful garden for them to live in.  God spoke with them there.  He gave them  permission to eat any of the fruit in the garden except for the fruit from one tree.  But  they  chose to disobey God, and they ate the forbidden fruit.   They sinned against God.  They  broke their friendship with Him, and He had to punish them.  God hates sin.  He sent them  out of the beautiful garden.  Since that time people have had to work hard to get the food  they need to eat.  Sin also brought pain, suffering, and death.

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Picture 5.  Adam and Eve had two sons.  Their names were Cain and Abel.  Cain was  jealous of Abel, and one day killed him.  God punished Cain for doing this wicked thing.   God is very grieved when people sin.  Sin is what has separated us from God.  God and  man could no longer have the close friendship that God wanted.

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Picture 6.  Adam and Eve had other children, and many generations (years) went by.  Now  there were many people, all descendants of Adam and Eve.  Each of them disobeyed God.    They were becoming more and more wicked.  Their sin became so great that God decided  to destroy them all in a great flood.  There was only one man who loved and obeyed God.    His name was Noah.  God told Noah to build a large ship called an Ark.   God was going  to save Noah and his family in this ship.  It took Noah many years to build the Ark.  All  during that time Noah warned the people about their bad ways, and the punishment  God  was going to send.  The people would not believe Noah's warnings.  They did not want to  turn from their evil ways.

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Picture 7.  God brought animals of every kind to Noah, and Noah took  them into the ship.   Then Noah and his wife, and their three sons, each one with his wife, also entered the ship.   There were only eight people in the Ark, with the animals.   Then, God closed the door.   After seven days, God sent very heavy rain and  brought water from under the ground.  In  forty days God flooded the whole earth.  It was too late for everyone outside the Ark.   They all drowned.  But Noah and his family were safe in the Ark because they had  believed and obeyed God.

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Picture 8.  Many years  went by and the descendants of Noah became many tribes.   Abraham was one of these descendants.  He was a man who also loved and obeyed God.   God promised Abraham that his descendants would become a great people.  Abraham and  his wife Sarah did not have any children at that time, but they still believed God's promise.   When they were very old, they had a son whom they called Isaac.  God  promised to do  something very special through Isaac and his descendants.  Abraham had children by other  women.  One of those children was named Ishmael.   He became the father of the Arab  nations.

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Picture 9.   The descendants of Isaac also became a great people, called Israel.  One of the  descendants of Isaac was Moses. He also believed and obeyed God.  God called Moses to  a mountain where He spoke with him.  God gave him laws to teach to the people.  Moses  came down from the mountain with the laws of God written on stone.  God's laws are for  all people.  His laws are good.

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Picture 10.  The laws that  God gave to Moses are for the good of all people.   These laws  tell us that we are to love, worship and obey the one true God.  We are not to make idols  or bow down to them. We should not use God's name in a disrespectful way.  All people  should set aside one day each week  to rest and worship God.  Children should obey and  honour their parents.   We must not murder.  We must not commit adultery.  We must not  steal.  We must not make false statements about other people.  And we must not desire the  things that belong to others.

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Picture 11.  In those days, when a person sinned by breaking  God's laws, he had to  sacrifice a lamb to God.  The lamb died in place of the offender.  This would remind the  offender that it was wrong to break God's law and that it was very displeasing to God.  The  lamb was a symbol of a much greater Sacrifice that would be made later, a Sacrifice that  God Himself would make.  It would take away the sins of all people who would accept  God's Sacrifice as the sacrifice for their sins.  God was planning to send Jesus into the  world to become the Sacrifice for the sins of all people.  God told this to several of His  Prophets, and they wrote about this in the Bible.  It was said of Jesus, "Look, the Lamb of  God that takes away the sins of the world".

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Picture 12.  Jesus was born in a very special way.  An angel from heaven was sent to a  young virgin named Mary.  Mary was engaged (promised in marriage) to a man named  Joseph.  The angel told Mary that God was going to cause her to become pregnant without  having contact with a man.  Mary knew that God had the power to make the heavens and  the earth by saying the word.  She knew that God could do what He said He would do,  and she believed Him.  In a very special way, God was the Father of Jesus.        The angel also appeared to Joseph in a dream.  The angel explained to  Joseph that  Mary had not been with another man, but that God was doing something special in her.   He instructed Joseph and Mary to name the child, "Jesus," which means,  "Savior."   Joseph obeyed God, and did not sleep with Mary until the baby was born.

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Picture 13.  About this time, the king required all people to return to the town of their  ancestors, so he could keep an account of the people.  Mary and Joseph had to travel to the  town of Bethlehem.  When they arrived there, no one had room for them.  All the houses  were full of people, so they had to stay where the cattle were kept.  It was there that Mary  gave birth to the baby Jesus.          That night, an angel appeared to some shepherds who were watching their sheep in a  field nearby.  He told them that this special Child, who was to be the Saviour of the people,  was born nearby.   Then, suddenly, many angels appeared in the sky, singing and praising  God.  The shepherds went to see this special Child.  They told the people all around there  how the angels had appeared to them.

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Picture 14.  We are not told very much about the early life of Jesus in the Bible.  We are  told that Mary and Joseph took the Baby Jesus to Egypt when someone was trying to kill  the Holy Baby.  Then they returned to Israel to the town of Nazareth.  Jesus grew in  wisdom and strength, and the grace of God was upon Him.          When Jesus was twelve years old, Mary and Joseph took him to Jerusalem.  He  talked about God with the teachers and leaders of Israel.   He listened to them, and asked  and answered questions.  They were all surprised at his great knowledge of God.   When  Jesus was about thirty years old, He began to teach people about God.  Many people  believed his teaching, and He became very well known.

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Picture 15.  Jesus had great power from God to do miracles.  He was able to heal blind  people.  He spoke to dead people and they came back to life.   He even walked on top of  the sea.  He did many great miracles in the presence of many people, to prove that He was  sent from God and had authority from God.  He could speak the word and it would  happen as He said.  Jesus was very special and many people knew it.

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Picture 16.  Jesus did many wonderful things, and many people followed Him.  Jesus was  kind, healed the sick, and taught God's way.  Jesus was good.  Jesus did not sin.  Jesus  always did what God wanted him to do.  He came to show us God's love, and to win  people back to follow God and walk in God's ways.          But there were influential religious leaders who were very jealous of Jesus.  They  did not want to admit that they had broken God's law and were sinners like the rest of the  people.   Their hearts were hard, and they did not want to believe that Jesus was sent from  God.  They told lies about Jesus, and had him arrested.         He was beaten. Soldiers placed a crown of thorns on his head and mocked him.  Jesus  could have resisted this and stopped them, but He did not resist.  He had come to the world  to become a Sacrifice for sin.   His life was going to be sacrificed for the sins of all people.   Jesus was taking upon Himself the punishment that the people deserved.

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Picture 17.  The solders nailed Jesus to a wooden cross.   Then they stood the cross upright  in the ground, and Jesus hung there until He died.  In those days it was the custom to kill  the worst criminals in this cruel way.    Two criminals were also put on crosses that day.    But Jesus was not a criminal; He was innocent. He had done no wrong. That day He was  dying for other peoples' sins, not His own.  He was dying for the sins of the people who  were alive then, but also for the sins of people who would come later.   His death takes  away the sins of  all who want to turn from their sinful ways and accept His Sacrifice as  their own sacrifice.  When Jesus died, He made the perfect sacrifice.  He paid for the sins  of all people with His sinless blood.  God has said that all other sacrifice is no longer  necessary because Jesus made the perfect sacrifice.

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Picture 18.  The enemies of Jesus thought they had destroyed him.  But this was not so.   After Jesus died on that cross, a wealthy friend put the body of Jesus into his own new  burial cave.   They closed the entrance of the cave with a large stone.  On the third day,  early in the morning some women came to the cave to perform the proper burial customs.   They were surprised to find the stone rolled away, and Jesus was not there.  They were  even more surprised to see two angels, who told them that Jesus was alive.  These  messengers from God told them very clearly that Jesus had risen from the dead.

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Picture 19.  After Jesus rose from the dead, He began to visit some of  his disciples.  He  talked with them and ate with them.   Thomas, one of his disciples, heard of this and could  not believe that Jesus was alive again.  He said, "Until I see His nail wounds and touch  Him, I will not believe."   Jesus came to this group again, this time when Thomas was  there.  Jesus spoke directly to Thomas, and Thomas fell down on his knees before him,  believing.   Jesus said, "You believe because you see Me.  Blessed are those who do not  see Me, and yet believe."

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Now it is time to turn over the cassette

Picture 20.  For forty days after Jesus rose from the dead,  He appeared to people.  Many  people saw Him and knew that He was alive.  Now it was time  for Jesus to go back to  Heaven.  He had finished the work He had come to do.  Jesus told his followers that they  were to go out and tell everyone everywhere what He had done.  Then, as many of His  followers watched,  Jesus rose off the ground and went higher and higher, until He went  into a cloud and disappeared from their sight.  Just then, two angels appeared.  They told  the disciples that Jesus would one day return in the same way that He left.  Jesus is now in  Heaven, preparing a place for all those who will believe in and follow Jesus.  Jesus made  the way for us to come to God.

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Picture 21.   Why did Jesus die on the cross?  Jesus died to save sinners  from the punishment of sin.  Jesus never sinned.  He died to take away the  sin that separates us from God.  The cross reminds us that Jesus was the  spotless (holy, sinless, pure) Lamb of God.  He was sacrificed for us.   When we believe in Jesus and repent (turn from our sin), God forgives our  sins.  Jesus makes us God's children and His friends.        

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Picture 22.  When Jesus was alive, He told many stories to help the people  understand God's ways.  He taught that there are two roads.  Everyone  starts out on the wide road of sin that leads to destruction and punishment.   We all have a sinful nature that we inherited from Adam, the first man.  We have sinned by doing things that are displeasing to God.        Jesus said that we should leave the wide road, and enter the narrow road  that leads to God in Heaven.  We can only enter the narrow road through  Jesus.  We enter it by repenting of our sins, and accepting that the sacrifice  Jesus made on the cross was for our sins.   Why not speak to Him now  from your heart?  Say to Him, "God, You are great and holy, but I confess  to You that I have sinned.  I believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for  my sin.  Please forgive me, clean my heart, and make me one of Your  children.  I want to follow the way of Jesus and come to live with You   (in  Heaven   optional, check suitability)  when I die. Thank you, Father.   Amen."

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Picture 23.  Jesus welcomes people from all tribes and nations and  languages.   When they believe in Jesus, they all become the children of  God.  Though  they are from many nations and cultures, they all belong to  one family,  the family of God, all united together because of the Lord  Jesus.   They are on the narrow way that leads to Heaven.

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Picture 24.  One night, a teacher of religion, named Nicodemus, came to  talk to Jesus.   Jesus told him something very unusual.  Jesus said that  everyone who wants to belong to God's family needs to be born a second  time.  When we enter  into the family of our parents, we are born into it.  When we enter into God's family, it is like being born a second time.  The  first is a physical birth; the second is a spiritual birth.  We have no power to  change ourselves.  The Holy Spirit of God gives us a new life when we  believe and follow Jesus.  We become new people, the people of God.

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Picture 25.  Before Jesus went back to Heaven, He promised  His disciples  that he would send them the gift of God's Holy Spirit.  Ten days after Jesus  returned to Heaven, there was a Jewish holy day.  Jewish people living in  many other nations came to Jerusalem to celebrate this.  The disciples of  Jesus were also there, all together in one place.  Suddenly, God's Holy  Spirit came and filled all the disciples, as Jesus had promised.  These Jewish  people from all those other nations were surprised when the disciples began speaking in all of their languages, about the wonderful things that God had done.  God's Spirit is powerful.  Now the Holy Spirit lives in all true  Christians and gives them power to love and obey Jesus.

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Picture 26.  Before a person believes in Jesus, he is like a man walking in the dark.  He stumbles and often falls into sin, because he has no light to guide him.  When we trust in the Lord Jesus, we become like a man  walking on a straight road on a sunny day!  Jesus said, "I am the Light of  the world.  If a man follows Me, he will not walk in darkness."  God gives  His Holy Spirit to help and teach all believers His way of life.

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Picture 27.   A Christian is a new person and wants to obey the Word of  God.  He is thankful that God has forgiven his sin.  A believer in Jesus  Christ must not commit adultery, fight, steal, or worship idols or other gods  (or spirits).  The Holy Spirit gives the believer power to turn away from evil  things and to do good things.

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Picture 28.  When a family is walking in God's way, the man loves his wife  and the woman honors her husband.  This is what the Word of God  commands.  They help and encourage each other and teach their children to  love God and obey His Word.  The Christian family prays and works  together for the Lord.

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Picture 29.  Jesus taught His followers to love all people, even their  enemies.  We should help anyone in need, even people of other nations or  religions.  Jesus told a story about a man who was traveling to another  town.  Robbers attacked him and beat him up.  A man from another  religion found the badly injured traveler.  He helped the man because he  was in need.  He did not ask payment.  Jesus said we, also, are to do good  things like this.

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Picture 30.  Some people are in contact with Satan or evil spirits, or believe  in idols and fetishes, before they become followers of Jesus.  Followers of Jesus are not to be friends with bad spirits.  We do not have to fear them or  serve them.  The Lord is more powerful than Satan, evil spirits, idols, or  fetishes.    Christian believers  get rid of everything that belongs to Satan  and evil spirits.   We believers do not need to fear Satan.  We must ask only  God to help and protect us.

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Picture 31.  Once there was a man who was filled with (possessed by) evil  spirits.  Ropes and chains could not hold him because the demons inside  him were very strong.  Jesus commanded the demons to come out of the  man, and they did!  This man was freed from the power the spirits had over  him, and went to tell his friends what Jesus had done.  Jesus has much  more power than evil spirits.  He has delivered many people from their  control.  Satan and evil spirits must all obey Jesus.

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Optional: If you are disturbed by evil spirits, ask other believers to  pray with you.  Ask the powerful Lord Jesus to send them away.  If we love  and obey Jesus, He lives in us by His Holy Spirit.  His power protects us,  and Satan cannot harm us.   (Bridge music)

Picture 32.  Satan often tries to tempt God's children to stop following the  Lord Jesus.  Satan wants us to forget God and God's ways, and wants to  tempt us with things like money, fine clothes, tobacco, immorality, and  strong drink.  Satan wants us to believe that these things are more important  than God.  He wants us to believe that these things will make us happy.   But Satan is a liar.   He tries to deceive us and turn us against God.  The Holy Spirit will help us to resist temptation when we trust the Lord Jesus  and follows Him.

(Bridge music)

Picture 33.  Jesus told this story:  "A young man left home, went far away, and did many evil things.  He committed adultery, wasted all the money his  father had given him, and sinned greatly.  After his money was finished, a  severe famine came and he became very poor and hungry.  He was sorry  for his sin, and returned to his father to ask forgiveness.  His father loved  him greatly, and he received the young man back again."        This story tells us that if we sin, we must be truly sorry and turn from  our sin.  Because God loves us so much, and because of the Sacrifice that  Jesus made for us,  God can forgive our sin and receive us back again.

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Picture 34.   What should God's people do if they become sick?   They can  pray to God in the name of Jesus, and believe that He will do whatever is  best.  They must not pray to anything else, or look to charms or fetishes.  God is able to heal the sick man if He wills, or help him find the correct  medicine.  God loves us and controls all that happens to His children.  God protects the believer from Satan, so we must not be afraid.  Jesus is with us  to give peace in times of trouble.

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Picture 35.  We all know that one day we will die.  But what happens to us  then?  The Bible, the Word of God, says that when a Christian dies, his  spirit goes to be with the Lord Jesus Christ.  His friends should not be  overcome with grief.  We must not fear death, because we know that God  loves us and has saved us from sin by our faith in Christ, The one who is  the sacrifice for our sins.  Unbelievers do not have this wonderful future of  eternal life with God after death.  They go to the place of punishment  because they have refused God's way.

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Picture 36.  Each part of our body has its own task.  The eye is for seeing,  the ear for hearing, and the mouth for talking and eating.  All the parts of  the body work together.  If one part is sick or injured, the whole body feels  it.  God says that believers are parts of one Body (called the Church).  The  Lord Jesus is the Head of that Body.  God has work for every Christian to  do (for example:  preaching, singing, teaching, farming, or cooking).  Each must work for the Lord Jesus to help the whole Body be strong.  All  believers must love each other and work together, or the Body will not be  strong.     

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Picture 37.  All believers should try to meet together regularly with other believers, to worship God.  We learn from  the Bible; sing hymns, and pray.   We should also bring gifts for the work of God.  God also commands us to  remember the death of the Lord Jesus.  His people share bread and drink   (local equivalent).  The bread reminds us of the body of Jesus which was  broken for us on the cross.  The drink reminds us of His blood which was  shed to cleanse us from sin.  We remember His death in this way, until He  comes back again.

(Bridge music)  

Picture 38.  One day the Lord Jesus will suddenly come back to earth again  from Heaven, just as He promised.  He will come to get all of God's family.   Jesus will raise up all of God's people who have died.  Their graves will be  empty.  God's people who are still alive, will go with them.  We will all meet  the Lord Jesus in the air, and stay with Him for ever.  The unbelievers will  be left behind to face the judgment of God.  We do not know when Jesus  will return, but we should be ready, and waiting for Him.

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Picture 39.  As the fruit tree produces fruit, the Spirit of God produces  good fruit in the life of a believer.   Jesus said, "I am the vine.  You are the  branches.  If you stay in Me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit."  God's  Holy Spirit lives and works inside our hearts.  The fruit He produces in us is  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control in our lives.  If the branches of the tree do not bear fruit, they  are cut down.  They die and are burned.  The followers of Jesus are to  produce much fruit. This glorifies and honors God, our Heavenly Father.

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Picture 40.  Jesus told his followers that they should  go and tell others the  wonderful news that they can be saved from sin and eternal punishment.   Many  people are confused by what they think Christians believe.   To them  it is a great mystery.   They may think, "Why are these people so different?"    "Why do they act like they do?"   "What are their motives?"   If you are a  Christian believer you should help others to understand that this Good  News is for everybody.   God's Holy Spirit will help us to have wisdom and  courage as we follow Jesus.  

(Bridge Music)

Ending:  My friend, I trust that this tape was interesting to you and will help  you to understand better what true Christians believe, and the way they  should act.   You may want to go back and listen to this tape many times.  

Stop the tape at any place, and think about these important words.  Ask  yourself "Do I follow God's way as I should?" "Have I allowed the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross to become the sacrifice for my sins?"    Talk  to God from your heart.   He loves all people.  He loves you.

(Music)

(After the message is finished, a few lines can be added to refer the listeners  to a specific follow-up:  advertise the dramatized scriptures,  the Jesus film,  the offer of a New Testament, or Bible;  catalogue of Christian materials, or  information about Christian radio or TV stations)