+ foster care, adoption, and evangelism

Transcription

1 a publication of the southern baptists of texas convention foster care, adoption, and evangelism + partnership missions: transforming lives and transforming churches + building a youth ministry that echoes in 3 simple steps + discipleship before evangelism?

2 from the sbtc We are confessional The SBTC is a confessional fellowship. The current Baptist Faith and Message (2000) is our statement of faith. Affiliated churches and ministries express their agreement by affirming the BFM2000. This provides a set of parameters. Every affiliated church or ministry is assured they are connecting with a group of like-minded believers. We are cooperative The SBTC gives the highest percentage (55%) among state conventions out of budgeted receipts to the ministries of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBTC supports SBC agencies and ministries in North America and around the world. The SBTC invests the Texas budget allocation (45%) to assist in church planting, evangelistic efforts and strengthening existing churches. Colleges and family ministries also receive funding. Our Directors Shane Pruitt Director Evangelism spruitt@sbtexas.com Evangelism Student Collegiate Doug Hixson Director Church Planting & Missions dhixson@sbtexas.com We are responsive The SBTC Disaster Relief Ministry has aided in disasters from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to Hurricane Harvey of They were the first to respond to Harvey and of the last to leave. The Disaster Relief Ministry s purpose is to prepare, equip, train and mobilize churches and volunteers to fulfill the Great Commission by meeting real needs and sharing the hope of Jesus Christ to those whose lives have been impacted by disasters. We are committed The SBTC is committed to provide ministry assistance to the local church. Whether it is small groups, Sunday School, Women s Ministry, Ethics and Religious Liberty, Student Camps, Pastoral Care or over 100 different local church ministries the SBTC staff is dedicated to help the church be gospel centered. The staff of the SBTC is here to serve you our pastors and churches. Please do not hesitate to let us know how we can serve you.

3 contents 2 5 lessons that Billy Graham taught us reach cities reach austin reach el paso 4 community and mission: a divine meeting 28 reach houston 6 how authentic christianity is the answer for students in this chaotic world 30 there is no plan b God s plan to reach sinners with the good 8 10 foster care, adoption, and evangelism While adoption and fostering is a beautiful picture of the gospel, those of us who are fostering and adopting are not saviors. Only Jesus can be that. But we can pray for God to use us to meet a need, and that he will be glorified through it. it s preaching time: why the gospel should be in every sermon news of the gospel is through the local church. There is no plan B, no contingency plan, and no other options we must weigh to see if he will use us to reach the lost. The vehicle for gospel advancement has always been the local church. why church planting is a priority in our church serve, love and serve again in our churches as it is in heaven reaching the campus unreached 40 harvey, southern baptists, and cooperation An entire nation was glued to the TV news coverage of rescue after rescue from Hurricane Harvey that left much of Southeast Texas under water. 16 a movement 42 sbtc dr team completes key relief projects in puerto rico 20 partnership missions: transforming lives and transforming churches 44 Hurricane Harvey DR: unprecedented disaster, unparalleled gospel opportunity It has been exciting and amazing to watch the dawn of a new generation of mission sending and going through partnership missions. As the local church has begun to better understand, partnership missions is more than giving and praying for our mission agencies; it requires going the gospel and diversity discipleship before evangelism? how are you doing with your assignment? sbtexas.com 1

4 evangelism 5 lessons that Billy Graham taught us By Shane Pruitt Director of Evangelism, SBTC On February 21st, 2018, heaven gained another mighty worshipper of Jesus and earth lost a great man of integrity, William Franklin Graham, Jr. More affectionately known as Billy. He was America s Pastor and lived 99-years as a shining example to us all. I had the honor of hearing the legendary evangelist preach live one time. It was the 2002 Dallas crusade at Texas Stadium. The stadium was filled to the brim with people, energy and the Holy Spirit. Billy Graham, at 83 years young, stood up and preached the clear gospel with boldness, followed by hundreds, if not thousands, pouring onto the field to profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As a young man at the time, I was captivated by this living legend. But even more so, I was captivated by the Savior he proclaimed. It inspired me to watch this great man from a distance for the last sixteen years. Although I never met him, he still taught me many things about preaching, walking in integrity and constantly pointing people to Jesus. In fact, I believe this great preacher has ministered to an entire nation and has taught us all many things. Here are at least five lessons that Billy Graham taught us: 1 Live a focused life. Whether people believed in the Jesus Billy Graham preached or not, everyone believed that he believed it. He had one focus to his life, to preach the love of Jesus to a world that desperately needed it. He once said, God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, I love you. He focused on the essentials and wasn t distracted by secondary issues. It s easy to be distracted by things that won t matter a hundred years from now. If we were to be honest, most of the things that distract us don t really matter in that very moment. If the enemy can t make you fall into sin, he will distract you with silliness. We are here on the earth to know God and to make God known. 2 Stand with boldness. For many years, Billy Graham would preach to thousands while standing under a huge banner that quoted the words of Jesus, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is a lot of cultural pressure to kneel to political correctness. However, in the midst of a changing culture leaning more and more toward religious pluralism a belief that there are many paths that lead to God Billy Graham never kneeled or buckled to the pressure. He boldly stood and proclaimed that Jesus was the only way. As Christians, may we be emboldened by this same conviction! 3 Practice what you preach. Billy Graham was the epitome of integrity. He routinely preached, If evil were not made to appear attractive, there would be no such thing as temptation. It was no secret that he constantly surrounded himself with safeguards and accountability. There are numerous stories of him having 2 sbtc church missions & evangelism

5 evangelism the television removed from his hotel room. People were sent in to check his room before he would enter. In over sixty-years of ministry, there were no scandals attached to him. Conservatives and liberals both recognized that his ministry was always in line with his message. He taught us all that our calling is too important and the cost is too high to fall into sin. Nothing hinders the ministry more than hypocrisy. 4 God does extraordinary things through ordinary people. It s easy to look at Billy Graham as a larger-than-life figure. Words like legend, spiritual giant, and super-christian come to mind when you think of him. However, his daughter Anne Graham Lotz describes her daddy in a different way through a statement she released after his passing: When I think of him, I don t think of Billy Graham, the public figure. I think of my Daddy. The one who was always a farmer at heart. Who loved his dogs and his cat. Who followed the weather patterns almost as closely as he did world events. Who wore old blue jeans, comfortable sweaters, and a baseball cap. Who loved lukewarm coffee, sweet ice tea, one scoop of ice cream, and a plain hamburger from McDonald s. God is not looking for all-stars. He already has an all-star, named Jesus. He is just looking for ordinary people who will follow the all-star, Jesus, with unwavering hearts. 5 There are no perfect people. When you look up the word Christian in a dictionary, you would expect to see a picture of Jesus followed by a picture of Billy Graham. However, although Billy Graham was a godly man, he was not a perfect man. Dr. Graham often shared about his greatest regret, and that was not spending enough time with his children. He estimated that he was gone approximately 60-percent of his children s growing up years. Preaching crusades and doing ministry would often pull him away for weeks and months at a time. This is a great reminder that the Savior Billy Graham preached about was the same Jesus that he himself needed. This should be an encouragement to us all. No one is perfect, and everyone needs Jesus. What a great man Billy Graham is. Yes, I intentionally said is instead of was. The greatest lesson he taught us all is that he is not dead today. He is actually more alive than we are. Not because he was a great man, but because he worshipped a greater Savior. He spent his life walking in integrity while pointing people to Jesus. Today, he is getting to stand in the literal presence of the very One to whom he spent his life pointing to. Well done, good and faithful servant. Well done. leadership conversations sbtexas.com/lc Released EVERY MONTH on the FOURTH THURSDAY Conversations between ministers, pastors & church leaders All sessions are archived on our online training site. Join our list for updates and new online content online@sbtexas.com. Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 3

6 missions community and mission: a divine meeting By Dustin Willis Executive Director of Marketing, North American Mission Board My wife and I have a rugged wooden farm table. It s not impressive there are scratches, stains and some cracks that make you wonder if it can even hold another plate. As a family of four, the table is probably too big for us. We don t even have enough chairs to go around it so an old trunk that sits on iron cast wheels acts as a bench. Even though the table is bulky and awkward, it has become the most significant place in our house. It is our place of meeting. Around this simple piece of furniture, we share stories, corny jokes, old memories, laughter and tears, joys and pain. Together we eat, pray and live around this battered table. We are learning to view our home, and this farm table, as a means of advancing the gospel. It s rare that our family is the only one gathering around this table. Our kids love having others join us and are constantly asking, Who s coming over tonight? Having others share a meal with us has become a regular rhythm in which we live. We are learning to view our home, and this farm table, as a means of advancing the gospel. Through this God-ordained transition we have seen God transform our understanding of both community and mission. Having others share a meal with us has become a regular rhythm in which we live. We are learning to view our home, and this farm table, as a means of advancing the gospel. Through this God-ordained transition we have seen God transform our understanding of both community and mission. 4 sbtc church missions & evangelism

7 missions Within the church, we tend to equate the word mission with a trip we take or a weekend project that we interact with on occasion. We are prone to define community as something we experience through some type of Sunday program or home group Bible study. Thankfully there is no need to separate community and mission. In the wisdom of God s plan, these two critical aspects of the Christian life work in tandem. Jesus, in fact, prayed for this in John 17. He begs the Father that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me (John 17:23). Jesus links the love that we have with one another with his mission to the world. As we grow in love for one another, the world will be drawn to saving faith. Your city can be transformed when community and mission meet at the table. Your table can be more than a place that meals are shared it can become the place where community and mission meet. Picture it a table for the hurting, the lonely, the rich, the hasbeens, the have-nots, the popular, the rebellious and the self-righteous. Imagine God taking those gathered around your table and forming them together for the greatest mission they could ever join. This is his track record from Genesis to now. Community is more than a Sunday and mission is more than a trip. Jesus links the love that we have with one another with his mission to the world. As we grow in love for one another, the world will be drawn to saving faith. The Christian s mission involves you bringing your friends who know Jesus into your home while intentionally and simultaneously inviting friends who do not yet know Christ. Set the table, serve the food, pray for God s blessing and watch him do the work. I believe that the Christian community and God s mission go hand in hand. We must create the space for those who do not have the gospel to see the gospel put on display. Jesus said in John 13:35, By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. God has a divine meeting waiting on you I invite you to pull up a seat at the table and experience life in community. Explore the armor of God, with four lessons focusing on the six elements of spiritual armor outlined in Ephesians 6. Designed for families to use at home, with applications for children, infants through teenagers. Available for free in our family app, as a free digital download, or purchase a printed copy through sbtexas.com. sbtexas.com/armorofgod Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 5

8 students how authentic christianity is the answer for students in this chaotic world By Garrett Wagoner SBTC Student Ministry Associate We live in a world full of confusion and chaos, and with social media and smart devices constantly reminding us of this, it seems impossible to escape. Whether it is riots, protests, political uproar, or natural disasters and school shootings like we ve seen recently, students are looking for a cause and a message to clear up the confusion and bring change and relief to the mess. People involved in student ministry often ask: What are students looking for in our ministries? Is it flashier programs? A new curriculum? From my observation, I say that it is authenticity from adults and people who call themselves Christ-followers. With this confusion and misunderstanding, students are really confused about what authentic Christianity really is. By reading and studying Isaiah 61:1-4, the answer to everyone s cry of hope and justice is found in the authentic message of Christianity. As leaders of the next generation, we need to be intentional and clear with the Gospel message. We also need to be in the lives of students incarnational and model a Jesus lifestyle to them. What is our message? Let s brush up on it. The Good News is that God has a Message in the middle of the Mess! This was written in a very difficult season in the nation of Israel s history. The people this was written for were in despair and had no sign of hope. God doesn t spare us from messes, but He speaks to us in the middle of our mess and gives us Good News. When I say God, I mean Yahweh, the Lord who created everyone and everything, the One and only true God! That s who s speaking in the message, and it s Good News! The good news is about what God did through Jesus the Messiah and how He brings salvation and rescue in the midst of our brokenness through the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Note that this was written about Jesus around 1,000 years before He came. The definition of the word poor in this passage is those that have been hit hard by life s calamities. What can Jesus and His Good News do for us and the world? 1. He heals our brokenness The word poor not only means without material things but it means those who ve been hit hard by life s calamities. Do you have an inward brokenness that nothing can fix? The only answer is the healing power of Jesus Christ! 2. He frees us from oppression Oppression exists in many forms: racism, sex trafficking, addiction, abortion, pornography, abusive relationships, bullying and the list goes on. The reason why Jesus came is to set us free, 6 sbtc church missions & evangelism

9 students and freedom can only be found in His name. Jesus came into the world to destroy the works of the devil! 3. He gives us true justice and hope Justice is a popular word, and everyone is looking for hope. The good news is Jesus is going to make all wrongs right. He already began the process 2,000 years ago, and He will finish the process when He returns. The end of the Bible states that Jesus will wipe away every tear from the eyes of those who gave their life to Him. The question is which side of right and wrong are you on? 4. He has the only cause that can bring real change Right now, everyone loves causes. They love to rally around causes and start them. We live in a cause driven generation. Recently when I was eating outside at Chipotle, someone was holding a sign protesting eating meat, however, there is only one cause that can change the world and that s the cause of Christ. What does His cause do? What is His mission? What should His people be about? They build up the ancient ruins and raise up the former devastations and repair ruined cities of former generations. This is what students are begging for in our culture, and in Isaiah 61:4 this is what it says about the mission of Jesus and His people. Jesus has a movement, where one day people from all nations, races, tribes and tongues are going to bow at His feet. Students are longing for this very movement and many of them are trying to find it in other movements will die out or are destructive to human life. I know many students have seen so many professed Christians do anything but this. They call them hypocrites, but students need to see that we are broken people just like non-christians. If you re a leader of students, I want to call you back to what we are supposed to be about, and that s Isaiah 61:1-4. If you re a non-christian, It s important to communicate to students and clear up any misunderstanding by pointing out the four things I mentioned above from an Old Testament passage that gets right to the point. It says this is what the Bible, Jesus, and His people are really about. In Luke 4, Jesus walked into the synagogue and picked up a scroll containing Isaiah 61:1-4, read the scroll, put it down, and stated that He was fulfilling this thousand year old prophecy right before their eyes in the ultimate mic drop moment. Jesus would later pass this mission on to His disciples, who have passed it on thousands of years to Jesus present day followers. It s now my mission, and it can be your mission. Where do we go from here? 1. Commit yourself to Jesus to take the Good News to the next generation even if you re not a youth pastor. It s not only the youth pastor s job to reach the next generation but it is the entire Church s job. 2. Make it a priority in your ministry to communicate the Gospel clearly, give students an opportunity to respond, and mobilize students with this message to reach their peers. You need to work to build a culture of evangelism in your ministry. Your SBTC State Missions Offering WEEK OF PRAYER SEPTEMBER sbtexas.com/reachtexas Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 7

10 evangelism foster care, adoption, and evangelism By Kasi Pruitt Adoptive Mother I just can t do that. I would love them too much to let them leave. It costs too much. It takes too long. Aren t you scared their birth parents will take them back? I don t have time. These are all very common responses people have when talking about foster care or adoption. Now don t get me wrong, I am not saying that every single person should or can foster or adopt. However, our excuses can keep many of us from being a part of what God has commanded each of us to do. Foster care and adoption are not easy. I d be the first one to tell you that. My husband and I have been married almost 14 years. We have five children. Three of them are adopted one from Uganda and two from here in the States. We were also foster parents for a short time. Each one of these journeys was difficult in its own way. It cost us. It cost us time. It cost us financially. It cost us in all of the best possible ways. It exposed pride in us we never knew was there. It cost us our comfort. It cost us sacrificially because it made us die to ourselves daily. You see foster care and adoption aren t about us. They re not about us only adding a baby to our family and taking Christmas photos to put on social media. Fostering and adopting are a great opportunity for the gospel to go forth. Let me be clear, while adoption and fostering is a beautiful picture of the gospel, those of us who are fostering and adopting are not saviors. Only 8 sbtc church missions & evangelism

11 evangelism While adoption and fostering is a beautiful picture of the gospel, those of us who are fostering and adopting are not saviors. Only Jesus can be that. But we can pray for God to use us to meet a need, and that he will be glorified through it. Jesus can be that. But we can pray for God to use us to meet a need, and that he will be glorified through it. How can fostering and adopting be a great opportunity for evangelism or outreach? 1. Sharing the gospel with the kids coming into your home Whether the kids will only be there for a short time or forever, when they are there, they can hear about Jesus. Reading the Bible to them, taking them to church, showing them a love that can only come from Jesus himself and providing a safe place are just a few ways this can happen. We have to plead with God that while they are with us, we will do our very best to show them Jesus. 2. Sharing the gospel with the birth parents of the kids in our home This one can be hard for some people. But we aren t called to love only the people who act the way we want them to, or only minister to people who we agree with. We are called to love all people. This can look different for each situation, but trying to open up communication with birth parents can be a huge gospel opportunity! Writing back and forth in a journal with the parents of your foster kiddos, having an open adoption, meeting a need of the mom of your kiddos, being compassionate to their circumstances and loving them even when it doesn t make since will open doors to you sharing the gospel. These parents are made in God s image and he has a deep love for them. So even if we don t understand their choices, we need to be asking God to show us ways we can love and serve them. 3. Sharing the gospel with case workers, CASA volunteers, adoption workers, adoption lawyers, adoption agencies, etc. There are going to be many people involved in your adoption or foster care process. With that comes a whole lot of people who are watching you. They are watching how you respond to certain situations. They are watching how you treat the children in your home and what your heart looks like towards their parents. They are listening to how you respond to them. This will also open up doors for you to share the goodness of Jesus. It is always important to remember that foster care and adoption are not about us. It s about meeting a need and serving Jesus while doing it. When we have that mind set it will help us to look for ways that we can share about Jesus. We cannot come in and redeem these incredibly hard situations but he can. We just have to have our yes on the table. Resource for Educating Kids on Missions in Texas A resource for educating kids on missions happening in Texas Features videos and stories that highlight missions in Texas Great component for summer programs, VBS missions rotation, mission moments, Wednesday night or Sunday programs Download the curriculum and videos at sbtexas.com/missions4kids Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 9

12 evangelism it s preaching time: why the gospel should be in every sermon By Shane Pruitt Director of Evangelism, SBTC If you ve been in ministry for any length of time, then you know there are some times that we just get it wrong. We exegete a text wrongly, use a joke that is not helpful or even distracts, or we jump on a soap-box and go in a direction that has nothing to do with the Scriptures we re preaching. However, there is one faithful act that preachers should be doing that I believe they ll never have to apologize for. That is preaching the gospel in every sermon. On the day you stand before your King to give an account for how you shepherded his sheep, you most likely won t have to say, Jesus, I am truly sorry. I know that I preached the gospel too many times. I shouldn t have done that. As ministers of the gospel, if there is something that we should strive to overdue, let it be preaching the gospel. The longer I follow Jesus, the more I realize I ll never mature past the gospel. You see, you never grow past the gospel, but hopefully you re constantly maturing in the gospel. Our preaching should reflect this as well. As we grow and mature in faithfully delivering God s word to God s people, week in and week out, we should mature in how we weave the gospel into every message. In context, every Scripture expects to be preached in light of the gospel. Every preacher should have expectations upon themselves to deliver the gospel every week to church members that should expect to receive it, understand it, and live it out in their daily lives. Here are at least four reasons why church members should expect the gospel in every sermon: Hopefully, there are non-christians in the crowd. Sadly, through the years of ministry I ve heard church members from all different kinds of churches say, Our pastor is always asking us to invite lost people to come to church with us. However, when we do, he never shares the gospel. As preachers, if we re expecting church members to bring lost people, they should expect us to clearly communicate how their lost guests can be found. If we take sharing the gospel seriously every weekend, then our congregants will take seriously the task of inviting the lost to hear it. You re training church members how to share the gospel. As a pastor, I often did what any other pastor would do: I encouraged church members to regularly share their faith with their lost friends, neighbors and co-workers. That is the mission of the church to be making disciples that make disciples. The doorway into discipleship is believing the gospel message and surrendering to Jesus. We expect our congregation to share their faith, but we never teach them how to do it. Obviously, this isn t the only evangelism training we should be doing, but one of the ways people can learn how to clearly explain the gospel is by hearing their pastor do it every week at some point in the sermon. Each one of us can tend to be parrots at times. Meaning, we repeat what we hear over and over. If you want your members to repeat the gospel, then let them hear it from you over and over and over again. What we celebrate is what we re communicating as most important. This is one of the simplest principles in any church, ministry or even business. Whatever you celebrate is what you re telling people is most important to you. If your church mainly celebrates the budget 10 sbtc church missions & evangelism

13 evangelism and offering, then people will evaluate your success and failures based on the bottom dollar. As a leader, if you re mainly celebrating the worship attendance, then the congregation will be discipled into believing that is the measure of success numbers up means God is blessing, numbers down must mean that God is not pleased and it may be time for a new pastor. However, communicating the gospel and celebrating the lives that are being transformed by it every week is telling your congregation that this is the most important thing we could be doing. Not the results of the gospel that is up to the Lord. Celebrate faithfulness and obedience in proclaiming the gospel. As the church, this is why we exist. Every command is now in response to the gospel. As New Testament Christians, everything we re commanded to do in Scripture is in response to what Christ first did for Many pastors criticize me for taking the Gospel so seriously. But do they really think that on Judgment Day, Christ will chastise me, saying, Leonard, you took Me too seriously? Leonard Ravenhill us. For example, we forgive because he first forgave us, we love because he first loved us, and we lay down our anger because he absorbed the Father s wrath for us. It s the same with any sermon. Whatever the subject matter of the text is, it must be preached in the light of the gospel. The text may call for a sermon on stewardship. Yet, we cannot truly understand biblical generosity unless we personally know the generous Savior. Proper exegesis may call for missions, however, biblical missions calls for us to know and point the world to the Son of God who first took a mission trip from heaven to earth to be a suffering Savior. Every sermon should point to the Savior! Simply put, preach every text with integrity and preach every text in the light of the gospel. In the town where I live, there are many different churches and most are known for something. There s the inward-focused church, the deep church, the political church, the entertaining church, the hipster church and so on. If by God s grace your church was known as the gospel-proclaiming church, that wouldn t be so bad would it? This article has also appeared on preachingsource.com sbtc office, april 25 grapevine conference speakers Adam Greenway Billy Graham School Dean, SBTS Jim Richards Executive Director, SBTC Ron Hawkins Provost, Liberty University Eric Thomas Senior Pastor, FBC Norfolk, VA Susie Hawkins Author, Pastor s wife sbtexas.com/roleofthepastor 8:00-12:30 breakfast + lunch included free $ 10 livestream Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 11

14 missions in our churches as it is in heaven By Mitchell Johnson College Director, Redeemer Church, Lubbock Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:9-13) The spiritual and unspiritual alike are familiar with this prayer. Jesus teaches his hearers and disciples how to pray during the most important sermon ever. This prayer is powerful; it begins with the Father s name being glorified above all and ends with deliverance from the toils and snares of sin in our fallen world. There is much to study within these few lines. Jesus teaches us to pray for the Lord s kingdom to come and for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Essentially, Jesus is teaching us to pray for heaven to come down to our cities and college campuses a beautiful thought but a tremendous task. We live in a world that looks nothing like heaven One of the most important ways we can see that we live in a fallen world is looking at the lack of diversity in our circles and specifically, collegiate ministries. In the last few decades, the demographic of North American universities has shifted. For millions of students college is their introduction to a diverse world. This doesn t even Do our college ministries reflect the reality of diversity on campus? More importantly, do they reflect heaven? match the beauty of the demographic of heaven. According to the Bible there will be a day when the children of God will worship next to Native and African Americans alike. Those who speak Spanish and those who speak slang will be singing praises to the Lamb. Those who are rich and those who are poor will cry out to the King. Angels 12 sbtc church missions & evangelism

15 missions with shining faces will play trumpets and exalt the Lord. All this while we stand in awe of a Middle Eastern man with holes in his wrists where his blood shed for all people many years ago. He has ordained heaven to be full of diverse people and desires for that reality to shape the heart of the body. It is beautiful to the Lord. Do our college ministries reflect the reality of diversity on campus? More importantly, do they reflect heaven? Can we truly pray Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven? This prayer implies much, including ethnic diversity. We must recognize God s heart for all nations and peoples and we must pray for our hearts to reflect His. When heaven comes to our ministries What does this mean for you? For starters it means that there is work to do for college ministry leaders. It begins by asking better questions: y How am I befriending those who are different than me? It s not just a question of race. You can have 50 races in a room and still be comfortable because of the setting, humor and personalities. It is possible to look different but essentially be the same type of person! God is calling us to befriend those different from us. y Am I sharing the gospel with only people who look like me and think like me? Or Do I share the gospel with only people who are different than me because I believe they need it the more than someone like me? y How can our churches and ministries look more like heaven will? Even better, How can we strategically disciple others so that the church may look more like heaven? At the end of the day, it s a discipleship issue lack of obedience of God s greatest commandment. When churches and ministries pray like Jesus for God s heart, God comes through. Our rhythms of life change. Our ministries start to look different godly, even. Students don t feel anxiety walking into a gathering because they not only see someone who looks like them but diverse people worshipping the one true God. What an amazing gospel witness! To grow God s heart for diversity, work overtime. Allow these questions to lead you to process God s heart and your own, so that as we build our churches and do the work of the ministry we will not neglect building a diverse body of believers that reflects heaven. Spiritual Rhythms of Multiplying Disciples A free resource that lays the foundation for understanding your identity in Christ and your impact in the world. A great tool to begin a disciple-making ministry or develop new disciples in an already established ministry. For a free copy go to sbtexas.com/rhythms Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com/rhythms sbtexas.com 13

16 collegiate reaching the campus unreached By Mitch Tidwell Collegiate Associate, SBTC If we continue to do what we have always done we will continue to get what we ve always gotten. I m a huge Dallas Cowboys fan and I recently watched their series on Amazon Prime called All or Nothing. It chronicles the life of the 2017 Dallas Cowboys and it gives a heavy dose of their head coach Jason Garrett. Garrett s motto is fight. If they lost, the Cowboys didn t fight hard enough. The problems weren t in the philosophy or the strategy, but in the fight. The Dallas Cowboys have been average to above average at best for Garrett s tenure. One could certainly argue, it takes more than fight to make it to the Super Bowl. Humor me and let me play arm chair coach for a second. They need to keep fighting, but they likely need to address and adapt their philosophy and strategy. Alan Hirsch writes in his book The Forgotten Ways that 90 percent of churches (and ministry types) are structured like a contemporary church-growth model church/ministry. Simply defined, a contemporary churchgrowth model church models itself around a come-and-see approach. In the United States roughly 40 percent would be interested in being a part of this type of church. It doesn t mean 40 percent of the U.S. population is going to this type of church, but they would be interested in this type of church. If what Hirsch writes is true then that means that 60 percent of our population What if you began to reach a people group that was much different than the one you re currently reaching? The campus might take notice and see a unity and peace that is not present in our culture. would never want to be a part of most of the ministries we have going today. We can continue to fight but I would argue we need a philosophical and strategic change in our approach. The picture Hirsch paints is likely similar to the picture on college campuses today. Don t get me wrong, we are reaching a lot of students. But, we are missing a lot of students as well. Where do we go from here? Here are three things to consider, among many other things the Holy Spirit may bring to you: 14 sbtc church missions & evangelism

17 collegiate Gospel Ground ourselves in richness of the gospel. It is good news of great joy for all people. If the gospel is for all people then we must do what we can to develop our ministries in a way we can reach all students of the campus. How are do we continue to engage the 40 percent but also the 60 percent? Adapt If we continue to do what we have always done we will continue to get what we ve always gotten. We must adapt to remain nimble to the changes in the college campuses and to the needs of the campus. This might mean continuing with come-and-see type ministries such as worship services and worship nights, but also beginning go-and-tell-type units across campus to reach pockets of students who would never step in the doors of our churches and ministries. We need to let go of some control and release the students to carry the gospel forward. Diversity The college campus is one of the most diverse places. If diversity is not present in our ministries it must change. If we have worship environments filled with middle class white kids, we likely will not reach anyone that doesn t look like that. We re hindering our reach by being focused on a small piece of the population pie. What can this look like? Imagine if you equipped your students to incarnate themselves on the college campus? The influence of your ministry wouldn t rest on a nightly event, but it would have a 24/7 impact all across the college campus. The gospel would find itself filling cultures and sub cultures you would never be able to impact with a singular event. What if you began to reach a people group that was much different than the one you re currently reaching? The campus might take notice and see a unity and peace that is not present in our culture. A diverse ministry gives the university a more robust look at what the kingdom of God really looks like people of all background, races, political views, gathering and scattering in worship to Jesus. Your new partner in ministry. Search: SBTC ilead ideas leadership education application discipleship Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com/apps sbtexas.com 15

18 missions a movement By David Ortega Rio Grande Valley Strategist Do you think your ministry could lead to a movement of God? Have you thought of how you can start a movement in your local church, the state and around the world? If the answer is yes, where do you start? To begin, I think it is God s desire for us to think bigger than our local church. In 1 Chronicles 16:23 it says, Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim good tidings of his salvation from day to day. Tell of his glory among the nations, his wonderful deeds among all the peoples. It goes on to say in 1 Chronicles 16:31, Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; and let them say among the nations, The Lord reigns! The book of Psalms also has many places where it proclaims that God will be glorified among the nations and peoples. Psalm 18:49 says, Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, O Lord, and I will sing praises to your name. Then in Psalm 67:2-3 it says, That your way may be known on the earth, your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; Let all the peoples praise you. This broadens our view from our local church to the world. It begins to show how a movement affects our world, our state, the Rio Grande Valley and the local church. Jesus said he would build his church so that the gates of hell would not prevail. This means that the local church should constantly be on the offensive, moving forward, pushing back the gates of hell and taking the kingdom of God to all parts of the Rio Grande Valley and this world. The last thing Jesus told his disciples was to Go, and make disciples of all nations. We as pastors, leaders and church planters should be thinking big and globally. Our ministry, our church and our efforts, though local, can have global effects. As we start thinking this way, we need to contextualize this idea of a global movement to our local church. You have to believe that your ministry and church can be part of a movement. They can be the spark to set off a movement, not just locally but globally. A movement is something that is God-led. It begins on our knees. It is viable. It is indigenous to our area. It must have churches planting churches which have the inerrant Scripture as their foundation. As we broaden our vision from the local church to the Rio Grande Valley, we must think of multiplication: in sharing the gospel, in our Bible studies and in our church planting. The Rio Grande Valley should be filled with the gospel, discipleship and new congregations, if we are going to move toward multiplication. 16 sbtc church missions & evangelism

19 revitalization sbtexas.com 17

20 missions A movement happens when we train others to share their faith and make disciples. They, in turn, go out to share their faith and make more disciples. 5Brownsville, Texas If a movement is going to take place in the Rio Grande Valley we must become students of God s movements in other parts of the world. We must learn from them and see how we can apply their best practices to our context here in the Rio Grande Valley. To have a movement we have to understand what a movement is and is not. A movement is not addition where one person shares with many people and some make professions of faith. A movement happens when we train others to share their faith and make disciples. They, in turn, go out to share their faith and make more disciples. Then, those new believers go out and make another generation of disciples. This model continues, at least to the fourth generation of disciples who are continuing to be discipled and sharing their faith. A movement happens when you have generations of people going out and completing the Great Commission. I believe a movement can happen here in the Rio Grande Valley. It starts with us having a global vision. It is a vision of the nation s praising God. This vision continues with us planting the seeds of the gospel. With Scripture-based discipleship, it moves forward, ultimately creating a movement in our churches. That seed is a seed of multiplication. Like Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:2, You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Movements can happen in the Rio Grande Valley because of pastors like Carlos Navarro and Rogelio Perez. Carlos Navarro is the pastor of Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville. His church has started multiple churches in Brownsville and other countries. Navarro s church has set-up a church-planting training center where they train pastors and church planters to go and plant new churches. Pastor Rogelio Perez was one of Navarro s students. He received training at Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville. Then he was sent out to plant a new church, Iglesia Bautista Capernaum. His church has grown to 120 people. Currently, they are about to launch a new church plant and send out a church planter for that work who will be continually trained by Pastor Perez. What is happening in Brownsville is a part of a movement. Not just a local ripple but a global movement growing deep roots that will impact the Rio Grande Valley, Texas and the world. If you are interested in finding out more or partnering with a church or church planter in the Rio Grande Valley, there are vision tours available for you to participate in to catch the vision of the pastors and their churches. Contact David Ortega at dortega@sbtexas.com. 18 sbtc church missions & evangelism

21 revitalization HOME CHURCH PASTOR THE LOST NATION For 2019 events near you visit Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. An evangelistic tool designed to share the message of the gospel in multiple languages through video/audio presentations. 1cross.com sbtexas.com 19

22 missions partnership missions: transforming lives and transforming churches By Eric Perkins Missions and Church Planting Consultant It has been exciting and amazing to watch the dawn of a new generation of mission sending and going through partnership missions. As the local church has begun to better understand, partnership missions is more than giving and praying for our mission agencies; it requires going. Our mission agencies have led the way and have led our churches and convention well for many years. Yet partnership missions is so much more than just supporting our mission agencies. The church is equipping and empowering growing believers to go. Our Southern Baptist mission agencies are equipping and empowering growing believers to go and through strengthened partnership our mission sending capacity will continue to grow. We have seen this evidenced through the success of the North American Mission Board s focus on Send Cities. The challenge from NAMB President Kevin Ezell was for churches to adopt a focus city, church plant or church planter, and support those planters financially, through prayer and by sending mission teams to assist them in reaching their city. The results have been incredibly encouraging. For many, the expected outcome was for churches to be planted, the lost to be saved and for believers to be discipled. Yet much more is happening; churches are partnering together to directly support church planters and church plants. For many of these church plants their support and resources come from multiple congregations who partner together to support them through prayer, giving, sending mission teams and equipping. Partnership missions has matured from just supporting our agencies in the work to a realization that God has called the church to go, give and serve. The call has become more personal for churches to be directly involved in the work. We have heard the line, churches plant churches ; that is exactly what we are seeing. Southern Baptist churches are joining their resources, working through the North American Mission Board to plant hundreds of healthy multiplying churches. With this spirit and heart for cooperation, cities can and will be transformed. Partnership Missions transforms lives and transforms churches. Our Cooperative Program has been an amazing collaboration of local churches partnering together for the purpose of supporting, sending and equipping Southern Baptists to obediently follow the Great Commission. However, over the last 25 years we have seen a shift in how our churches are supporting missions locally, nationally and globally. While support and partnership with our SBC mission agencies is an essential part of our answering the call to go, this does not absolve the local church and its individual members of their Great Commission calling. When we look at the task, it 20 sbtc church missions & evangelism

23 missions often feels overwhelming. Yet when we realize that together we can do more, everything changes. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention desires to partner with you in this process of becoming a Great Commission going and sending church. When our churches begin to work together, partnering resources and efforts, our outlook changes. That has always been the beauty of the Cooperative Program. Yes, some churches contribute more, but it takes all of us partnering together to faithfully support the work. While a church might not have a large budget or attendance, when it partners with other churches with the same Great Commission understanding, it can make an incredible contribution to the kingdom. Partnership missions works best when churches join together working in their communities, their state, across North America and Partnership missions allow any church of any size to be all in missionally. We partner by sending our resources to our agencies and we partner by sending our resources directly to the field. around the world. Your SBTC missions team is available to assist your church in answering the call to go, serve and partner. Over the last 20 years I have had the privilege of assisting churches and individuals in discovering how they can partner with other churches and believers in going and sharing the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. I look forward to assisting our churches in discovering, partnering and going missionally, whether that is through church planting here in Texas or partnering internationally. Today, as local churches understand that our calling is to work together not only through our agencies, but also with our sister churches, our potential for making a difference grows exponentially. Partnership missions allow any church of any size to be all in missionally. We partner by sending our resources to our agencies and we partner by sending our resources directly to the field. The result is clearly seen in two ways in the churches that are actively involved in going: their mission giving increases and often those going out on mission teams realize they are being called to serve as well. Partnership missions transforms lives and transforms churches! jan CHURCH ON RUSH CREEK, ARLINGTON apr AUSTIN jul HOUSTON nov 8-9 DFW To reach North America for Christ, we must focus on building the kingdom through multiplication. sbtexas.com/churchplanting Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. Basic Training helps the church planting team develop a step-by-step plan for starting a church that starts churches. The training fits into a twoday workshop with pre-workshop prep. sbtexas.com 21

24 reach cities reach cities By Jim Richards Executive Director Many cities are overcrowded, dirty, and crime-prone. While there are definitely amenities in cities, there are myriad inconveniences. Most cities do not project a good image. John the revelator saw a city where everyone desires to live. Revelation 21 describes for us what we usually call heaven. It is the eternal city, the New Jerusalem. This is same city Abraham looked for whose builder and maker is God, Hebrews 10:11. Jesus said he would prepare a mansion in this city for all who believe in him. People have an opportunity to get some property in this city. God has destined all of his children to live in a city for eternity. Since God wants people to live in his city, we should try to help as many people get there as possible. They need to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The gospel must go where the people are. The vast majority of these folks live in the cities. One thousand people a day move to Texas. Most of these newcomers are settling in cities. Cities in Texas are rapidly becoming mega-cities. We have a great challenge to reach the multitudes God is sending our way. Over three hundred different ethnolinguistic people groups are present in Texas cities. There is only one way to reach these dear souls with the gospel. We must start new churches in the un-evangelized and under-evangelized areas. Over three hundred different ethno-linguistic people groups are present in Texas cities. People from other states are migrating to the Lone Star state too. There is only one way to reach these dear souls with the gospel. We must start new churches in the un-evangelized and under-evangelized areas. Existing churches must catch the vision to not only send missionaries around the world but also evangelistic teams across town to reach the unreached. By placing a healthy church s DNA in a new church plant your church can multiply itself in another location. This is not an extra campus. This is not a satellite. This is intentionally planting a future indigenous, autonomous congregation. It takes sacrifice. You have to send members. You have to send leaders. You have to invest money. This is a vision to reach Texas by giving a part of yourself away. There is a national strategy in place to reach mega-cities in the North and West of our nation. The SBTC has a strategy to reach Texas. We have begun the work with churches to reach Houston, Austin, El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley. Yet, it can only be done with Texas churches planting Texas churches. Not many planters are coming here from other places to help us start new churches. We have to rise up and build. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Missions Team will help you train the right planters, cultivate the best support system and launch in a strong fashion. All it takes is for you as a pastor, staff member or church member to say, My yes is on the altar! When we do that, we can Reach Texas and Touch the World. 22 sbtc church missions & evangelism

25 pastor church relations The Reach Cities Initiative is a strategic process to mobilize churches for church planting and revitalization in Texas. Church Planting + Replanting Church Revitalization Mission Team Opportunities reach austin Area Population of 2,000,000 11th largest city in the United States 34% speak a language other than English at home 68% White, 35% Hispanic, 8% Black, 6% Asian/Other 41% lost & unchurched reach el paso Population of 885,226 82% Hispanic 13% White, 3% Black 2% Asian 98% lost & unchurched reach houston The most diverse city in North America (2010 Census) Population of 5,000, % Hispanic, 31.9% White, 18.7% Black, 9.5% Asian/Other 68% lost & unchurched reach rio grande valley Population of 1,353,541 90% Hispanic 1.2% Asian 0.5% Black 81% Catholic 11% claim no faith Steve Cochran Austin Strategist scochran@sbtexas.com Chuy Avila El Paso Strategist cavila@sbtexas.com Ben Hays Houston Strategist bhays@sbtexas.com David Ortega Valley Strategist dortega@sbtexas.com Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com/reachcities sbtexas.com 23

26 reach cities reach Austin By Steve Cochran Reach Austin Strategist Keep Austin weird! That is the famed slogan for our city. Honestly, many things in our area might lead you to believe that it is a weird place. Let me tell you though, there are thousands of devoted followers of Jesus in Austin who are strategically praying for revival, renewal and righteousness around the clock, day after day (365 days a year). Yes, the need for spiritual awakening is great in the Austin area. There are more than 2 million people within the greater Austin area who call it home. The population continues to grow at the rate of 150 people every day. Strangely enough, that is the same number we can tally in the membership of the average Southern Baptist church. The most concerning spiritual statistic found in the area is that upwards of 90 percent of the population is either unchurched or de-churched. Most people simply do not possess a meaningful faith-based worldview. We are in desperate need of a fresh encounter with Jesus. Austin is recognized as the seat of political power, the live music capital of the world, the Silicon Valley of the Southwest, the gateway to the Texas Hill Country and the Texas barbecue mecca. We love our sports and we love our scenery. This is a place that houses great institutions of higher learning, with 10 major universities within the radius of our Reach Austin area. Recognize also that Austin is not the only city of importance that led the SBTC to initiate this planting and revitalization ministry. Towns like New Braunfels, San Marcos, Georgetown, Round Rock, Hutto, Leander, Liberty Hill, Cedar Park, Bastrop, Elgin, Manor, Seguin, Dripping Springs and Wimberley are important, too. Oh, that a new awareness of long term spiritual impact would saturate these cities with the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, the University of Texas slogan is Austin-tatious to say the least. What starts here, changes the world! That is exactly what we are praying for with the Reach Austin initiative. We are extremely blessed to have two strong and visionary Baptist Associations in the area. The Austin Baptist Association, led by David Smith and the Bluebonnet Association led by Robby Partain. Both men have expressed their eager partnership with one another in order to see the growth of the kingdom of God through Reach Austin. One will find no lines or boundaries, no spirit of competitive nature within these men, their staff or fellowship of the pastors. There are far too many people who live in this area who are in need of the Savior. The goal of Reach Austin is to see God do amazing things that will change the world for Jesus. We are calling on Southern Baptists to come and help us. We are asking God to send partnering churches, church planters, missionaries, prayer warriors, godly Christian business men and women, educators, medical personnel, laborers, and retirees to help us in planting new churches and to revitalizing churches that are in decline. Our prayer is for many churches throughout Texas and beyond to share the Reach Austin vision. We need visionary, sacrificial and devoted partnering churches that will take the greater Austin area to heart. Within the congregations of many churches, one will discover people who have a burden for those who are far from God in this region of the Lone Star State. Would you and the leaders within your church begin to pray for us? Would you join us on a vision tour? Would you cast the great spiritual need in Central Texas with men who are recognizing a call to plant a church? Would you consider partnering your church with other churches to provide financially through the powerful means of multiple partnerships for the new plants that will arise in the months ahead? What happens here CAN change the world! For more information contact Steve Cochran at scochran@sbtexas.com. 24 sbtc church missions & evangelism

27 leadership training for all aspects of ministry conference Reaching Generation Z AUGUST 10 champion forest baptist church, houston 8:45am-3pm Breakouts for staff, volunteers & lay leaders in these areas of ministry: + preschool/children + children s music + preteen + student/collegiate + adult sunday school + adult home groups + single adult + men + women + discipleship + family + communication & tech + worship + evangelism + leadership + library + pastoral + missions + en español + asian equipping churches + black equipping churches Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com/equip sbtexas.com 25

28 reach cities According to the 2018 census of El Paso, the current population is 885,226 and its demographic profile is as follows: reach El Paso + 82 % Hispanic + 13 % White + 3 % African-American + 2 % Asian By Chuy Avila Reach El Paso Strategist Bienvenidos Amigos! This common expression needs no translation in El Paso. It is palpable and understood through the love and hospitality shown to the city s visitors. El Paso is not only a very safe, welcoming and friendly city, but it is an area ready for spiritual harvest. God has sent people of all nations to our backyard making our community a field white for the harvest. During the missions revival that impacted Baptists in Texas and American churches in the 70s and 90s, El Paso became merely a border city, a thoroughfare to cross through for work and missions in Mexico. Churches passed through the city for a night s rest before crossing into Mexico, forgetting our city is a ready and fertile field for missions also. El Paso faces the urgent need of native churches. Many of the non-christian population lack churches reflecting their socio-cultural context. It is unlikely that this population gets to hear the gospel in a way that is meaningful. Consequently, no disciples among these groups are formed. The biblical commandment of Matthew 28: to make disciples of all ta ethne (ethnicities) implies that we must evangelize and plant churches among all ethnic groups and segments of the population of El Paso and surrounding areas in accordance to the guidance of the Lord to each established church. There are nearly a million people in El Paso. Cultural and ethnic diversity continues to increase in the region as it does in North America, as most of society becomes increasingly removed from a biblical worldview. 26 sbtc church missions & evangelism

29 reach cities By December 2020, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention s El Paso area church planting team aims to meet two goals: y Have 100 church planters, pastors and leaders in training at The International School of Fe (El Paso Baptist Bible Institute) y Facilitate the start of 20 new churches, including: five Spanish-speaking, 10 Spanish/English speaking, two cowboy, one French-speaking, one Chinese-speaking and two additional ethnic churches as God leads. Currently, the SBTC church planting team assists established churches in the five-fold process of planting new churches: 1. Identifying where new churches are needed 2. Prioritizing opportunities to start new churches 3. Communicating the vision of church planting 4. Coordinating the efforts of church planting 5. Assembling those called by God Furthermore, the SBTC El Paso church planting team has identified four essential components to the process of assembling those called by God to support us or to help us on mission trips: 1. Prayer and strategic planning Prayer is the most important element of the entire strategy. The mobilization of the people of God to participate in prayer walking, church planting, evangelism and the strengthening of existing churches depend on God s blessing. 2. Churches in strategic alliance Churches wishing to group together voluntarily and fraternally can organize evangelistic door-to-door visitation, block party festivals, Vacation Bible School programs, gospel revivals, small construction project events, discovery activities, and launching the vision for a new church. 3. Events convoking the called The first two components set the stage for assembling the called. This is an opportunity for church believers to hear God s will for them in church planting ministry. Ideally, the event includes activities to help people discover their talents for service, evangelism, discipleship, missions and teaching as well as praying for an area or specific ethnic group. 4. Evaluation for duplication Our desire is for the principles of this strategy of church planting to be reproducible or transferable in any scenario, under any circumstances. God calls Christians to go to the lost world to reconcile them to himself through faith in Jesus Christ. We hope that the churches started through this strategy have the opportunity to replicate this process. God s call to Christians to serve in the lost world never changes but the context is constantly evolving. Therefore, the last component of this strategy addresses the need for evaluation. Recently, an SBTC church from San Angelo adopted a new congregation in the El Paso area, Iglesia Bautista Dios Con Nosotros. After multiple mission trips and training conferences focused on small groups, this new congregation has been the church with the most growth in our community. Its emphasis on evangelism and discipleship within small groups has provided the spark that has fueled a spiritual revival in the community. Adopting a new church and training the congregation has been the main piece for the success of this ministry. For more information or if you are interested in becoming a supporter please contact Chuy Ávila at cavila@sbtexas.com. So, how can you and your church be a part of this El Paso area strategy? y Pray The mobilization of the people of God to plant churches, participate in mission teams, and strengthen existing churches depends on God s blessing. y Come to El Paso for a vision tour to see the needs and how you can partner with a local church y Adopt El Paso and send missionaries or church planters to start a new healthy congregation in the area y Partner with a local church in order to launch a new church plant as a sponsor church y Organize a prayer walk in a target neighborhood in partnership with a local new church y Partner with a local church planter and help him with a community block party or neighborhood festival y Adopt a new potential church plant and evangelize door-todoor and/or organize a Vacation Bible School program y Adopt a local church and train it in discipleship and evangelism sbtexas.com 27

30 reach cities reach Houston By Ben Hays Reach Houston Strategist The apostle Paul says in Acts 17, And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. A couple of relevant truths are revealed to us here. First, God determines the when and the where of people s dwelling on the earth. And second, that his purpose in ordaining those things is so people can find him! These are very encouraging things to remember as we think about our own cities. In my city, Houston, we see the sovereign hand of God that Paul talked about in our rapidly changing demographics. People of every kindred, tribe and tongue are moving to Houston from all over the country, and from all over the world. God is bringing the people who are far from him to live near us here in Houston. With approximately 350 people groups, 220 languages and a growth rate of 2,000 people per week, Houston has become the premier mission field along the American gulf coast region. A recent report projected that Houston will grow to 14 million people by This means that in order to barely maintain the current spiritual climate of 20 percent Christian, we would have to start at least 133 churches in Houston per year! As you can see, the harvest is plenty, but many more laborers are needed. So what are we doing in response to this reality? The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention is engaging the lost through the Reach Houston initiative. Reach Houston is our very best frontline effort to plant new churches and revitalize struggling churches to reach our city with the gospel. Currently, we have 14 funded or affiliated planting/revitalization projects going in the greater Houston area. Our roster of planters/pastors is diverse both ethnically and geographically. We are planting churches from affluent inner-city areas to forgotten blue-collar areas to the lives sprawling suburbs. We are planting churches to reach people who have lived in Texas all of their life, and for people who just moved here last week. In addition to these current church planting projects, we have several more in our bull pen, being prepared and equipped to join the team soon. Further, we are supporting two People Group Missionaries for the Houston area who are seeking to reach those who have moved here from predominantly non-christian parts of the world. The most exciting thing about Reach Houston is that we can actually see that we are making an impact. My favorite story recently from the front lines of church planting is about one of our church planters in the city who was literally punched in the face by an atheist at a community outreach event. Not only was he attacked but, more importantly, he responded in grace and spoke a word about God s redemptive mission into his aggressor s life. The pastor agreed not to press any charges if he was given the opportunity to sit down and talk to his aggressor for a few minutes in an effort to point him toward Jesus. That s a powerful picture of taking the light of the gospel into dark places with truth and grace. Church planting is the most effective way to reach the unchurched around us. We are working hard and praying towards the multiplication of churches in the Houston area through SBTC church planting. 28 sbtc church missions & evangelism

31 reach cities Another fresh report from one of our workers is about a recent immigrant from Iraq. One of our missionaries invited the gentleman, who is a new believer, to his home for dinner with his family and the two ended up spending 14 hours together those next few days discussing foundational Christian beliefs, such as a biblical understanding of the Trinity. The Iraqi man asked, can you explain to me how we believe that there is only one God, but there is also three. After some discussion, he was so pleased to finally understand the biblical teaching. God is at work among the nations here in Houston, drawing seekers and new believers from every corner of the globe to himself and to the body of Christ! God is at work among the nations here in Houston, drawing seekers and new believers from every corner of the globe to himself and to the body of Christ! Finally, let me leave you with an invitation to come and join us in Houston! Like Paul, who saw a man from Macedonia waving and saying, Come on over and help us, we are inviting you to mobilize your church to help us engage this vast mission field. You can join us on a short-term mission trip or you can formulate an ongoing partnership with one of our planters. You can also come and pray for our city and see with your own eyes what God is doing here. Please let me know how I can be of assistance in helping you get involved in reaching Houston with the good news. Please see dates for our upcoming Reach Houston vision tours on our website at sbtexas.com/reachcities. We hope to see you soon in America s most ethnically diverse mega-city! For more information on becoming a supporter please contact Ben Hays, bhays@sbtexas.com. FEBRUARY 25 Irving Convention Center During the Empower Conference Senior pastors and wives who are new to the SBTC, there s a special complimentary lunch and orientation just for you at the Empower Conference. We would love to meet you and answer any questions you may have about the convention or Baptist life in Texas. For details & registration, visit sbtexas.com/newpastor Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 29

32 missions there is no plan b By Aaron Scarbrough Graceview Baptist Church, Burleson BURLESON IS FULL OF CHURCHES some big, some small, some very fundamental and others very fluffy. Some of our churches are conservative and some chaotic. No matter what a person desires in a local church, Burleson has it. Seven years ago when God called us to plant Graceview Baptist Church, I wasn t sure what to do. What would make us stand out among the other churches? During that time of struggle God brought me to the book of Acts and said, I m not asking you to stand out, I am asking you to look like this. It was in that moment I realized, as we planted, we needed to not compare ourselves to the church across town or down the street, we needed to compare ourselves to Scripture and constantly ask ourselves if we measure up to it. To do so we created standards by which we measure ourselves, based on three words: Biblical, Relational, and Missional. Biblical Our standard is the Word of God. Everything we do is built upon this foundation. We preach biblically with expositional preaching and organize our Sunday gatherings around a liturgy that is scriptural and gospel-driven. We promote biblical 30 sbtc church missions & evangelism

33 missions discipleship for all ages and stages of life. We have a biblical church structure with elders and deacons and we hold to a strong biblical statement of faith. We have rejected the business mentality of the modern church and trust that as we follow God he will be faithful as we focus upon him. Our biblical standard will not be compromised by the world but shaped by Scripture. We push back against the consumer mentality and not only say, but show that each member is vital to the life of the church. Relational We believe that God has called the local church into community a relational community that shares common beliefs and values. Graceview is a community where discipleship and accountability are understood as being an integral part of the church body. Taking and giving are equally practiced as members serve one another intentionally and incidentally, through personal ministry and as God brings unique opportunities our way. We believe church community is a covenant relationship where covenant members don t say, I m In! but instead say I m ALL In! In doing so, we push back against the consumer mentality and not only say, but show that each member is vital to the life of the church. Missional Being missional is about action; it s where the rubber meets the road. We believe all Christians have been charged with sharing the gospel in their spheres of influence. That s look like heaven Revelation 7:9 Encouraging cross-cultural interchange among churches with a special emphasis every July. As you celebrate these exchanges, please send photos, videos and/or testimonies so that we may highlight some of them during our annual meeting in November. Ideas include: Pulpit, praise team or choir swap Joint revivals & worship services Coffee or breakfast with other pastors For more info contact Richard Taylor rtaylor@sbtexas.com Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com/looklikeheaven sbtexas.com 31

34 missions why Graceview isn t a program-driven church where members are encouraged to just bring friends to hear the gospel, but instead we encourage members to Go and Share! Being missional happens on both a local level and a global level. Locally this means looking for opportunities to share the gospel with friends and neighbors. Globally this means praying, giving and going on mission trips to share the gospel around the world. We believe God hasn t called us to do local or global missions but both! When God impressed this upon us we were overwhelmed and excited at the same time. For years we desired to be a part of a church that attempted to look like a first century church that lives in the twenty-first century. We wanted to be a people committed to God s Word and showing people that his Word is sufficient for all things in faith, life, and salvation. As we lived this out God was very gracious to us. He grew us numerically and families in our community have been impacted by the gospel. He provided financially so that our new church plant could survive. More importantly he grew us spiritually as people walked in discipleship and followed hard after Jesus. Then one day God challenged us regarding church planting. We were struck with the conviction that down the street, locally and around the world wasn t enough. He was calling us to be a people who were reaching the surrounding cities with the gospel through intentional church planting. So, we began to pray that God would give us an opportunity to plant churches that would be biblical, relational and missional. Within months of beginning to pray God gave us that opportunity. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention reached out and we became a church planting center God s plan to reach sinners with the good news of the gospel is through the local church. There is no plan B, no contingency plan, and no other options we must weigh to see if he will use us to reach the lost. The vehicle for gospel advancement has always been the local church. where we could develop planting interns and prepare them to go out and know what they were doing instead of flying by the seat of their pants. In one year we were able to plant three churches, two here in Texas and one in Massachusetts. We have one planter in residence and are in discussions with another one who will be going out, hopefully, within a year. God has already done more than we could ever ask and it seems like we are just getting started. As we have gone on this journey I have become more and more convinced that if a church is going to say that it is driven by the Bible, then, it will be a church that is about church planting. The two cannot be separated because God s plan to reach sinners with the good news of the gospel is through the local church. There is no plan B, no contingency plan, and no other options we must weigh to see if he will use us to reach the lost. The vehicle for gospel advancement has always been the local church. So, as a pastor of a local church I must be focused on where there is gospel need in surrounding communities and actively working to plant a local church in that area so people can be impacted by the gospel and lives can be changed. I do not need to worry if there are other churches in the area because there is too much need for the gospel in every area. Our hearts must beat with the rhythms of Scripture, and central to that rhythm are the beats of go, send, reach, proclaim, disciple, serve and plant. He has been faithful to us and I know he will be faithful to you as you take up the call to plant churches so the gospel will go forth. 32 sbtc church missions & evangelism

35 there s training for that. online training sbtexas.com/onlinetraining A training platform enabling churches and leaders to receive and provide basic leadership tools for their ministries. all videos are FREE. no user account needed. However, you can set up account to bookmark favorites and access our free Learning Paths portion. learning paths Curated video courses and tools created to further the spiritual development of church leaders and Christians. paths include: Disaster Relief Phase 1 Training Church Revitalization Teaching & Preaching Series Stand Firm Apologetics Course (English & Spanish) Saving Men in a Hyper Sexualized Culture Helping Men with Pornography and Sexual Addiction To see a library of free courses, visit the online training page and click the Learning Paths tab. Were you unable to attend one of our conferences, or are you looking for training in a host of ministry areas? + Preschool/Children + Young Adult & Preteen + Collegiate + Men & Women + Family & Single Adults + Evangelism + Adult Sunday School + Discipleship + Worship + Missions + Administration + Communications + Leadership & Pastoral + Church Revitalization + Spanish + & More Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 33

36 church planting why church planting is a priority in our church By Ryan Fontenot Pastor, The Mount Church, Keller In the fall of 2010, God called me to a dying church in Keller. My hope in coming to this church was not to help them close the doors graciously, shut down quietly or even to figure out how to leave a legacy. The prayer, the aim, the dream was to see God breath life back into a congregation that had existed for more than 160 years. We believed God was not finished and we were convinced The Mount could be a lighthouse in the community and around the globe like never before. Over the past seven years, we have seen God give our church life again. The Holy Spirit has moved in and among our people, taking us from looking inward in hopes of survival to moving outward and experiencing revival. I genuinely believe one of the key commitments in our journey back to life was to become a church where church planting was a priority not merely an option. Let me share with you five reasons why church planting is a priority at The Mount. Church Health From the beginning, I was convinced that to experience continued health and growth as 34 sbtc church missions & evangelism

37 pastor church relations ADVANCE NOW CHURCH PLANTING PODCAST GEARED TOWARD ADVANCING THE KINGDOM OF GOD Also available in the SBTC App FOLLOW US sbtexas.com/advancenow Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 35

38 church planting a church, investing in planting new churches would be essential. Tim Keller said well, The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city. Strategic involvement in planting new churches is key to the continued health of existing churches. Simple Obedience We are convinced that church planting is simple obedience to God s initial command to humanity. You might recall way back in Genesis the Lord gave the simple instructions, Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it While this indeed is given with natural reproduction in mind, we believe it reveals the heart of God for multiplication. Just as our Father in heaven wants us to multiply physically, He wants us to reproduce spiritually. God s heart is not merely to fill the earth with physical humans but with bornagain followers of Jesus. Where we see a spiritual multiplication of believers happen church multiplication must happen also. Gospel Saturation As well, we know church planting is one of the most powerful tools for the spread of the gospel. Missiologist C. Peter Wagner says, Planting new churches is the most effective evangelistic methodology known under heaven. We want to see people come to know Jesus, grow in Jesus and live a life going for Jesus. Studies everywhere continue to reveal nothing reaches new people with the gospel like new churches. Our church desires to be a launching pad for making a gospel impact here, near and far. We know church planting is a critical part of ongoing gospel saturation. Make Disciples The birth of a new baby is exciting, thrilling and cause for celebration. But, there must be a good home for that baby to grow, mature, develop and thrive. As an evangelist, We genuinely want to see the name and fame of Jesus continue to spread in our city and around the world. If we are going to be serious about this, we must be serious about investing our time, our people and our resources in planting healthy gospel churches. I love seeing people confess Christ as Lord and be born-again. But I also know these new believers need healthy environments in which to grow, mature, develop and thrive. These environments are known as the local church. Dave Harvey of The Sojourn Network stated rightly, Making disciples, baptizing, teaching where does that actually happen in the New Testament? In other words, what is the focus in Acts and the epistles where the great commission was uniquely embraced, embodied, and executed? The answer, of course, is the local church. We know the church is where disciples are being made, matured and living on mission. We are investing in planting new churches because we are invested in the disciple-making of disciple-makers. City Renewal God calls people to himself individually (salvation), unites us to one another globally (the body) and organizes believers locally (the church). These local churches are placed in geographical areas to bless the city in both works done and words spoken. Justin Lopez of For The City reminds us that in the Bible we see God s people making a difference in their city through an organization called the church. Church planting is vital to for us at The Mount because we know the local church is essential for the health and flourishing of every city. At The Mount, we genuinely want to see the name and fame of Jesus continue to spread in our city and around the world. If we are going to be serious about this, we must be serious about investing our time, our people and our resources in planting healthy gospel churches. In the end our heart echoes that of Jeff Medders when he wrote, The planting of gospel-centered churches, filled with gospel-centered people who live as grace-leaking, missional monsters as lights in the darkness, inviting the dead to come alive in Jesus Christ and to dwell in the kingdom of God that is the hope of your city and mine. 36 sbtc church missions & evangelism

39 annual meeting 2019 october first baptist church, odessa Sesión En Español 27 de octubre sbtexas.com 37

40 evangelism serve, love and serve again By Jaime Garcia Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Houston The church has been called not to just to be on mission, but to live out that mission in its city. Bethel Baptist Church has been given the biggest evangelistic platform our city has ever seen, due to Hurricane Harvey. As a pastor, my passion is to lead our people to be the church to those who are hurting, broken and forgotten. It takes sacrifice and intentionality to serve others. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:22, We must become all things to all people that by all means we might save some. The mission field is just outside our church doors, with so much of the community waiting to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why Bethel BC has intentionally served in the Hurricane Harvey affected communities. On Thanksgiving Day we served meals to over 1,200 people. At Christmas, we had a parade in a Harveyaffected community. During Easter, over 600 people attended an evangelistic event at our church. Houston has become the missions epicenter at this current season, and we are receiving missions groups to fulfill the mission call to serve. Taking the time to help someone with their hurricane-ravished home, or simply dropping off a bag of groceries, bridges the gap for the opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here is a testimony from Catherine, of First Baptist Church, Booneville, Mississippi. She spent a week doing missions in our Houston community and said, I want you to know I am hijacking #nothingisnormal for my Sunday School lesson. It s too easy to be content as long as it s someone else who is in need. Nothing is normal as long as there are people who need our help and need us to share God s love, and it shouldn t take the hurricane of the decade to make us look up and look around. Small needs can be just as much an opportunity to live and share the gospel as are the big needs. If we are open to God, he will use us. I believe that serving is the greatest joy in life, and if that s true for you, then go serve, go love and go serve again. 38 sbtc church missions & evangelism

41 evangelism DISASTER RELIEF TRAINING PREP TRAIN RESPOND Phase 1 Feb 2 Broadview BC, Abilene Mar 9 FBC, Wake Village Apr 13 Spring Baptist Church Sep 28 FBC, Alvarado Phase 2 Feb 1 Broadview BC, Abilene Mar 8 FBC, Wake Village Apr 12 Spring Baptist Church Sep 27 FBC, Alvarado For more info & to register for trainings sbtexas.com/dr Preparing, equipping, training and mobilizing churches and volunteers to fulfill the Great Commission by meeting real needs and sharing the hope of Jesus Christ with those whose lives have been or will be affected by disasters. Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 39

42 disaster relief than any one, or even several organizations can handle alone. The focus has been on accessing more volunteers and more resources. We need a greater pool of resources and we need a greater pool of volunteers as we go forward, said David Melber, vice president of the North American Mission Board s (NAMB) Send Relief initiative. I think finding logical ways to fit untrained volunteers in with trained volunharvey, southern baptists, and cooperation National Guard photo by Lt. Zachary West By Bill Bumpas Disaster Relief, SBTC An entire nation was glued to the TV news coverage of rescue after rescue in Southeast Texas. Boats were launched from Interstate 10 to try to save yet another family from rising waters. From the devastating winds that destroyed several communities when it made landfall, to the torrential downpours that left Houston and Beaumont underwater, Hurricane Harvey was no ordinary storm. The same can be said for the response as Southern Baptists joined together and continue to do so to creatively meet the massive needs in the region. Harvey required everyone to think differently and shift our mental models of how things are functioning, according to Kenneth Priest, director of convention strategies for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC). The need for recovery and relief is far greater 40 sbtc church missions & evangelism

43 disaster relief We believe this model will allow us to respond to the greatest needs in a strategic way to insure we are the best stewards of the resources God is providing through continued support of Harvey relief. Lance Crowell, SBTC teers is a key part of addressing that need going forward. Priest explained that when NAMB contacted the SBTC wanting to connect their Send Relief volunteers to this disaster along with credentialed Disaster Relief (DR) volunteers, we immediately saw the benefit. That led the SBTC to launch the Texas Relief (TXR) initiative to relate with Send Relief. The non-credentialed TXR volunteers have been working alongside credentialed disaster relief volunteers, according to Scottie Stice, SBTC disaster relief director. It is a great partnership, this is going to help us long-term, said Stice. Obviously, this is the biggest response we ve ever been involved in and it s bigger than our state disaster relief team. We ve got to have the churches help and so Texas Relief gives us that option and gets more help in the field, ministering to homeowners. Priest shared that churches have stepped up and met the needs in their communities in record response. That paved the way for the launching of Texas Rebuild. This ministry of the local church caring for her community, has positioned us to move forward with this next step, Priest said. We believe this model will allow us to respond to the greatest needs in a strategic way to insure we are the best stewards of the resources God is providing through continued support of Harvey relief. Through this model, many lives have been eternally changed due to the faithful witness of Southern Baptist volunteers. In one instance, a missed appointment became a divine appointment. A team was sent to work on a house in Houston. But according to Wally Leyerle, SBTC DR associate, the homeowner was not home. While they were waiting a neighbor approached them about his house that was in need of work. So they assessed the job and worked at that home. The team was able to strike up a conversation about spiritual things with the man. He ended up praying to receive Christ, explained Leyerle. Had the neighbor not missed his appointment that guy probably would not have even heard the gospel. Volunteers also led a 74-year-old widow to Christ. Afterward she told them that in all of her years she had never heard the gospel explained that way. Praise God, exclaimed Leyerle. He perfectly orchestrated all of our efforts to bring this woman to himself. The opportunities that have emerged from Harvey have been plentiful, explained Lance Crowell, who has headed up the TXR initiative. We have had churches that have said this has opened the door for us into a community we couldn t get in because we re in their houses now helping pull sheetrock out. Crowell stated they have heard from pastors who have said they have been trying to interact with the city council or other leadership for quite a while but now the leaders are responding because the church is helping. So, the Lord is using this I think in an incredible manner as we re trying to help even out of the midst of tragedy. And as the focus turns to rebuild Christians are challenged to respond to the call for skilled labor and other volunteer opportunities. There s still great opportunities and needs for volunteers to come and serve in Texas, said Melber. We want to promote and encourage our churches to do that and for our churches to come alongside the churches that were impacted in Texas and help them get rebuilt. sbtexas.com 41

44 disaster relief sbtc dr team completes key relief projects in puerto rico 3SBTC Disaster Relief workers Rick Grandmaison and Paul Cothren make repairs to a roof on the Seminario Theologic Bautista campus in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. By Jane Rodgers Southern Baptist TEXAN GUAYNABO, PUERTO RICO Flooded streets, potable water shortages, communications disruptions, power outages and six-foot-long iguanas were among the obstacles encountered by eight Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief (DR) volunteers as they completed two key projects to facilitate Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) efforts in Puerto Rico following hurricanes Irma and Maria. The SBTC team deployed Oct. 15th to 23rd, 2017, responding to SBDR national director Sam Porter s request to establish a communications center at the Seminario Teologico Bautista in Guaynabo, southeast of San Juan. The Baptist seminary property is also home to the offices and conference center of Convencion de Iglesias Bautistas del Sur en Puerto Rico y Islas Virgenes, the Southern Baptist Convention in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Porter also requested a small construction team to reroof buildings on the five-acre seminary grounds. With its kitchen, chapel, shower facilities and capacity to sleep 60, the seminary site is expected to become a headquarters for SBDR recovery efforts, Porter said in an Oct. 9 to SBTC DR director Scottie Stice. Stice affirmed the decision to assist Puerto Rico, noting that while SBTC DR continued to respond to Harvey, communications teams were no longer in the field and a roofing crew could be spared. We went with able hands and bodies to do whatever needed to be done, said DR volunteer Paul Cothren of Atlanta, Texas. Using corrugated metal over wood slats, SBTC volunteers reroofed three dormitories and a guest house, said George Yarger of Mabank, SBTC DR communications unit director. The volunteers first had to secure their own outdoor sleeping area from wind-blown rain by covering the open porch of the dorm above the kitchen and meeting area with plastic sheeting. You re on an island. There s a chance of rain every day, Yarger laughed. We made the decision to stay [at the seminary] to get the greatest amount of work done. We hunkered down, Cothren said. Cell coverage was initially unreliable. Yarger set up a VHF, UHF and HF ham radio communications station at the seminary, enabling those onsite to maintain contact with the Red Cross VHF network. 42 sbtc church missions & evangelism

45 disaster relief Cell phone repeaters provided by the North American Mission Board also proved instrumental in improving communications early in the deployment, Yarger said. The VHF net was for emergency services. We checked in [regularly], he explained, adding that cell service was eventually restored, possibly negating the long-term need for ham radio operations. We left all the equipment behind for the next team to use, Yarger said. I am not sure they will need it, since the last 72 hours we had very good cell phone data. That s the hope anyway. The volunteers also used a mobile radio unit to contact team members running errands in the group s rented van. Yarger estimated he drove 2,000 miles back and forth to Home Depots. Usually GPS navigation on cell phones proved reliable, but not always. Obtaining water proved challenging. Volunteers got water from gas stations and joined locals in filling jugs from nearby springs. The springs, which normally flow in ditches alongside roads, were channeled via PVC pipes which mysteriously appeared after the storm, Yarger said, adding that none of the residents he asked knew who had provided the makeshift conduits. The SBTC crew used a small filtration system belonging to Yarger, then a larger UV-operated unit provided by NAMB, to purify water for drinking and cooking. The lack of electricity continued to stall recovery in Puerto Rico. The SBTC team reported lines of people waiting to get inside Walmart or Sam s Clubs, many hoping to purchase generators. Although electricity was scarce, eternal connections were made, not only on the ground in Puerto Rico, but also in the air during the team s 25-hour journey home from the Caribbean. On the flight from St. Thomas to Miami, Yarger sat next to Jackie, a 65-year-old resident of the Virgin Islands whose son had died in the hurricane when the roof of his home blew off and a wall collapsed. My son was a Christian. He always wanted me to go to church with him. I never took him seriously. Now I wish I had, Jackie told Yarger. Yarger and another passenger, also a believer, led Jackie to Christ. I will see you all again, Yarger told both women, referencing heaven as they debarked in Miami. As Cothren said, It is always a joy to serve the Lord. counseling + conflict mediation church grant + emergency grant funds The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. -Psalm 34:17 We are here to offer help and guidance in those times of discouragement, disheartenment and distress, either in your personal life or church life. Contact Pastor/Church Relations at sbtexas.com/pcr Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 43

46 disaster relief Hurricane Harvey DR: unprecedented disaster, unparalleled gospel opportunity By Jane Rodgers Southern Baptist TEXAN Hurricane Harvey s onslaught saw 27 trillion gallons of water, enough to fill the Houston Astrodome 85,000 times, fall upon Texas and Louisiana over a six-day span last August and September. The unprecedented disaster prompted unprecedented relief efforts from state, federal and volunteer agencies, including thousands of Southern Baptist disaster relief (DR) volunteers working through state Baptist DR agencies, the North American Mission Board s (NAMB) Send Relief and local churches. The unparalleled disaster also brought unparalleled opportunities for sharing the gospel, as SBDR volunteers personified the hands and feet of Jesus to people seeking hope in crisis, as NAMB Send Relief states on its website. Throughout Houston, the Golden Triangle area of Southeast Texas, the southern Texas Gulf Coast and Harvey-affected regions of Louisiana, yellow-shirted SBDR volunteers joined Send Relief Gen Send college groups, the SBTC s Texas Relief crews, and thousands of church-based volunteers to meet the needs of victims. Sometimes assistance and the gospel came with a hot meal. As 5SBTC Disaster Relief chaplains and assessors Terry Bunch and Bob Bynum offer homeowner Frank DeSimone help with anti-mold treatment, then share how to find hope in a time of crisis. 6Susan Greig and Janet Kroger pray with a young mom as she holds one of her three children. PHOTOS BY JANE RODGERS 44 sbtc church missions & evangelism

47 disaster relief of mid-september, NAMB reported more than a million meals served by SBDR volunteer crews from various states. Scottie Stice, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention director of disaster relief, affirmed the positive impact of a nutritious meal upon victims who no longer have kitchens to prepare food, calling the magnitude of Harvey relief a God-sized project necessitating the willing cooperation of thousands of Baptists from dozens of states. As an example, a small SBTC DR feeding unit housed at First Baptist Church of Flint, Texas set up operations over Labor Day weekend at Clay Road Baptist Church in Northwest Houston and remained in place till Columbus Day. The unit was manned by volunteers from Texas, South Carolina and New Mexico Baptist Relief who cooked food provided and distributed by the Red Cross to eight nearby sites. The feeding unit operated at capacity for more than a month, cranking out 176,000 meals by the end of the deployment: each meal a reminder of God s provision. SBTC DR chaplains assessing homes found unique opportunities to share the gospel. When SBTC DR chaplain assessors Terry Bunch and Bob Bynum asked one Houston victim viewing the ruins of his flooded home if he had a relationship with Jesus Christ, the man replied, Yes. I am well aware that this is all just a puff of smoke. The chaplains, dodging acorns dropped by squirrels from a large oak tree, prayed with the homeowner. It was all in an afternoon s work for Bunch and Bynum who had spent days canvassing neighborhoods where the smell of mold filled the air weeks after rains from Harvey ceased. Bunch, Bynum and fellow chaplain Susan Greig led a young man, Julian, to Christ, one of more than 50 salvations recorded by DR volunteers working out of Champion Forest. Julian had made eight trips from Dallas-Fort Worth to assist his aunt, Erika, a single parent with a special-needs son. Erika s visually-impaired mother also lived in the flooded home. Both mother and daughter The network of friends and the cooperative heart and spirit of Southern Baptists has leveraged a lot of resources to our church.it s amazing how you can go 10, 20 years of making friendships and building relationships and that all comes to bear at a time like this. Christopher Moody, pastor of First Baptist Beaumont had long prayed for Julian s salvation, which came in the midst of a dark, moldy, smelly, damp setting when the chaplains presented the gospel and Julian said yes. Crews were assigned to work at Erika s home and two days later, Bunch and Bynum presented her with a monetary gift that a church member in another city had sent so that she could buy books for her son. The presentation to Erika at her workplace occurred after Bunch and Bynum had met with homeowner Frank DeSimone in his home off Houston s Kuykendahl Road. DeSimone had already stripped most of the waterlogged sheetrock down to the studs. We want to do what needs to be done for you, Bunch told DeSimone, describing the anti-mold treatment SBTC DR uses. When the bad comes, if we can come alongside you and make the bad less bad, that s what we want to do. Encounters such as these characterized the disaster relief work with volunteers from as far away as Hawaii. Darrell McCain, DR director of the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention who served as unit director at Champion Forest Sept.-Oct., said, Souls are being renewed. In the Golden Triangle an area hit after Houston and the southern Texas Gulf Coast, churches took the lead in coordinating disaster relief as traditional DR resources were already stretched thin. SBDR feeding and laundry/ shower teams from Texas and across the nation deployed throughout Southeast Texas in support of church volunteer groups. [The churches] had to take the helm, Christopher Moody, pastor of First Baptist Beaumont said praising churches that sent workers. Moody said First Baptist lost electricity and water for two weeks but was otherwise undamaged by the storm. Soon after the hurricane, churches began to call to offer help. The network of friends and the cooperative heart and spirit of Southern Baptists has leveraged a lot of resources to our church, Moody said. It s amazing how you can go 10, 20 years of making friendships and building relationships and that all comes to bear at a time like this. This article also contains reporting by Carmen Sisson and Keith Collier. sbtexas.com 45

48 evangelism the gospel and diversity By Jared Richard Pastor, FBC Irving The gospel is a powerful message. This message, the good news of Jesus Christ and the larger redemptive work that his death, burial and resurrection secures, is used by the Spirit to draw broken and sinful men to the Lord. This is a message that leads sinners to repentance and belief. The gospel is a message that reveals God s provision for us to be reconciled to him. Given how far away we were, this provision should lead us to a position of unending gratitude toward our gracious God. The reconciling work of the gospel is not limited to our reconciliation with God. It further speaks of offering a means to reconciliation among the nations, among humanity. Listen to Paul s words in Ephesians 2:11-20: Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been 46 sbtc church missions & evangelism

49 evangelism We, the church, are meant to be a proving ground for how the work of Christ represented in the gospel enables us to be a different kind of community. brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone Christ has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility that existed between Jew and Gentile. God s covenant is no longer tied to one people, but rather is offered to any people who place Jesus Christ as their cornerstone. There is no privilege here; there is no innate superiority. God is fashioning a new people for his own possession, not based on race or geopolitical boundaries but faith in Christ alone for salvation. Our reconciliation to God through Christ leads us to think about each other differently, or at least it should. Through the lens of the gospel we are to see people supernaturally. The dividing walls of hostility that existed between us, regardless of their cause, must be removed in light of the work of Christ. We see no one in a purely human way any longer, especially when it comes to God s people. Our common need for a savior and reliance upon the work of Christ to satisfy our needs is meant to be a great unifier that connects us at the deepest level of our being, rising beyond natural sources of division. As the church, it is our responsibility to display this reconciling work of the gospel. The gospel that we proclaim is not just a message of reconciliation with God. It is not less than that, but it is more. It is a message that offers the hope of reconciliation with each other, having been reconciled to God. We, the church, are meant to be a proving ground for how the work of Christ represented in the gospel enables us to be a different kind of community. I have been a part of two churches now, in my young ministry, who have sought to embody this effect of the gospel: Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston and First Baptist Church of Irving. Both churches held deep commitments to reaching the entirety of their communities, regardless of natural or commonly held points of division, in order to show the reconciling work of Christ. Champion Forest was further along when I moved to Irving than FBC is in this endeavor, but with the Lord s help, our commitment will soon be realized within our faith family. While I am encouraged by the increasing interest among evangelical churches to embrace diversity, this removal of traditional dividing walls does not happen easily. That s why we must always begin with a deeply rooted conviction about what the gospel actually accomplishes. Without a compelling vision of the people of God rooted in the gospel and a reliance upon the power that is the church s as a function of this central work of Christ, the supernatural work of unity in the midst of diversity will not be accomplished. We are too broken without it. It is my prayer that we will be a people that sees the fullness of the promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ and embrace every facet of its work. As pastors, may we lead our people to love deeply the work of Christ and commit to allowing that work to bring about reconciliation in every part of their lives, most especially within our faith communities. The work will not be easy, especially given the cultural diversity present within our cities and the preferences that diversity represents. But we know that the supernatural power of the gospel pushes us beyond our normal abilities to do that which brings the most glory to God. I pray that you will join me by resolving in the power of the Spirit to lead your people to evidence the power of the gospel through the witness of diversity. After all, what could bring more glory to God than seeing the nations gathering together to worship him? sbtexas.com 47

50 evangelism discipleship before evangelism? By Bruno Molina Language & Interfaith Evangelism Associate, SBTC We are constantly reminded as Southern Baptists of our responsibility to fulfill The Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, to go and make disciples of all nations. This makes evangelism essential, as you cannot make disciples of unbelievers. As we survey Scripture, outside of Paul s exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:5 to do the work of an evangelist, we do not find specific exhortations to evangelize. How can this be if evangelism is so essential and important? I believe it is because evangelism is presumed to be the joy and privilege of spirit-guided disciples of Christ. There should not be a need to shame, cajole and command people to do it. In other words, evangelism is the natural outflow of discipleship, a transformational relationship with God in Jesus Christ that transforms all of our relationships (see Acts 1:8). Ultimately we will only engage in evangelism to the degree to which we are faithful in discipleship. If there is no joy and wonder in our loving relationship with God in Christ we will not be motivated to share the gospel. Sure, we may share the gospel anyway out of a sense of duty, but others will quickly judge it to be fake if we deny by our actions what we preach with our mouths and betray our insincerity by our attitudes. When we read statistics about how such few Southern Baptists actually engage in evangelism we should realize that we don t necessarily have an 48 sbtc church missions & evangelism

51 evangelism Discipleship comes before evangelism because evangelism flows from discipleship. There should be no dichotomy or separation of the two because they are inseparable. evangelism problem; we have a discipleship problem. After all, who wants to share about how great it is to be in a relationship with someone they are not enjoying? As Leslie Newbigin points out, most proclamations of the gospel in the book of Acts are a direct result of non-christians experiencing a new reality among Christians and asking them questions to which the gospel was the best answer. This is a great example of evangelism flowing from discipleship. The early Christians were enjoying their transformational relationship with God in such a way that they were loving each other as Christ loved them, and unbelievers who witnessed this wanted in on this community of grace. Unfortunately, many churches today have made discipleship a program within the context of the four walls of the church instead of a dynamic transformational relationship with God and each other that is lived out as the church in the context of the community. Many churches have adopted the introverted agenda of maintenance keeping the believers happy by catering to their desires for food, fun and fellowship. Discipleship as maintenance and not mission is wrong. Until the majority of American churches forsake the introverted agenda of maintenance and adopt the extroverted agenda of mission, the retransmission of the gospel will be the practical preoccupation of the precious few. Discipleship comes before evangelism because evangelism flows from discipleship. There should be no dichotomy or separation of the two because they are inseparable. If we are enjoying a dynamic and transformational relationship with God in Christ, then we will be like the apostles in Acts 4:20 and not be able to stop speaking about our experience with God in such a way that unbelievers will want to get in on that relationship. Designed for Any Family (life applications for children infant through teenager) Library of Family + Marriage Helps Family Devotionals How-To s for Family Devotions Marriage Devotionals A Free Resource Search: SBTC Family sbtexas.com/familyapp Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 49

52 When the professor arrived, he emphasized that class attendance and participation, completion of reading assignments, two comprehensive exams and a writing project were all requirements of the class. Then with scowled expression said, Make sure that you understand exactly what is expected of you because no excuse will be acceptable for not completing the assignments. Then for greater emphasis he firmly pounded the desk and said, If the asevangelism the assignment: Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. how are you doing with your assignment? By Richard Taylor Personal Evangelism & Fellowship Associate, SBTC It was the beginning of my final semester when I sat in the classroom waiting for the professor to arrive. Having been instructed by his assistant to grab a copy of the syllabus, I sat there with nervous dread. The reputation of the professor had caused me to procrastinate until I could put off no longer taking this course. Standing between me and the degree that I desired was a passing grade in this class. 50 sbtc church missions & evangelism

53 evangelism signment is not on my desk by the end of class on the last day of class, you will not pass this class! Although I had other classes as well as family and ministerial responsibilities, there was just something about the assignments of that class that seemed to consume my thoughts and conversation. When I would see others around campus our question of one another was, How are you doing with your assignment? When I received my graded paper back, I was pleased to see the following words, Wonderful Paper; Thorough Thought; Great Research! That excitement was soon crushed when I saw the failing letter grade. After the initial shock I asked myself the question, How can a person get a failing grade with such glowing remark? However underneath the grade read (written in bold red ink), This was not the assignment! I immediately scheduled a meeting with the professor, seeking clarity and an explanation. As I pleaded my case I emphasized all of the good things that I had done. I pointed to the long hours I spent researching and compiling the data. I pointed to the amount of work organizing my thoughts and typing the paper. I pointed to the hard work of prioritizing and submitting the project on time all to no avail. The professor directed me back to the syllabus and to the assignment. It was clear that I had not fully understood the assignment. It did not matter that I had spent so much time and energy researching and compiling my information. It did not matter that I had been faithful to turn it in according to the schedule. It did not matter that what I turned in was of great quality. The fact that I did not do what I was assigned to do was all that mattered. I am convinced that many will turn in the projects of our lives and ministries in hopes to hear God say, Well done, good and faithful servant. However I am afraid many will instead hear him say, Depart you worker of iniquity! What will cause the Lord to pass such a harsh sentence? Matthew 28: is the assignment of the church. Unfortunately, much of what is done in and through local churches have nothing to do with fulfilling that assignment. It will not be good enough to have spent time and energy accumulating knowledge. It will not be good enough to have been faithful in attendance. It will not be good enough to have done good ministry in his name. All that will matter is, Did they do what they were assigned to do? Perhaps you are curious as to what my failed assignment was all of those years ago. Even more important is your response to the question that we asked of each other all those years ago, How are you doing with your assignment? Gives men a proper framework of what it means & what it looks like to be a biblical man. This free resource is designed for men of all ages, single or married. Get your copy of the DVD & leaders guide at SBTEXAS.COM/MEN WRITTEN BY ERIC REED & DON MUNTON Published by SBTC Men s Ministry Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com 51

54 missions + church planting resources web advance now podcasts + articles: sbtexas.com/advancenow missions department: sbtexas.com/missions missions mobilization: sbtexas.com/mobilization church planting: sbtexas.com/churchplanting reach cities: sbtexas.com/reachcities texas missions initiatives: sbtexas.com/txmi social event Advance Church Advance Now: facebook.com/advance.now.sbtc Church Planting: facebook.com/sbtcchurchplanting Mobilization: facebook.com/missionsmobilzation Church Planting: instagram.com/sbtcplant Church Planter Orientation February Empower Irving Convention Center Missions Empower February 25 Irving Convention Center Church Planter + Wife Retreat March (Invitation Only) ESL Training at EQUIP August 9-10 Champion Forest BC, Houston February 1-2 Harwood Terrace BC, Bedford Missions Dinner October Annual Meeting First Baptist Church, Odessa 52 sbtc church missions & evangelism

55 make a difference by planting a church? are you serious? Yes! The SBTC is looking for a few called men of God to make a kingdom difference in Texas. Could you be the one God is calling to reach a city, a people, a community? Do you want to explore that possibility? Three Ways to Start the Process: Call and talk to a member of the church planting team at us at churchplanting@sbtexas.com To register as a a church planter with the SBTC, go to sbtexas.com/churchplanting Join what God is doing in Texas today! sbtexas.com 53

56 DISCIPULADO RITMOS ESPIRITUALES Un manual diseñado para servir como herramienta en la multiplicación de discípulos. sbtexas.com/rhythms UN DISCIPULADO VIBRANTE recursos disponibles en español sbtexas.com Este webinar con los pastores Eddie Lopez y Philip Levant examina el mandato, modelo, y los desafíos del discipulado. sbtexas.com/online EVANGELISMO 1 CROSS APP El 1 CROSS app está diseñado para facilitar compartir el evangelio con personas de diferentes culturas, idiomas, y religiones. El app contiene más de 45 testimonios en diferentes idiomas de personas que han sido transformados por Cristo. sbtexas.com/1cross IGLESIA MANUAL PARA BÚSQUEDA DE PASTOR Un recurso esencial para la iglesia local y el comité de búsqueda de pastor para ayudar en encontrar el siervo de Dios para su congregación REVITALIZACIÓN DE IGLESIA Un programa que ayuda a las iglesias que están declinando o experimentando estancamiento. Le ayudará a renovar la visión, misión, y propósito de la iglesia. EL PROGRAMA COOPERATIVO Visite nuestro sitio web para descargar videos, estudios, sermones, y testimonios sobre este mecanismo de recaudación de fondos de los Bautistas del Sur, que por más de 90 años ha apoyado los ministerios de la SBC. whatiscp.com/spanish/ CAPACITACIÓN Para ver otras ayudas ministeriales por favor visite nuestro canal de ministerios hispanos por la web donde encontrará videos de conferencias y entrenamientos en evangelismo, discipulado, ministerio, apologética, liderazgo y mucho más. sbtexas.com/online

57 conferencia 10 de agosto champion forest baptist church, houston La conferencia EQUIP capacita a líderes para todos los aspectos del ministerio en la iglesia local. Este entrenamiento es para el beneficio de las iglesias pequeñas e iglesias grandes. Se ofrecen más de 200 sesiones de talleres para preescolares, infantiles, jóvenes, adultos, y adultos mayores. Se ofrecen sesiones especiales para la tecnología de la Iglesia (sitio web y redes sociales), y para diáconos, y seguridad para la iglesia. También se ofrecen talleres en español que incluyen temas del ministerio de varones, mujeres, discipulado, familia, y adoración. sbtexas.com/equip Hecho posible por el Programa Cooperativo. sbtexas.com 55

58 A two-day training covering how to develop an ESL program for your church, student placement, lesson building, teaching techniques, evangelism and more. A one-day workshop equipping you to teach English on an international mission trip. Learn to teach using suggested resources and activities, proper preparations for the trip, what questions to ask before you go and when you arrive and where you will be teaching. There is no certificate awarded. For 2019 training dates, visit sbtexas.com/mtraining Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. 4-5 de Octubre River Bend Retreat Center Nuestra conferencia de Hombres de Impacto está diseñada para que los hombres puedan ejercerse en el servicio a los demás y a entregar sus vidas para convertirse en los líderes siervos que Dios los ha llamado a ser en sus hogares, iglesias, y comunidades. Saturado con enseñanza bíblica, instrucción pertinente y actividades competitivas que fomentan un espíritu de compañerismo, esta es una oprtunidad que no se puede perder. sbtexas.com/hombres 56 sbtc church missions & evangelism Para más información, comuníquese con Juani Shelton sshelton@sbtexas.com ext Número de teléfono gratuito Hecho posible por el Programa Cooperativo.

59 the sbtc app event calendar archived sessions TEXAN online advance now podcast video/media other sbtc apps Search SBTC to find these resources 1cross revitalization family ilead FOLLOW US Made possible by your Cooperative Program giving. sbtexas.com/apps sbtexas.com 57

60 sbtc 45 percent sbc 55 percent reaching texas & touching the world Among state conventions, the SBTC gives the highest percentage (55%) of budgeted receipts to the ministries of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBTC invests the Texas budget allocation (45%) to assist in church planting, evangelistic efforts and strengthening existing churches % leadership Church Ministries Pastor/Church Relations Hispanic Ministries Church Revitalization 36.72% missional Missions Evangelism Church Planting 25.75% supporting Operations & Finance Ministry Relationships Communications 4.62% in state special allocation SBTC contribution for church/assoc. staff retirement & protection benefit We are stronger together through the Cooperative Program. CP SUNDAY APRIL 7 for more info visit whatiscp.com 58 sbtc church missions & evangelism