iTell speakers urge God's people to renew their passion for Christ

Lisa Jackson, accompanied by her daughters Kimberly and Kathryn, sing for the women’s conference held in conjunction with the evangelism conference.

ORLANDO (FBC)-"We hope to kindle again the fires of evangelism we so desperately need today," John Sullivan told a crowd of nearly 800 Sunday night at the "iTell" State Evangelism Conference March 2-4 at First Baptist Church in Orlando.

The three-day conference featured well known expositors, evangelistic seminars, panel discussions and demonstrations of unique witnessing events.

Referencing Hebrews 10, Sullivan called Florida Baptists to a renewed passion for evangelism, citing three requirements for God's people to commit to evangelism: boldness, confession and participation.

The executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention briefly outlined the biblical principles of who Christ is and His redemptive purpose as described in the first nine chapters of Hebrews. These principles serve as "some of the greatest biblical thoughts" or theology to be found, Sullivan explained.

FBC photo by Lauren Urtel

The three-day “iTell” State Evangelism Conference featured well known expositors, evangelistic seminars, panel discussions and demonstrations of unique witnessing events, including Christian Illusionist Brock Gill.

The writer of Hebrews moved from theological reflection and prophetic word to the practical, said Sullivan. "God did not save us for ourselves. God saved us to do His redemptive work." As a result of God's purpose for His people, "We can not get away from witnessing ... soul winning ... [and] having a passion for Jesus Christ," Sullivan said.

Focusing on the text's second emphasis, Sullivan said Christians must "hold fast to the confession of our hope." He explained: "We come to a point" where Christians must take a stand on those things that count, or "God will pass us by."

To find purpose in life, one must have the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ "residing in your life," Sullivan said. He stressed the importance of maintaining biblical conviction, noting, "It is a victorious life if we have the audacity to hold steadfast in what we believe."

In the final practical challenge expressed by the writer of Hebrews, Sullivan said "let us help each other do God's work through love." The key element for evangelism, he added, is having "a burning heart for those who are lost."

"The reason we do not win more people to faith in Jesus Christ is because we have lost our passion," he said.

Following Sullivan, David Uth, pastor of First Baptist Orlando, said he wanted to build upon Sullivan's emphasis of having a passion for evangelism.

Referring to Luke 7:37, Uth contrasted Jesus' reaction to the sinner woman-who washed his feet with her tears and dried his feet with her hair-and the condemning attitude of the Pharisees.

As piano music played softly in the background, the pastor asked, "Do you remember what it was like when your sins were forgiven?" Drawing from his personal experience of accepting Christ at age nine, Uth said he had an urgent desire that very night to share his new found faith with his best friend. That passion, he said, continues to the present.

"When we first come to know Him [Christ] there is a passion," Uth noted. Unfortunately for too many Christians, "as time goes by, we forget the passion."

Uth introduced a video segment featuring Kyle Thomas. The young church member shared his testimony on how he had come to know Christ as a result of the First Baptist Orlando's television ministry, which was broadcast each week into the Orange County jail where Thomas was serving a sentence for drug possession. At the conclusion of the video, Thomas came to the podium to sing a solo on his rescue by Christ.

Returning to the platform, Uth concluded, "Having the passion to remember how we were saved by grace" also means having the passion to share Christ with others.

The March 3 session, which drew nearly 500 persons, offered edification and encouragement from speakers Ed Stetzer and Junior Hill.

Speaking from 2 Corinthian 5:16-17, Stetzer, director of research for LifeWay Christian Resources, shared what it means to represent God and His kingdom.

"The church in North America is not doing well," Stetzer candidly assessed, adding that 80 percent of the unchurched think they can have a relationship with God and not be in the church.

The church has a negative image in the culture, he suggested, and preaching against the culture only builds more walls and prejudices. Instead, he encouraged those in attendance to see the culture through the eyes of Jesus and engage it to reach lost persons.

He reminded participants: "God doesn't need you to make Him relevant. He is relevant to every culture," but urged a willingness to make changes in worship and the way church is done instead of "allowing the sin of preference to overcome the passion for the lost."

Referring to the passage, Stetzer said the people of God need to be reconcilers in the world, yet they have "reduced evangelism to inviting people to church and forgotten to tell them they are separated from God." He admonished Southern Baptists for "taking swipes at each other," which damages reconciliation. "God can and does use every form of music for his honor."

Ambassadors of God are called to represent Jesus and His kingdom, Stetzer proclaimed. Yet too often Christians "represent other people's agendas and not Jesus' agenda," he said. "Jesus doesn't call you to represent political parties or styles of preference. He calls you to represent Jesus and to represent Him well."

Churches must find their focus, he concluded, because of the cross. "I am obsessed with the cross. I hope you are obsessed with the cross. I hope you never preach a sermon that isn't obsessed with the cross."

"Christ's love compels us. That is why we live differently because He died for us and those who sin," Stetzer said. "We represent Jesus and His kingdom because of the work of the cross."

Evangelist Junior Hill offered a word of encouragement in his sermon referencing Luke 5 as the disciples fished all night and caught nothing. Saying, "I know there is not one who has labored hard and come up empty," Hill shared some analogies between the fishermen and those who seek to evangelize today.

The disciples were in the profession of fishing, he noted. And while the perception was that they had not succeeded, it was not fruitfulness but faithfulness that counted. The place was full of fish, as is the world today.

As part of their daily routine, professional fishermen work hard to keep their nets clean and pure he said, equating nets with the Word of God. "We have gone to great lengths to purify our doctrinal convictions," Hill said, yet theological purity will not guarantee a bountiful catch.

The disciples demonstrated their persistence. The catch should never determine the commitment, he said. They cast their nets even when they were empty because Jesus said to do it, he explained. Success, he added, must never supplant the Savior.

Drawing several conclusions, Hill said, "Just because a man of God throws a net and it comes back empty doesn't mean you are less than a man of God." He urged, "Quit criticizing methods of others and think, 'if someone else is catching fish, I'm going to praise God.'"

"The responsibility you and I have is to follow Jesus and cast the nets every time we have opportunity and let the loving God of the universe determine how many fish we catch," Hill said.

During the March 4 conclusion of the evangelism conference, Jacksonville evangelist Bob Tebow and Florida pastors Herb Reavis and David Uth sounded clarion calls for Florida Baptists to return to the basics of the Great Commission, revival and sowing of seeds.

When he goes to the mall, Bob Tebow said he likes to walk with purpose to his destination, yet he observed, others walk aimlessly. "Most churches are like that," declared the father of Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. "They are purposeless because they have missed the Great Commission."

When he became a Christian, Tebow promised God he would witness to five people a day. While he has not accomplished that every day, he admitted, he made up for those days at other times, and far surpassed his goal. From his own experience he added, "The Great Commission is not something you learn one day and you have got it down."

To understand the Great Commission, one must "approach the marketplace with confidence that you have the best message to share with others." Salvation is a free gift, he said, "but if you can't sell it, you don't have anything to sell."

To experience the Great Commission, one must understand "divine judgment awaits us," Tebow explained, and said he often wonders how Christians can sleep at night if they fully understand this truth.

"We have enough people in our Southern Baptist churches and enough money in our Southern Baptist churches to reach our country," Tebow proclaimed. "We need to aim at the world. Yet we haven't done it in 2,000 years" adding that major corporations have marketed their products with great success to the rest of the world.

"We need to put our back to it. Shake off the dust, go to the rest of the world," Tebow said. "No complaining, Quit giving excuses. We have the best message and God will back us up."

Citing Acts 16:16, Herb Reavis offered three insights into real revival-interruptions, ingredients and intention.

Revival is interrupted, Reavis said, when the church is dead and lackluster which halts the flow of God. He blamed false professions of faith, wildfire, apathy and tradition as key in stopping the flow of God that leads to revivals.

The pastor of North Jacksonville Baptist Church decried false professions of faith seen in people who "walk the aisle, sign cards, but still have the demon in their soul. Anytime there is life in the church, they vote it down," he said. Their negativity belies their conversion experience, he said. "The place we need to start with revival is in the four walls of the church."

Revival is interrupted when "people are howling like dogs and saying that's revival. Or roaring like lions" as false prophets.

Apathy interrupts revival, because "people don't give a hoot." Reavis said he is tired of begging people to smile, begging people to say amen. We need people to get off their seat and go out there and touch the lost world with the Gospel."

Tradition interrupts revival, said Reavis, as people are unwilling to embrace anything new or different. He said he is willing to make changes in worship style and music if that will reach the lost. "I don't care as long as it exalts God."

Reavis outlined three ingredients of revival-prayer, praise and passion, and said the intention of revival must be to "see sinners shaken. When revival convictions fall on the sinners, they want to be saved. They want to be baptized, they want their families to know and clean up their past. "

Tossing sunflower seeds across the sanctuary floor, David Uth, host church pastor, said Psalms 127 "promises if we sow in tears, we will reap with shouts of joy."

Concluding the conference, Uth explained, "Whoever sows bountifully shall reap bountifully, but whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly."

Sowing he said, "is simply to share Jesus Christ." He urged participants to find different ways of sowing the seed, applauding demonstrations of monster trucks, motorcycles, hunting events and horse whispering held earlier in the day.

When sowing the seeds of the Gospel, Uth challenged, do it with intentionality. Plan every event with the intention of sharing the Gospel. "If you don't put evangelism in front you will easily become consumer-driven, he added.

Be relational in sowing, he urged, penetrating the culture with the Gospel. "All we have to do is turn our people loose with people they already have relationships with. He encouraged pastors to allow their people to find ways they can share the Gospel.

Sowing is spiritual, he said. Its power is not found in how it is sowed or presented, it is in that it was sowed. "If anyone is saved, it's not what you did, it's the power of God."

Sowing with tears is sowing with compassion, he said. Recalling the friendliness of WalMart greeters, Uth said, people don't see that type of joy exhibited in churches. "If a secular company like WalMart can figure it out, why can't we? People go where they are loved. If they don't feel the love of Christ, they're not coming back."

At First Baptist Orlando, when a person is baptized, the congregation stands and claps, a practice which has drawn criticism from others, he admitted. Yet, he said, he doesn't understand why.

"Heaven celebrates when a sinner comes home. 'We will come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves,'" Uth quoted from a favorite old hymn.