Without question the use of the radio increases the effectiveness of a regular evangelistic effort. When financial support is limited, and time on the radio is therefore restricted to a single half-hour period a week, as it will be in many efforts, we believe it best to make the broadcast direct from the studio each Sunday afternoon between five and six—not earlier than five, and not later than six. More people are listening in on Sunday than on any week day, and the use of the radio at this hour on Sunday can be made a good builder for the tabernacle service, not only on that night, but throughout the week as well.
During our present effort we have used the radio each Sunday from 5:15 to 5:45. We consider this period ideal. One or two stanzas of a hymn open our broadcast. Then follows a two-minute prayer. Next we announce our subject at the tabernacle for the night, together with the week's program, merely giving the subjects and the nights on which they will be delivered. Then we give a fifteen-minute talk on some interesting feature of Bible truth from God's word. We use five minutes at the close to arouse all the interest possible in the subject for the immediate Sunday night at the tabernacle, and to stimulate interest in the subjects for the week. After the closing song, the last word is, "Everybody get ready now to hear that important subject tonight at — on —." This will bring people out who otherwise would not come.
Daily radio announcements are also very profitable. For instance, our local station charges $2.50 for each 150-word announcement. The manager agreed to give us one free announcement for every paid one. So this gave us one announcement about ten o'clock each morning, and one just before six at night.
These announcements are, of course. each worded differently, and are so written as to have "pulling power" to cause the listeners to come to hear the subject for that night at the tabernacle or other place of meeting. The more appeal one can put into the announcements, the more effective they are. Hence it takes study and careful thought to write them. We give some typical announcements used over the radio during our meetings here. We do not present these as models, and would not concede that we could not write better ones; but they will visualize what we have attempted. In such announcements repetition of the place, time, and subject is necessary to impress effectively the listeners.
Suggestive Radio Announcements
On "Heaven."—If you were about to emigrate to some far-off land, there to spend the rest of your life, you would surely wish to learn all you could about that country before you went there to live. Friends, we expect to spend not just fifty or sixty years in heaven, but we expect to spend eternity there. Then why shouldn't we be intensely interested here and now in learning all we can about heaven? Tonight at 7:30 will be your chance to hear_________ show from the Bible "What and Where Is Heaven?"—at the ___________ . Remember the time, tonight at 7:30; the subject, "What and Where Is Heaven?" and the place, ________.
On "The Second Coming of Christ."---There is expectancy in the air today. The world is looking for the appearance of some great man of destiny to set the world right and to lead into established peace and prosperity. Tonight at 7:30 Evangelist ______ will speak at the ________ on the subject, "The Coming Man of Destiny Who Will Set the World Right." In this address he will also explain the great subject of the second coining of Christ. Evangelist ___ especially invites all who love the second appearing of Christ to be at the tabernacle tonight to hear about the glorious appearing of our Lord, and the coming of the heavenly King. If Jesus is coming, everybody ought to know about it. So plan now to come tonight at 7:30 to the -_____ .
On "What Must I Do to be Saved?"—Out of the almost endless number of questions that men ever ask, there is one question that towers above all others as man's supreme inquiry.
Certainly man's greatest question demands a true and adequate answer. Tonight at 7:30, at___ , Evangelist ____________ will present from the Bible "God's Answer to Man's Greatest Question." No one should miss hearing God's satisfying response to man's outstanding query. So lay your plans now to hear this great address. Remember the time, tonight at 7:30; and the place, , for the answer to the greatest question that man ever has asked or ever can ask.
On "The New EAwrir."—Would you like to know when better times are really coming to stay? If so, then hear Evangelist _________ tonight at 7:30 at the ________ , on the subject, "God's New Deal for Mankind—the Dawn of the Better Day." This address will deal with "God's Purpose for This World, and How That Purpose Will Be Accomplished." Everybody in this old world ought to know the great purpose of the Creator for this world, and how that purpose will be accomplished. In this address — will answer, among other things, three vital questions: What will become of man and his world? Will the world ever come to an end? and, When shall the will of God be done in this earth as it is now done in heaven? Remember the time, tonight at 7:30; and the place, ___________.
On "The Seven Seals."—Have you, as a Bible reader, ever wondered what those four mysterious horses mentioned in the sixth chapter of Revelation could mean,—the white horse whose rider went forth conquering and to conquer; the red horse whose rider took peace from the earth, so that men killed one another; the black horse under which it took a day's wages to buy food for one meal; and the pale horse, when one quarter of the people were killed? Tonight at 7:30 at the _______________Evangelist ___________ will take up the sixth chapter of Revelation and show the meaning of these four mysterious horses which the Bible said would appear. This is your opportunity to hear about this great prophecy of the Seven Seals of Revelation, and to see God's moving pictures of the great battle of the ages between truth and error. Remember the time, tonight at 7:30; and the place, _______ .
Montgomery, Ala.
