“Today salvation has come to this house,…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:9a,10)
Zacchaeus experienced salvation on the day that Jesus visited him at his house. He went from being a despised Jewish tax collector to a transformed man in Christ. Don’t we desire salvation for everyone…our family, our friends, our neighbors, and even our enemies!? Unfortunately, the statistics tell a different story. Presently, the baptisms to members ratio has reached 1:60 in our SBC churches. In Pickens County, the 2021 statistic is 1:47. This is better than the national convention, but are we content with this number? I hope not. Our desire is for every new believer to take that first step of obedience of baptism as quickly as possible.
On Saturday, August 20, Daniel Wilson, Director of Evangelism for the Alabama State Board of Missions, will conduct a training event for our PBA churches called the “Gospel for Everyone”. This emphasis is directed to each of our churches distributing a packet of materials to all houses, trailers, and apartments in your surrounding church’s area. On that Saturday, each church will receive a packet filled with a tract, a copy of the Jesus DVD, an example letter to place in the packet, and a map or maps of your church’s community.
It will be your decision as to how quickly you distribute the packets. For instance, you can do a one weekend blitz, a one month blitz, or a one quarter blitz. The idea is to put this material in all the residences of Pickens County. Each church can decide how it will speak to the people at each residence. You can attempt to speak at all of them, at some of them, or none of them. No matter what your church decides, please make sure to leave your packet. Make sure that your letter has contact names, phone numbers, and addresses for your pastor and church. The Evangelism team of PBA is ready and willing to help if your church needs “foot soldiers” to canvass your community.
Zacchaeus had a life-changing event by Jesus coming to his house. Your church’s commitment to visit the houses in Pickens County will have the same affect. As we all know, non-believers are not going to drop-in to our churches without someone visiting and/or contacting them. This is one way to accomplish that task.
Plan to be with us on Saturday, August 20 from 9:00 until 11:00 am. You will receive further information as we get closer to the date.
Until Next Month,
Bro. Lyle