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IRVING—Nathan Lorick, who was elected Feb. 21 to succeed Jim Richards as the second executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, closed the Empower evangelism conference two days later with a call to “capture the heart of God.”
Lorick said that behind his relationship with Christ and his duties as a husband and father, being elected to serve as executive director of the SBTC was the “greatest ministry honor of my life.”
He also expressed his gratitude for outgoing director Jim Richards, of whom he said there “is no greater leader in the state of Texas” and “no greater man of integrity.” He thanked Richards for how he had “poured” into his life, adding, “It is the honor of my life and ministry to follow you.”
Lorick stated his desire to let the convention get to know him and his heart as he steps into this new role.
“The theme of my life is about seeing those who are lost come to faith in Christ. That is what wakes me up in the morning, that is what keeps me up at night. It is knowing that God created me, God saved me; God put a passion in me to see those who are lost come to know faith in Christ,” Lorick said. “It is as if God created me that I might live forever remembering what it was like to be lost, so that I would be passionate so that there would be those in my life who wouldn’t have to live that way.”
Lorick preached from Romans 9-10, noting that the heart of God, which is captured in Scripture, boils down to the salvation of the lost. He pointed to three things Paul exemplifies in these two chapters, the first of which is the necessity to be broken on behalf of the lost.
“When was the last time you cried for those in your life and your family and neighborhood and city who do not know Christ, and if Jesus were to return in this instant they would die and spend all of eternity separated from him? When was the last time that began to cause great sorrow in your life?” Lorick asked. “When is the last time you stopped everything in the busyness of your day and got on your knees and cried out to God on their behalf?”
He shared the story of a mission trip to the Philippines where he encountered pastors and their wives who were so broken over the lostness of their islands that they spent over two hours praying and weeping at the altar after he had preached.
“I just didn’t know what to do as these people were weeping and wailing and crying out to God and begging God for their island,” he said. “When is the last time, pastor, that you had a prayer meeting and begged God for your city, your community?
“We won’t see a move of God until we’re broken for what He’s broken for,” he said.
Lorick continued in Romans 9, sharing that brokenness on behalf of the lost must lead to a burden for the sake of the lost.
“Broken is internal. Burden causes you to have action,” he said.
Lorick pointed to Paul, who says in verse 3 that were it possible, he would give up his own salvation for the sake of his fellow Israelites, as an example of one who is burdened.
“There is a difference between being bothered and being burdened. And many of us subconsciously in our ministries and our churches get so busy trying to appease the saints that we become bothered that there are lost people out there, but we are not burdened,” he said.
“When you’re bothered, you can sleep at night. When you’re burdened, you have to pray and do something about it.”
The third thing Lorick pointed to as a necessity for a movement of the Spirit is that the church beg God for the salvation of the lost.
“You want a movement of God? Become a praying church that begs God for the lost in your community. You want to see God move in your family? Beg God for that son or that daughter,” he said.
Lorick closed by sharing his testimony and calling the room to a time of prayer, inviting the audience to consider those in their lives for whom they needed to be broken.
“What if we as a network of churches began being broken for our cities, our communities, our church, burdened for our families, our sons and daughters, crying out, weeping before the Lord? And what if we begged God to let us be a part of seeing them come to Christ?” he asked.
Lorick’s address marked the final message of the 2021 Empower conference. Operating under COVID-19 protocols, the socially distanced event held at the Irving Convention Center attracted 1,207 registered in-person attendees, with 249 others registered and watching online through the SBTC’s digital platform.
