It’s about being someone and something for the Savior and that’s every single person, Rick Ousley told those attending the State Evangelism Conference Feb. 26–27 at Lakeside Baptist Church, Birmingham. "Every single thing we do matters. We are not on call a few moments a week.
"Has anybody ever been awed by the Jesus in you?" asked Ousley, former pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham. "You and I were worth the blood of the Son of God. We have a Kingdom agenda."
But the "pits" will come, he said, preaching from Psalm 40. A pit is a place where we don’t have any resources of our own from which to draw, Ousley said. "God never wastes a pit. … It is a place to purify and purge. Sometimes it takes desperation to cleanse us. When the desperation factor is greater than the ego factor, then we are a candidate for a move of God."
Junior Hill, an evangelist from Hartselle, said a small ego is one of the marks of a great preacher.
"Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a generation of preachers who were not too impressed with who they are?" he said.
Preaching from Luke 7:24–28, Hill said the person Jesus named as the greatest of all preachers — John the Baptist — was totally unimpressed with himself. "When people asked John who he was, he didn’t even tell them his name."
John simply introduced himself as a voice preparing the way for Christ, Hill said.
"I may not be able to help being a big man, but God keep me from becoming a big shot," he said, adding that we must decrease and God must increase. "If Jesus is going up, don’t be too concerned about what’s going down."
Kevin Hamm, pastor of Gardendale’s First Baptist Church, said pride can cause believers to miss major ministry opportunities by messing up their spiritual eyes.
In the parable of the good Samaritan, the priest who passed by the wounded man on the other side of the road is like a prideful senior pastor of today, Hamm said.
"The reason our churches aren’t making a huge impact is because our eyes are messed up," he explained. "We’ve got to see people the way God sees people."
Another reason the church isn’t making an impact is because our hearts are messed up, Hamm continued. "We’ve forgotten how to have love and compassion for hurting people."
If churches aren’t careful, then they’re going to lose the next generation, according to Mac Brunson, pastor of First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla.
"Just the slightest bent away from our mission now and there will arise a generation after us who does not know the Lord or the work the Lord has done among us," he said.
This happened with the Israelites, Brunson explained, noting that the changes that took place between the era of Joshua and the Judges caused an entire generation to lose sight of God’s will for it.
He said the shift occurred when the Israelites lost their passion for the mission, their unique impact in the community and their priority of passing the baton along to the next generation.
Charles Carter, pastor emeritus of Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, said reaching any generation is about getting the word out.
Preaching from Luke 24:45–49, he pointed out how Jesus taught the disciples to spread the Word.
The disciples’ missions field was specified, Carter noted. "This is to be done universally and locally, beginning at Jerusalem, locally, right where you are.
"It is the epitome of hypocrisy to go 2,000 miles across the ocean to tell people about Jesus and not to tell the man down the street," he said.
The disciples’ ministry was also personalized, Carter said, noting it has to be relational and intentional.
Evangelism is all about using those relationships to transition people into the presence of God who can transform them, according to Reginald Calvert, pastor of New Jerusalem Baptist Church, Bessemer.
Preaching from 2 Kings 5, he pointed out the vital roles of the minor characters who pointed Naaman toward the God who could heal him.
"Be going where you’re going and be aware of people around you, and God will set up a ministry opportunity for you," Calvert said. "If we’re going to be intentional about evangelism, we have to be intentional about meeting the needs of people."
According to Tom Whitsett, pastor of First Baptist Church, Jasper, Southern Baptist churches with members who lack intentionality can be too much like a college football game.
"In that stadium, there are 90,000 people who desperately need exercise watching 22 men who desperately need rest," he said. "God didn’t save any of us to take up space in the church or sit on the sidelines."
When Jesus comes to church, people get busy bringing in their friends, Whitsett said, preaching from Mark 2:1–12.
"Can you imagine what it must have been like in that crowded house when those men cut the hole in the ceiling to get their friend to Christ? We need men like that who will get out there in the community and do what it takes to win folks to Christ," he said.
Persistence in evangelism is necessary, according to Troy Garner, founding pastor of Fellowship of Faith Church, Huntsville, because "there is no such thing as a group plan to glory."
"There are people in churches who don’t know God. My grandfathers are both deacons, but they cannot give me salvation. I have to know God myself," he said.
The apostle John wrote his first Epistle so that we can know for sure that we have God’s pardon, not just wish for it, Garner explained.
Dan Moran, an evangelist with Birmingham-based Dan Moran Ministries, said the surety that God’s pardon has erased our guilt gives us a banner of hope under which to finish the race.
"We can declare hope and freedom with our lives," Moran said. "Don’t let someone discourage you — you’ve been set free." (Jennifer Davis Rash contributed)
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