Declining Numbers
E.A. Johnston emphasizes that the decline in Southern Baptist membership is due to a lack of genuine repentance and calls for a return to heartfelt humility and prayer in worship.
In this topical sermon, E.A. Johnston addresses the troubling decline in Southern Baptist church membership, drawing from his extensive experience in evangelism. He challenges the church to return to the foundational biblical practice of repentance and warns against superficial worship practices. Johnston calls for sanctuaries to become places of genuine humility, prayer, and seeking God's presence to retain and revive the faith of younger generations.
Full Transcript
I'd like to address the declining numbers among Southern Baptists as reported in this article. I believe I can speak with some knowledge of the situation, having been a member of Bellevue Baptist Church for 20 years and being actively involved in their church evangelism program, serving as a senior EE trainer in that church. What Southern Baptists need is not more evangelism, but what they need to do is the one thing they refuse to do, and that is to repent.
They need to put repentance back into their gospel. They need to remove the strange fire in their worship services, and they need to make their sanctuaries bethels of broken-hearted repentance and humility and prayer, and to seek the face of the God of the Bible, whom they drove away in an effort to get more members. Until they are willing to do that, young people will continue to walk away from their denominational churches as they seek the reality of God in other places.
Sermon Outline
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I
- Address the issue of declining Southern Baptist numbers
- Share personal experience in evangelism at Bellevue Baptist
- Identify the root problem as lack of repentance
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II
- Call to restore repentance in the gospel message
- Warn against 'strange fire' in worship services
- Encourage sanctuaries to be places of broken-hearted humility and prayer
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III
- Explain consequences of ignoring repentance
- Note young people leaving for authentic encounters with God elsewhere
- Challenge churches to seek God's face sincerely
Key Quotes
“What Southern Baptists need is not more evangelism, but what they need to do is the one thing they refuse to do, and that is to repent.” — E.A. Johnston
“They need to make their sanctuaries bethels of broken-hearted repentance and humility and prayer.” — E.A. Johnston
“Until they are willing to do that, young people will continue to walk away from their denominational churches.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Churches should prioritize genuine repentance in their gospel message and worship.
- Remove insincere or distracting elements from worship to create a holy atmosphere.
- Encourage a culture of humility and prayer to seek God's guidance and presence.