Geoff Hammond, president of the North American Mission Board, challenged Alabama Baptists to seize the moment and live with urgency when it comes to personal evangelism. His first time to address a statewide group of Alabama Baptists, Hammond preached during the Feb. 26 morning session of the Alabama Baptist State Evangelism Conference.
"There are divine moments all around," Hammond said. "We need to believe God can use us."
Noting he believes Southern Baptists are losing confidence in sharing the gospel, Hammond said, "We are criticizing each other, pointing fingers … doing unproductive things … but we need to be on mission in North America, because it is a mission field. … We need to get back to the Great Commission."
The estimated 400 million people in North America over the next 35 years will be older and of many mixed races, he said. "We are No. 5 in the world for ethno-linguistic groups."
But even more than those challenges, "North America is getting darker — more secular, more pluralistic," Hammond explained.
For some, this seems like an impossible situation, but Jonathan and the people of Israel in 1 Samuel 13–14 provide an example of not giving up in an impossible situation, he said.
When King Saul realized only 600 men were with him in the fight against the Philistines, he said it was an impossible situation and sat under the pomegranate tree but Jonathan saw an opportunity.
In 1 Samuel 14, Jonathan provides the example of how to step out ahead, step up in faith and not worry about how many are being reached but who is being reached, Hammond said. "This has always been about a journey of faith. That’s why God gives us impossible situations. If we could do it all on our own, we would not need God," he said, adding that in North America today, we are outnumbered and out-armed.
"We’re at our best when the odds are against us," Hammond noted. "That’s why new church plants and new Sunday School classes are effective. They have to be active to grow it. There is no time to sit under the pomegranate tree.
"How many times have you sat under the pomegranate tree?" he asked. "God is at work and has invited you to join Him as partner, but when the opportunity came … you made excuses."
But rationalizing and idealizing don’t get it done, Hammond said, noting fear is one of the greatest obstacles to Christians sharing their faith.
"God is giving you an opportunity to step out ahead and step up in faith to prove God Almighty is still God Almighty."
Pointing to 1 Corinthians 2:5, he said, "God continues to give us divine moments in order to share our faith.
"If we are going to seize divine moments, we’ve got to be prepared to take a risk, be rejected, take initiative, and remember it is always a choice."
Alabama-native Bobby Welch, immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, echoed the need for personal evangelism.
He also noted a need for pastors to lead the effort by reviving the hope of soul winning in their congregations.
"It is possible for everybody on the face of this globe to be saved," said Welch, who serves as the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s strategist for global evangelical relations. "God and Jesus still [have] hope for this world."
There are people all over the world who know people who know Jesus, but many of those Christians are not sharing their story.
"You can’t get them to open their mouth to tell people who are waiting on them," Welch said. "We’ve got to revive the hope of the people in the pews. They need encouragement and they need to be led and have the hope to do it.
"We need to have a hope alive in our lives," he said. "God’s excited today about reaching a lost world. Jesus is excited today about reaching a lost world. The Holy Spirit is excited today about reaching a lost world. Folks in heaven are excited today about reaching a lost world. Even hell is full of soul winners down there and they’re excited. Now what about us?"
Preaching from Romans 9–10 and following the conference theme of When Your Well Runs Dry, Come and Drink, Welch said we need to let down our bucket in order to draw up fresh hope and fill our hearts with fresh compassion.
"(We need that) [c]ompassion for a lost and dying world, for people who if they don’t get saved will miss heaven and end up in hell."
And the help is available, Welch said, noting pastors need only "call on their brethren."
"You’ve got all you need … common, ordinary people (in your church).
He noted there are those who are looking and longing. "Souls are still searching and bless God Almighty, the Savior is still saving."
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