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FRISCO—With a theme of “I Am Not Ashamed!” from Romans 1:14-17, the 2012 Empower Evangelism Conference was chock full of exhortations for gospel boldness from the lineup of pastors and evangelists at Frisco’s Dr. Pepper Arena Feb. 27-29.
The following is a sampling of those sermons.
Steve Gaines
Jesus Christ is the narrow gate and the exclusive way to Heaven, Cordova, Tenn., pastor Steve Gaines told the conference.
Using the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 as his text, Gaines said the real invitation to potential disciples begins in Matthew 7:13 with the analogy of the wide and narrow gates.
“Jesus is not only the best way to go to Heaven, he is the only way to go to Heaven. He is the only way to God.”
Some will claim they know him by their works or by head knowledge, having what the Bible calls a form of godliness but denying God’s power. The issue when we stand before God is, “does Jesus know you?”
On that day, “it’s more important that he knows you than you know him.”
“It our job to tell people there are only two gates. . . . Destruction or life, Hell or Heaven.”
“When you preach, give people a chance, an opportunity, to say ‘yes’ to Jesus,” Gaines said.
Jerry Pipes
“The more we know about God, the greater our faith is in God,” evangelist Jerry Pipes said in a sermon from James 1.
The trials of life are abundant, but God’s message is that the believer who grows strong will receive the crown of life.
“Ron Dunn made this statement: ‘Faith is the assurance that when you get to Heaven and see it from God’s perspective, you’ll agree with everything he’s done,’” Pipes told the audience.
“Apart from the testing, ladies and gentleman, we would never grow in Christ.”
God’s best for the believer involves the formation of godly character, and “God is never going to allow you or me to miss his best without a fight.”
There are no shortcuts to a vibrant faith and Christian walk, personally or in the life of the church body, Pipes emphasized.
Pipes said two commonalities are found in pastors who thrive in their ministries. Their walk with Jesus and accomplishing his vision and mission, and fulfilling who God created them to be, were their greatest aims. Also, those pastors knew that their commitment to spend time with God got them through, Pipes said.
Kevin Hamm
Preaching on the subject of worship that attracts God’s presence, Gardendale, Ala., pastor Kevin Hamm said the question that should be asked in our churches is, “Is God in the House?”
He used the story of the woman who anointed the Lord’s feet with ointment from Luke 7 to make his point.
“The church of God is trying to do the work of God without the power of God,” Hamm said in describing the problem among Southern Baptist churches with ample resources but sparse spiritual and evangelistic fruit.
What does it take for God to move powerfully in a church body?
Luke 7:37 shows a woman who was desperate for God, Hamm observed, despite no invitation to the meal at the Pharisee’s home.
Described in the Bible as a sinner, the woman also ignored potential criticism to get to where Jesus was. And when she found him, “she gave the very best she had,” Hamm said.
Such desperation is a prerequisite for God’s power to be manifested in the local church, he added.
Robert Smith
“God hath given us a gospel that must be preached in spite of the shame associated with it,” declared Robert Smith Jr., Christian preaching professor at Beeson Divinity School.
“Paul shows up in Rome with a gospel that is ludicrous to those who do not believe. It takes faith to believe this gospel,” he reminded. Recalling that Paul arrived in shackles, Smith said the apostle turned his prison into a pulpit.
“There was a time when Paul was ashamed of the shame of the gospel,” Smith noted. “What a difference a chapter makes,” he added, contrasting the account of Paul ravaging the church in Acts 8 with his defense of the church in Acts 9. “I want everyone to understand that an unbeliever is just one chapter away.”
Smith explained that Paul’s purpose in writing to the saints in Rome was partly a reminder of the gospel’s power. “Why not address the letter to unsaved people?” he asked. “The truth of the matter is that we not only believe in the gospel to save us, we need the gospel to live by every day,” he answered.
“The same gospel that worked in Paul’s day will work in our day, too,” Smith insisted. “We know it looks foolish, but it’s still the power of God unto salvation to everyone who will believe.”
Don Wilton
Preaching from Acts 3 and 4, South Carolina pastor Don Wilton told the conference that people in need of the gospel are hurting on every pew, but that same gospel also offends people.
Before launching into his sermon, Wilton sent greetings from Billy Graham, noting that he spends time with the famed evangelist in weekly pastoral visits. He said God’s love is always on the heart and lips of Graham.
Wilton, describing the story of the lame beggar seeking alms from Peter and John in Acts 3, said the account gives an “absolute demonstration of what he does in the lives of all people who encounter his righteousness” as the man exuberantly celebrated his healing.
Peter didn’t have silver or gold, but he had Jesus to give. Likewise, churches must remember that facilities and programs can never replace the simplicity of the gospel and the power of Jesus.
But that message will be challenged and opposed because it offends, as Peter and John discovered in Acts 4 as they spoke before the priests, the temple captain and the Sadducees.
“God tells us that anger toward this gospel is going to come from the pulpit and it’s going to come from the pew.”
But thankfully, Wilton reminded, Acts 4:4 is evidence that many will believe when God’s message is proclaimed faithfully.
Marc Farnell
Preaching from Ephesians, Little Elm pastor Marc Farnell said Paul in his letter gave an example of how prayer should fuel evangelism and ministry.
Noting that the lost are dead in trespasses and sins and gospel is the power of salvation to those who believe, Farnell outlined three examples Paul left to the Ephesian believers in chapters 1, 3 and 6.
In the first and third chapters he notes his prayer for the believers in Ephesus, and he closes the epistle by urging them to pray for one another and for him in his chains.
In the same way, church leaders need the encouragement of prayer from others.
“Paul knew that the Christian life was no walk in the park. . . . we need to ask others to pray for us,” Farnell said.
And in evangelism, “God is not dependent on our cleverness or creativity” so that he can use us to reach people for Jesus Christ. “His word is powerful to save.”
“Prayer encourages us to boldly proclaim Christ. . . . Sharing the gospel is not an option. It is a commandment. It is a necessity.”
Byron McWilliams
John 3:36 contains the promise of the gospel and the penalty for its rejection, yet many Christians live as if they are ashamed of the message, Odessa pastor Byron McWilliams said.
The passage states that “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
The great promise of the New Testament is believe on Jesus and you will be saved. But the opposite is also taught. Apart from Christ, the “living God whom we serve is not pleased,” McWilliams said.
“If you go to Heaven, you go to Heaven through the blood of Jesus Christ or you don’t go at all.”
John 3:34 shows the message is empowered by the Holy Spirit, yet some worry about how it is received.
“Is it more important for you that you please those who are listening or that you please God?” McWilliams asked.
More than ever, America needs Christians who are willing to speak the truth, knowing that Scripture promises Heaven for those have passed “from death to life.”
Jay Lowder
Wichita Falls evangelist Jay Lowder asked his listeners to consider what they were doing for Christ and to focus on the eternal over the temporal.
Preaching from Revelation 2:1-5, Lowder said Ephesus, lauded in the text for its endurance in the gospel yet scolded for leaving its “first love,” was a powerful city in its day. Yet “the more prosperous they became they more wicked they became.”
America’s prosperity has also led to more wickedness, and the gospel is the only remedy, Lowder said.
Despite political concerns by many Christian believers, “sometimes it’s the worst leadership that brings people to their knees,” Lowder said.
Lowder noted that the church at Ephesus “was not on the sidelines. This was a church that was in the game.”
“Let me ask you today sir or ma’am, what are you doing for Jesus Christ? So often today the focus is on being prominent, but you can be prominent without being significant.”
The Ephesian church was enduring, but they had lost their passion.
“There is nothing more tragic than that someone falls out of love with Jesus,” Lowder lamented.
Ted Traylor
Like Paul, we will bear the marks of Jesus if we follow him, Ted Traylor said during the closing session of the evangelism conference.
Quoting Galatians 6:17—“From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand marks of Jesus”—Traylor said the mark that Paul spoke of was the Greek word “stigma.”
Every believer and every local church is branded or marked by something. But when truly following Jesus, some marks will stand out.
First, believers will bear the marks of the gospel, Traylor said. “The gospel should mark our lives. We are branded for Christ.”
Also, Christians will bear the marks of persecution.
“Friend, if you preach the gospel this world will come against you. You can preach anything until you say he’s the only way,” which leads to trouble.
Persecution didn’t stop Peter and John, it hasn’t stopped the Iranian pastor facing a death sentence, and “God help us to be bold to preach the gospel in a land that is free.”
The true disciple will always bear the marks of boasting exclusively in the cross of Christ, Traylor said.
“He reaches to the up and out and the down and out and everybody in between,” Traylor said. “And we need to be branded with the cross.”
Junior Hill
Preaching from Luke 8:4-15 on the parable of the sower, Alabama evangelist Junior Hill reminded his listeners that Satan’s strategy is to remove the seed that is sown.
“Not only does the devil take the seed out of the heart of the one who has received it,” Hill said, “but he also tries to take it out of the hand of the one who scatters it.”
The devil will assault the believer and try to keep him from scattering seed by intimidation, observation, evaluation, and germination.
Intimidation goes with preaching, Hill said. “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before it hated you,” and the “servant not greater than his Lord,” Hill said, quoting Jesus’ words.
“When God called me at 19, I thought everybody was going to like me.” But, “if you are preacher or a scatterer of the seed of the Word God, mark it down—you are going to be opposed by those who are born of the flesh.”
Satan also tries to divert believers by getting them to “observe” their difficult circumstances. If that fails, he may convince the sower to forego sowing by evaluating the soil and assuming failure.
“You don’t have the foggiest idea who’s going to get saved,” Hill said. “Let God determine which one of them is going to come up.”
Finally, when the germination of the seed looks stalled or slow, don’t assume failure. Only God can judge the sower’s work, Hill said.
“Don’t be weary in well-doing. Keep on scattering the seed.”
