Churches need pews filled with people committed to Christ and determined to win others to the Lord, according to three church consultants who spoke during the Alabama Baptist State Convention Evangelism Conference.
Jerry Pipes, director of ministry evangelism with the North American Mission Board (NAMB), said Christians need to live lives that reflect God. Speaking minutes later during the conference’s opening session, Waylon Moore, founder of Missions Unlimited in Tampa, Fla., said churches must nourish new converts.
Delivering the conference’s final sermon Tuesday night, church growth consultant Ron Lewis of Carrollton, Texas, said churches must have a heart for unbelievers.
Approximately 1,300 people were challenged during the two-day conference, Jan. 24-25 at the 3,500-seat Dothan Civic Center. The event featured 12 speakers and music by various singers and groups.
Included among the speakers were Alabamians Junior Hill, Harper Shannon and Glenn Graham Jr.; black evangelist Frederick Haynes; Jerry Pipes, director of ministry evangelism, North American Mission Board; and Jacobo Garcia of the National Baptist of Venezuela .
“It was a splendid experience,” said Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Convention. “We had good participation and I think all that came thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Lance said the conference offered a time “for the larger Alabama Baptist family” to come together for inspiration and motivation.
“This is the time when we can gather for fellowship, motivation and inspiration and it’s sorely needed,” Lance said.
Sammy Gilbreath, director of evangelism for the State Board of Missions (SBOM) said he was encouraged by “the sweet spirit” of the meeting.
“There’s no (philosophical) agenda,” Gilbreath said. “Every speaker walked up, preached the Word of God,” there was “… just the sweet spirit of preaching the gospel.”
“There have been times, in Southern Baptist life, we’ve gone to conferences and it seemed like everything was an agenda — everyone had an axe to grind,” Gilbreath added. “We don’t have that in Alabama … so it’s wonderful to come to a brand new city where we’ve never been, to a new arena we’ve never been in and have that kind of sweet spirit.”
Gilbreath said he is “deeply convinced” Baptists must equip lay people if the denomination is going to win people to Christ.
“I believe the only way to equip lay people to do that is to motivate and inspire pastors to go back and do it,” he said. “So, it’s terribly important to bring pastors together to let them hear from their peers how to do it and how they should do it.”
Speaking to the crowd, Pipes questioned why so many churches are filled with people who are lost. He speculated the reason may be because many Christians aren’t witnessing to others.
“Why is it that 95 percent of our people who grow up in our churches will never lead a single person to Christ?” Pipes asked.
“If Jesus is who He claims to be, that means developing a relationship with Him must be a priority.”
The evangelist said pastors must mobilize their congregations to share their faith. For parents, he said the challenge is to live exemplary lives and to mentor their children.
Pipes said there are only two things that will exist in a million years — people and the Word of God, stressing the latter endures forever.
“The only thing I can do with my life, the only thing you can do with your life is take the Word of God and build it into another,” Pipes said.
“Do you know why people don’t talk about Christ?” he asked. “He’s not their best friend.”
“Our churches are jammed with people who say they are Christians, but don’t live the life,” Pipes said. “They are trusting in a prayer that never changed them.”
Moore asked those present to consider whether they have a Teflon or Velcro church. Offering an analogy of how omelettes often slip right out of a Teflon skillet, he said churches need to have Velcro pews that keep members active.
He said a tragedy is occurring with new converts who are not finding their place in the church.
“Those that are being born again are being lost to the work of Christ,” Moore said.
The problem, he said, is that churches are not nourishing and challenging new converts. Moore said new converts are like babies.
“You’ve got to feed them (spiritually),” he said. “Who has that new convert eating in your church?”
Moore demonstrated of how one Christian touching the life of someone else can influence many. He said those converts can go on to reach other converts.
“Anyone that you win and mentor, you get a fraction of the action,” Moore said. “The problem is, you win one and you don’t help them grow.”
Moore said there are four areas important for new converts:
-Time, with Christians praying for new converts within 24 hours of their decision and visiting them with 48 hours.
-Intercession in their lives.
-Modeling of the word by other Christians.
-An evangelistic environment to grow in.
Churches, Moore said, need the eyes of Jesus to see the potential that all people’s decision have in furthering the Kingdom of God.
“We don’t have the eyes big enough to see what God wants to do with Jesus Christ in Alabama,” he said.
Lewis said the devil has taken the heart out of people and that we have lost our heart for unbelievers.
“We’re surrounded by people whose lives have never had the touch of God in their lives,” he said.
“God has a searching heart for unbelievers,” Lewis said. “The question is, do you and I have a heart for unbelievers?”
Claiming most churches do not have a heart for unbelievers, Lewis added most congregations are only concerned with everyone being happy.
“What’s happened, is the heart’s gone for reaching lost people,” Lewis said.
Challenging his audience, he asked how long it had been since pastors and church members prayed to God that another year would go by without someone being saved.
“You see, the world is looking for that kind of church,” Lewis said. “Something has to make a difference on Monday because they went there on Sunday.
“The goal is that they have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ,” he said. “The defeat comes when you no longer add new life to the church.”
Lewis said unbelievers come to church the first six months because they enjoy the preaching, music and other programs. After the second six months he asserted that they are still there because they have begun to form friendships.
He said it is at the conclusion of the first year that unbelievers ask if what they have in their lives is any better than before they came to church.
Churches need to draw a line in the sand, with Lewis adding they should say as a congregation “Either touch us or kill us.”
“Maybe you’re not sick of it, but I am,” Lewis said. “Folks, I’m not going to a church where God doesn’t show up.
“When you get to a church where God shows up, there’s nothing like it,” he added.
Lewis said churches need people who will pray for a heart for unbelievers.
“Guys, we’re scared to death of the Holy Spirit in most of our churches,” he said. “But it’s what the lost soul wants.
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