JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Baptists are encouraged to join with other believers across the continent in support of the annual Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO). The promotion will begin with churches uniting in a Week of Prayer March 5-12, followed up with individualized church fundraising initiatives that will contribute towards reaching a $70 million goal set for this year. The AAEO was named after the founder and first corresponding secretary of Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), Annie … [Read more...]
Compassion: ministry’s missing link
SPRINGFIELD – Ed Stetzer believes a main reason more people are not witnessing to the lost is a lack of compassion. Stetzer, executive director for the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College, indicated many people have a saving faith in Jesus Christ, and many believe those without faith should be reached, but lack their own conviction in carrying out personal evangelism. Stetzer shared Matthew 9:35-38 where Jesus told the disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest for the … [Read more...]
‘Transformation Talks’: Apply gospel to all of life
SPRINGFIELD – A set of brief “Transformation Talks” at the Missouri Baptist Convention’s Great Commission Conference here, Feb. 24, prompted Missouri Baptists to consider how they might take gospel-transformation into their communities. Josh Branham, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church, Joplin, said that the “Transformation Talks” reminded him about the importance of developing a godly, deep compassion for those who don’t know Christ. And this compassion should drive Christians to take the … [Read more...]
God has final say on gender identity
Never in a million years did Missourians ever think they would have to let children share a bathroom or locker room shower with an adult of the biologically opposite sex. If LGBT advocates, fake news organizations and their liberal/progressive friends get their way that is precisely what will happen. The question remains, what are Missourians going to do about it? Enter Christian and homeschool mother Lisa Pannett of St. Louis. Known as one of the state’s most fearless citizen lobbyists, … [Read more...]
Sen. Lankford: Answer God’s call
SPRINGFIELD – Sen. James Lankford knows a little bit about experiencing a call from God. He also knows a little bit about resisting that call to be obedient. “For all of the disciples, Jesus used one simple phrase to call them: ‘Come follow me,’” Lankford said during a Feb. 25 session of the Great Commission Conference (GCC) at Ridgecrest Baptist Church here. “It wasn’t a calling to an occupation, to a place or a task. It was a calling to a person, and each of them had to make a decision … [Read more...]
Garrison: More Muslims coming to faith in Christ than ever before in history
SPRINGFIELD – Missouri Baptists gained a vision of what God is doing throughout the world to draw people to himself during a presentation by missions expert David Garrison at the Missouri Baptist Convention’s Great Commission Conference here, Feb. 24. “What God is doing in your ministry is part of what God is doing in the world,” Garrison, executive director of New York City-based Global Gates, told Missouri Baptists. He then described how people are coming to the faith in India, China, … [Read more...]
Reid to GCC: ‘Share Jesus without freaking out’
SPRINGFIELD – “What freaks you out the most?” asked Alvin Reid at the MBC Great Commission conference. Reid, professor of evangelism at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He then proceeded to show the audience a series of photos of snakes he has kept as pets, including some poisonous ones. “Some people think sharing Jesus with someone would freak them out” he said. But “Witnessing is an honor” he refuted. Reid continued to share insights from his forthcoming book “Sharing … [Read more...]
Mission is to make disciples
SPRINGFIELD – While many people today disdain meetings, Ed Litton told participants of the Great Commission Conference here that Jesus set an appointment that they should all join in on with excitement. “Jesus only had one scheduled meeting, and it was the most profound, most productive meeting,” said Litton a former church planter and now pastor of Redemption Church (a.k.a., First Baptist, North Mobile, Alabama.) That appointment is what Christians often call the Great Commission – the … [Read more...]
Musician Michael Card takes truth ‘from head to heart’
SPRINGFIELD – Michael Card was a featured concert artist during the Great Commission conference and conference organizer Matt Kearns hinted during the introduction that many below age 30 would not know him. But many who listened to contemporary Christian music in the 80’s and 90’s were searching their memory banks, using Google on their phones and recalling songs like “Love Crucified Arose, Emmanuel and El Shaddai” which were coming up on the discography of Card’s web presence. Memories … [Read more...]
Generations join in prayer at Great Commission Conference
SPRINGFIELD – Hundreds of Missouri Baptists from various generations gathered together during the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Great Commission Conference, Feb. 23-26, to pray for one another and call out to God for revival in their own hearts and spiritual awakening across the land. Matt Kearns, MBC Making Disciples catalyst, told Missouri Baptists at the conference that for weeks he prayed that God would work in a powerful way through the event. He especially wanted to see the … [Read more...]
CP, MMO help church plants take ‘next steps’
SIKESTON – Many hurdles line the path of a successful church plant, and sometimes a new congregation can use a boost so it can move on to the next phase of transforming lives and communities with the gospel. The hurdles can be spiritual, but they also can be as mundane as too few chairs, or lights that are too dim to allow for webcasting, or the lack of a video camera to help share new believers’ stories on social media. That’s where Next Steps Requests come in, and where the gifts of … [Read more...]
Tower View Baptist embraces prayer ministry
KANSAS CITY – It’s a great view at Tower View Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri. The congregation with a gospel-centered, and Christ-serving vision has been praying for other area congregations. This ministry for other local churches started in April 2015 when Pastor Darin Smith began ministering at Tower View. Initially prayers were random. Then in 2016, they began praying for their affiliated association and local congregations. “On the first Sunday in 2016, we started praying … [Read more...]
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