“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” 1 Corinthians 15:34
There is a shameful lack of soul winning in today's independent Baptist churches. It can be hard to find a church with an advertised soul-winning time, but even among churches that do have some kind of door-to-door outreach program, many are not preaching the Gospel at the door. We need a whole new batch of churches to knock every door in America again, because the old fundamental Baptist movement is dying.
I know people who have found a Baptist tract on their door, but they never heard a knock even though they were home at the time. This is probably a common occurrence, since unfortunately, many pastors are telling people to leave door hangers without first knocking.
When we go out door to door, it’s not just an advertising campaign for our church where all we do is invite people or just leave a flyer, nor is it a "visitation" time where we visit only the people who have been to our church. Our goal is to systematically knock every door, and not only invite people to church, but give them an opportunity to hear the Gospel right then and there.
Brother Richard Miller just started a church in Nashville, Tennessee which is called Soul-Winning Baptist Church. Soul winning is a priority for Brother Miller, so it is only fitting that he call it that. With a name like Soul-Winning Baptist Church, the church will never be able to do away with soul winning, or it might as well just close down. Be sure to spread the word to your friends in Tennessee about this exciting new church!
We need to make sure that when we go out soul winning, we are doing just that. Handing someone a church invitation as an ice breaker is only the beginning. We need to open our Bibles and give the Gospel to whoever is willing to listen. Occasionally, people will show up as a result of finding an invitation left on their door when they weren’t home, and we praise God when that happens, but we need to remember that our primary purpose when we go out is to preach the Gospel.
Statistics obtained in another Baptist church showed that people are the most likely to show up at church after getting saved. Even when people don’t let the soul winner go through with the presentation, they are more likely to come as a result of being personally invited as opposed to just finding the invitation on their door.
Just inviting everyone isn’t enough. The Bible teaches that we are to open our mouths boldly and make known the mystery of the gospel. Church invitations are a useful tool when used in conjunction with actual soul winning, so pastors need to instruct their people to do more than just hand out literature.
“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:14-15
Here is a sermon to go with this article.
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