July 2, 2024
MACON, Ga. – Georgia Baptist pastors were challenged in a series of sermons on Sunday and Monday to ramp up their efforts to share the gospel, preaching more evangelistically than ever in the perilous times the world is facing today.
“Every day, we should be looking for opportunities to tell others about Jesus,” said J.J. Washington, evangelism catalyst for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. “We’ve got to stay faithful.”
Washington was one of five preachers who spoke at the Georgia Baptist Evangelism Conference that was held at Turning Point at Mabel White, a Southern Baptist church in Macon.
“Just because you’re in the Bible Belt, in the South, we still need to do the work of an evangelist,” said J.J. Washington, evangelism catalyst for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. “Wouldn’t it be something if it could be said one day in Heaven that all who dwelt in Georgia heard the Word of our Lord Jesus because Georgia Baptists got serious about the Great Commission.”
Herb Reavis, senior pastor of North Jacksonville Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla, warned pastors that “high maintenance Christians,” people who let their own egos and pride stand in the way of doing the Lord’s work, will try to thwart their work.
“I’m telling you that what’s holding up revival is not outside the church, it’s inside the church,” he said. “What’s killing evangelism is not outside the church, it’s inside the church. There will be no revival and there will be no spiritual awakening until we come to the end of self, and we exalt Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
Reavis said churches have too many people who don’t recognize the perilous times the world is facing. Those people, he said, are too busy quarreling about the church thermostat to be bothered with pointing others to the way of salvation.
“I don’t care about the temperature in the church,” Reavis said. “I care about the temperature in a red-hot hell,” he declared.
Fred Luter Jr., senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, reminded pastors that the Holy Spirit not only makes a believer a new person but also gives a believer a new purpose a new power to reach the world for Christ.
“You can’t do this on your own,” he said. “I don’t care what church you go to; I don’t care how long you’ve been saved; I don’t care how may degrees you have; you must wait to be empowered by the Spirit of God.”
H.B. Charles Jr., senior pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, reminded the crowd that evangelism is not solely the pastor’s job but is the the job of every Christian.
“Every disciple is to be a reproducing disciple,” he said. “Faithful disciples make disciples.”
Charles pointed out the first two letters in the word "gospel" are G-O.
"We are to be a going church for a coming Christ," he said.
Some 300 people gathered in Macon for the first session of this year’s evangelism conference, which is being held at three separate locations over a three-week period.
Over the next two weeks, more than 1,000 Georgia Baptists will have attended this year’s multi-site Georgia Baptist Evangelism Conference.
Because of declining attendance in recent years, Washington opted to hold the conference at three regional sites this year to make it easier for church leaders to attend. The move appears to have paid off. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend the conference with all three sites combined.
Next Sunday and Monday, the conference will move to the southern region at First Baptist Church in Tifton. And on March 13-14, it will be in the northern region at First Baptist Church in Cumming.
General admission is free for the conference. The ‘lunch and learn” sessions with Gaines are $10 and includes a Chick-Fi-La box lunch and a Share Jesus booklet that will be discussed during the session.
To register, go to https://gbcevangelismconferences.com.
