July 22, 2024
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Georgia Baptist pastors were challenged in a series of sermons on Monday to fulfill the Great Commission, preach the truth, take risks, and submit to the lordship of Christ no matter what.
Abilene Baptist Church Pastor Brad Whitt called on church leaders at the Georgia Baptist Preaching Conference to remember the excitement they felt as new believers about the Great Commission.
“I love being around people who have just gotten saved,” said Whitt, the first of four pastors who delivered sermons at the preaching conference held in conjunction with the Georgia Baptist Convention’s annual meeting at Warren Baptist Church. “You take a guy who has just gotten saved, and he hears John 20:21, and he's going to think to himself, ‘Wow, Jesus is sending me just like the Father sent him. That is amazing. That is awesome. I can’t imagine that I get the privilege of serving the Lord in that way.’ But those of us who have been saved for a while, we can think it, and we can read it, and we can say it, and even sing it, and so many times it goes in one ear and right out the other.”
Whitt challenged church leaders to return to John 20:21 if they become complacent about sharing the gospel.
“I want you to hear Jesus say again, ‘As the Father has sent me, I also send you,’” he said.
Dennis Watson, pastor of Harp’s Crossing Baptist Church in Fayetteville, told church leaders, “There’s too much at stake for us to be missing out on what we ought to be doing.”
“We should be exorting our people on a regular, ongoing basis,” he said. “You don’t have to tell them what’s going on the world. They know. They need to hear what God said about what’s going on the world.”
Watson challenged pastors to establish a vision for their churches and communities.
“Folks, where there is no revelation, where there is no word from God, people go crazy, and America has gone crazy,” he said. “And the solution for lostness and the solution for crazy is truth, and you and I, we have the truth in the Book that God has given us, and I believe He expects us to utilize it.”
Jeff Crook, pastor of Christ Place Church in Flowery Branch, called on Georgia Baptists to be more like the Apostle Paul in his willingness to go into dangerous places and to take risks to advance the gospel.
“God does business with people who mean business, and if you take risks, and if you step out on faith, and if you believe God for big things, and if you’re obedient to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, God will powerfully use your risks,” he said.
Crook said anyone who takes a risk for God can expect to have the artillery of hell aimed at them.
“When you take a risk, you will suffer,” he said. “When you take a risk, you will be persecuted. When you take a risk, you will be in danger. Risks are always costly.”
But, he said, the reward is always worth the risk.
“You can’t be a risk-taker and Netflix binge,” he said. “You can’t be a risk-taker and gossip in the hallways at the Georgia Baptist Convention. You can’t be risk-taker and squabble with people on social media. You can’t be a risk-taker and give your people those Saturday night special sermons. You can’t be a risk-taker when all you do is look at your Guidestone retirement fund, and you’re just coasting until you can cash in.”
Zach Terry, pastor of First Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach, Fla., called on Georgia Baptists to “decide, declare and believe” the way the Israelites did when they saw fire fall from heaven in Elijah’s day.
“When the fire fell, they made a quick decision,” he said. “They made a right decision. There is power in an unqualified, wholehearted decision to follow the Lord Jesus Christ no matter what.”
“Sometimes a decision means the battle is on,” Terry said. “Sometimes the decision means you’re going to get counseled. Sometimes the decision means you’re going to make some hard decisions.”
