The 2016 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Pastors Conference focused on the exposition of 2 Timothy 4 with the theme “Live This!” on June 12–13.
Ten speakers discussed the issues of suffering, endurance, the gospel, cross-cultural ministry, evangelism and urged pastors to “do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry.” The conference preceded the SBC annual meeting in St. Louis, Missouri.
Noah Oldham, pastor of August Gate Church, St. Louis, opened the conference by examining how ministers of the gospel should endure suffering for the glory of God.
“Suffering goes hand-in-hand with our call, and God is calling us to embrace it for His glory and our joy,” said Oldham, who also serves as North American Mission Board’s Send St. Louis coordinator.
Oldham discovered the painful reality of this truth in 2007, when he followed God’s call on his life to plant churches. But this new calling from God also brought a “year from hell.” Oldham ended up in the hospital because of a heart condition caused by stress.
‘Complete failure’
“I felt like a complete failure,” he added, “until I realized it was God who was tearing me apart so that He could put me back together. It wasn’t a year from hell. It was a year straight from heaven.”
Following Jesus, living out God’s call, is worth the pain that will inevitably come, he said. “Don’t give in to fear,” Oldham said, “but by the power of God, because of your calling, for the sake of the gospel, endure suffering.”
Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, Texas, urged participants to fulfill their ministry calling, to be faithful, to be fruitful in their efforts and to finish well. The way to accomplish these tasks is to “do the work of an evangelist,” Graham said.
Basing his message from 2 Timothy 4:5–8, Graham said, “Pastors and people in ministry are called to … keep showing up and being faithful,” emphasizing that pastors set the tone for the evangelistic climate of their churches.
A call for revival was Greg Laurie’s message, saying believers want to see an awakening in America but revival must first start in the church.
Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, Riverside, California, said, “God is giving our country some wake-up calls. But it is not going to be solved by politicians.
“We point our fingers to D.C., and to Hollywood, but the breakdown is in God’s house,” he said, telling pastors that he was praying for “stunning spiritual awakening.”
Other speakers included James MacDonald, pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, Illinois; David Platt, president of the International Mission Board; Byron McWilliams, pastor of First Baptist Church, Odessa, Texas; Ed Stetzer, newly appointed executive director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism in Wheaton, Illinois; Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church, West Palm Beach, Florida; Derwin Gray, pastor of Transformation Church, Charlotte, North Carolina; and Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Georgia.
Dave Miller, of Iowa, is president of the 2017 Pastors Conference.
(BP)
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