What would it take for Kentucky Baptists to get the gospel to every home by the annual meeting of our churches in November 2021? The vision of abundantly sowing the gospel seed among the 1.7 million-plus homes in Kentucky is a God-sized task, but here are seven steps that can mobilize Kentucky Baptists in joining God and cooperating together in getting the gospel to every home.
Rob Patterson
1. Pray. Prayerfully gather your leadership around the vision of providing multiple opportunities for every home in close proximity to your church to hear and respond to the gospel. Make it impossible for someone to live within a mile of your church without hearing the good news of Jesus!
2. Communicate your church’s intent to participate. You can easily do so through the Gospel to Every Home (GTEH) mobile app, via www.kybaptist.org/gospel or by emailing or calling your KBC Evangelism Team Office at evangelism@kybaptist.org or (502) 489-3576.
3. Connect with your local associational mission strategist. Mapping and mobilizing for Gospel to Every Home happens through the cooperative efforts of local associations. Therefore, most of the GTEH resources will distributed through your associational office. Consider serving as a part of your association’s GTEH planning team.
To learn more about available resources, go to www.kybaptist.org/gospel.
4. Plan. Your local association will provide a plan for participation. However, every local church needs a strategic plan for evangelistic disciple making. The church’s planning guide for Gospel to Every Home can provide a template for developing, tweaking or strengthening your church’s evangelism strategy.
Be sure to register for the evangelism sessions of the Equip tour on Sept. 1 to be equipped in using the planning guide. Register at www.kybaptist.org/equip.
5. Equip your people. GTEH provides opportunities for people to grow in faithfulness from prayer walking, to front door evangelism, to volunteering with NeedHim.org, to discipling new believers and more! Your KBC Evangelism Team is collaborating with local associations and churches to develop and share practical equipping resources.
Explore GTEH resources via the GTEH mobile app or by going to www.kybaptist.org/gospel. For general evangelism resources, go to www.kybaptist.org/evangelism.
6. Mobilize your church to get the gospel to every home. Every association will prayerfully develop its own timeline, especially amid the changing landscape of COVID-19. Most are building teams and making plans to cast the association’s unique vision during annual meetings this fall. The goal is to mobilize churches leading up to Easter and beyond in 2021.
Likewise, your KBC staff is currently striving to provide resources to help associations and churches develop their unique strategies building up to our annual meeting in Owensboro this November. The vision is to do all that God allows to get the gospel to every home by the annual meeting in 2021.
7. Celebrate. Every step of obedience is worth celebrating! Please share your God stories via the GTEH mobile app or www.kybaptist.org/Godstories. This same form will be used to track our statewide progress. Each time your people distribute GTEH resources, please update us using this simple form. You can always contact us directly at evangelism@kybaptist.org or (502) 489-3576.
It’s true that our methods of evangelism must constantly adapt to what is happening around us, but has there ever been greater urgency to get the gospel to every home?
Rob Patterson is evangelism team leader for the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
Rob Patterson