Hemphill calls Florida Baptists to seek God's Kingdom

JACKSONVILLE (FBC) — With 10,000 Southern Baptist churches reporting no baptisms, 51 percent of all churches baptizing five or less persons and two-thirds of all churches either plateaued or declining, the local church is in need of revitalization, said Southern Baptists' national strategist Ken Hemphill.

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Ken Hemphill, author of Empowering Kingdom Growth, speaks with Jeff Gnann, director, Blue Springs Baptist Conference Center.

Renewal will come when "the people of God choose the Kingdom of God and their Father's reward over the kingdoms of the earth and men's glory," said the author of EKG, The Heartbeat of God during a March 30 spiritual renewal retreat for the staff of the Florida Baptist Convention.

"The Kingdom of God can be adequately understood just by realizing that He is our King and we are His people, that He is our master and we are His servants, that He sets the rules and we simply obey."

Empowering Kingdom Growth (EKG) is the Southern Baptist initiative designed to call Southern Baptists "to renew their passion for the Lord Jesus and the reign of His kingdom in their hearts, families and churches," said Hemphill.

He explained that the Kingdom of God has a redemptive foundation, a missiological intent and a covenant of obedience.

As a member of the Kingdom of God, men and women are called to be a "kingdom of priests who will represent Him," said Hemphill, "a holy Nation," "an ambassador for Christ."

"God is seeking a people to embody His name, embrace His mission to the nations and obey His word," said Hemphill, exemplified in lifestyle, giving and going.

"Men and women in our churches should live in such a distinctive way that people would grab them at school and work and say Ôwhere do you go to church,' because it is obvious that they do."

Hemphill traced the Kingdom of God historically through four unbroken time periods: the Old Testament, Jesus' life, the church and Christ's return.

He noted that God chose to work through the people of Israel yet allowed them to suffer defeat. "Israel consumed God's blessing and did nothing with it," he said. "Is it possible that the church in North America has done the same in that we have consumed God's blessings and done nothing with them?"

The average Protestant in America gave 3.2 percent of his or her income to the church in 1933, Hemphill said, a number that declined to 2.7 percent in 2001. "The problem is that we grew up in a democracy. In a democracy, you think you own something. In a monarchy, you don't own anything."

Adding that 20 percent of the congregation provides 80 percent of the church's budget, Hemphill said, "We could triple the budget of every local church in Florida if half the people give."

Hemphill explained that gifts through the Cooperative Program have been in decline since 1982, when the average Southern Baptist church allocated 10.7 percent through the Cooperative Program, a figure that dropped to 7 percent in 2002 and 6.9 percent in 2003.

"We must challenge the local church giver with a Kingdom vision. We must give a new concept to change the DNA of local churches." Giving, he said, should not be done sequentially, but simultaneously—to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Empowering Kingdom Growth will help churches identify their Acts 1:8 partners, Hemphill said: Jerusalem, the local association; Judea, state convention, Samaria, North American Mission Board; and ends of the earth, International Mission Board.

Calling EKG "a mission mindset," Hemphill said the initiative is "not a program, but it must become a passion. The SBC has had enough programs."

Hemphill suggested following up the study of the book with the 2005 Baptist Doctrine study, The Acts 1:8 Challenge: Empowering the Church to Be on Mission by Nate Adams. The book examines the missions task of the New Testament church and challenges the 21st century church to take the Gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.