Conner: America's 'sick culture' needs Bible preaching

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FORT MYERS (FBW)-America is a "sick culture" in need of revival and the "proclamation of the Word of God" is the nation's only hope, Craig Conner preached Nov. 14 in the convention sermon of the Florida Baptist State Convention annual meeting in Fort Myers.

Drawing on the example of the prophet Isaiah's message to the wayward nation of Judah, Conner preached from Isaiah 1:1-7 and other selected texts calling on Florida Baptists to see the need for revival in their churches and in the nation.

Conner, pastor of First Baptist Church in Panama City, said that he had a "broken heart" because "the culture we are living in today is a sick culture."

The culture is sick politically, Conner said.

"The politicians just don't get it," he said, noting that "many of them are working under the rubric of the separation of church and state, they are working overtime to keep out of our culture the only thing that can help our culture, and that is God Almighty and His glorious son, the Lord Jesus Christ."

America's culture is also sick morally, he said.

"We are living in a culture in which we have lost the ability to blush," Conner said, pointing to the entertainment industry and advertising campaigns consumed with "sensual depravity" in America's "sex-crazed society."

Conner said that the Bible's denunciations of homosexuality in both the Old and New Testaments are clear.

"May we as the people of God never condone what God condemns," he preached, adding, "While we must always speak lovingly, we must also speak truthfully."

Insisting that Florida Baptists should be "leading out in this effort," Conner emphatically called for a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as only being that between a man and a woman.

Conner also condemned the "murder of the unborn" in America, adding that he felt compelled to mention the subject because "sadly across the state of Florida many pulpits never do."

While "thousands of babies are slaughtered" and some ask, "Who cares?" Conner answered, "God cares. And you and I ought to care as well. ... And the prayer of my heart today is that the political parties who are supporting abortion will get right with God. And the prayer of my heart is for those Florida Baptists who sit in church pews every Sunday morning and sing, 'Oh, How I Love Jesus,' and then go out and vote for political candidates who support abortion, that they will get right with God."

Revival, Conner said, is America's only hope.

"Revival will shut down the abortion clinics. Revival will clean up the sensual depravity. Revival will put a stop to the sexual perversion," he preached.

"We have the voice to give clarity in these days of confusion. We have the key the unlock the vault to spiritual treasure. We have the textbook that gives solutions to the questions of life. And revival is the force that thrust these things into action," Conner said.

While the condition of the culture demonstrates the need for revival, Conner said the "cry of the church" is always for revival, noting that, just in Isaiah's day, "within every church there is a small remnant that is crying out to God."

The cry of the remnant, Conner said, is "We want to see Christ in our church."

In Isaiah's day of material affluence, Conner said the people were merely putting on a religious ritual of "outward show" without actually "seeking the face of God."

Such is the case in too many Florida Baptist churches today, Conner preached. While churches may have impressive buildings, with "slick," fashionable-looking preachers, and theatrical performances that "rival a Broadway show," the "manifested presence of Jesus Christ in many churches is as out of place as a conservative is at an Oscar party."

Conner also said that churches need to seek conviction in their midst.

"The church needs to stop celebrating and start mourning. The church needs to stop laughing and start weeping. The church needs to stop walking out the door during the invitation and start running to an old fashioned altar and confessing our wayward lives. But we're just too sophisticated to have altar calls in Baptist churches anymore. May God have mercy on us," he said.

Churches also must seek God's blessings in the conversion of souls, Conner preached.

"May we repent today of our lack of effort in soulwinning," he said, challenging church pastors and staff members to model evangelism before their congregations.

"A church where evangelism is not the priority is a church that is out of the will of God. A church that does not intentionally do evangelism and make it the central focus is out of the will of God," he added.

Conner concluded by noting that revival is the "cure of Christ" and that revival can only come about through the "proclamation of the Word of God."

"What the Word of God has done in the past, it will do in the present. If I hear one more church growth guru implying my Bible is not sufficient to grow a church in today's culture I'm going to jump up and scream," he declared.

"The Word of God is applicable to every people group, every culture, every age, all of the time. It is always relevant. It does not need to be improved upon. It doesn't need to be propped up. It just needs to be turned loose. It will still work in our culture."

Challenging "every pastor in this convention to be an expository preacher of the Word of God," Conner preached "spiritually malnourished souls" need to be fed by their preachers.

"When people come to our churches, they don't need to be entertained. They need to be engaged with the Word of God. They don't need to be impressed, they need to be instructed from the Bible. They do not need a book review, they need Bible exposition. And when we do that God will honor that and God will bless that."