Empower Conf. to emphasize gospel urgency

LAS COLINAS—Just as Jesus challenged his disciples in John 4:35 to “lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest,” this year’s Empower Conference hopes to reawaken pastors and church members to the urgency of the gospel. The three-day conference will be held at the Irving Convention Center in Las Colinas Feb. 29 – March 2.

“We believe that God is going to do great things through the Empower Conference,” said Nathan Lorick, SBTC director of evangelism. “Texas is overwhelmingly lost, and this conference will serve as a great reminder that we must bring intentional evangelism to the forefront of our ministries.

“At this year’s conference we will once again have a call to action for the One in A Million campaign. We want to see SBTC churches join together in one massive cooperative effort to reach one million homes with the gospel. I believe we can drastically impact the lostness across Texas through our efforts together.”

The conference kicks off Monday afternoon from 1-4 p.m. with a variety of breakout sessions, the Conference of Texas Baptist Evangelists (COTBE) session, and a ladies session. Participants can choose from seven breakout sessions at two different time slots that address such topics as evangelism, missions, multi-ethnic ministry, and engaging millennials. The COTBE session will feature messages from Johnny Hunt, Eric Fuller, and Michael Catt along with music by Luke Garrett.  The ladies session includes speakers Jennie Allen, Shari Rigby and Jennifer Rothschild as well as musical guests The Gettys.

Main conference sessions will take place Monday evening; Tuesday morning, afternoon, and evening; and Wednesday morning. Conference attendees will hear challenging messages from David Platt, president of the International Mission Board; Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas; J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; H.B. Charles Jr., pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla.; Matt Carter, pastor of The Austin Stone Church in Austin; Derwin Gray, former professional football player and pastor of Transformation Church in Indian Land, S.C.; and others. David Gentiles, Stacy Perkins, and The Gettys will lead music during the main sessions.

For more information on Empower Conference, including schedule, lodging, breakout sessions and a promotional video, visit sbtexas.com/ec16.