OSCEOLA, Ark. (BP)–Visualizing the “bigger picture” in order to share it with fellow believers, 20 churches gained “a lot of synergy” from a three-day conference with Empowering Kingdom Growth national strategist Ken Hemphill.
The sessions, in Arkansas’ Mississippi County Baptist Association, were unique, Hemphill said, because they were “initiated by the association and local churches to inform members of the bigger picture.”
Charles Lewis, the associational missionary for the Mississippi County Baptist Association, noted that the conference showed the 150 attendees that “this is something they can do in their church.”
EKG, launched SBC-wide in 2002, calls believers to seek first the King, drawing from the biblical perspective of God’s Kingdom. Resources for the EKG initiative include Hemphill’s 30-chapter book and accompanying DVD, “Empowering Kingdom Growth: The Heartbeat of God,” and small group guides for engaging in a seven-week, 40-day study.
Lewis played a key role in organizing the Empowering Kingdom Growth Weekend at East Side Baptist Church in Osceola. Having heard Hemphill discuss the initiative two years ago at a retreat for associational missionaries, Lewis noted, “It was the simplest presentation I [had] heard in years … of the Kingdom of God and what it’s about.”
Lewis subsequently envisioned a way to model how local churches could utilize the various EKG resources.
“The real goal of the weekend was … to help them learn who their partners are and to help them do the Kingdom work that God has called them to do,” Lewis said.
To nurture communication with the churches’ potential Kingdom partners, Lewis organized a Saturday afternoon “Kingdom Celebration Challenge Event,” which Hemphill outlines at the end of his EKG book.
Attendees met with individuals involved in their “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth,” based on Acts 1:8, as they visited each corner of East Side’s multipurpose room corresponding with one of the locations described in the Bible passage.
For Jerusalem, individuals from the Baptist association were on hand; for Judea, there were representatives of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention; missionaries connected with the North American Mission Board from Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota stood for Samaria; and International Mission Board missionaries from Poland and Africa signified the ends of the earth.
Much of the discussion of Kingdom growth and partnerships with Hemphill and the Acts 1:8 representatives occurred amid sampling foods from the various mission fields.
Throughout the April 28-30 sessions, Hemphill presented the Old and New Testament perspectives of the Kingdom, which note that God’s blessings on His people are always for His glory and that Jesus drew people — even pagans — to Himself for the expansion of the Kingdom.
Hemphill also explored biblical instructions to Christians on handling their finances, in a presentation on “Making Change,” a new EKG-related book he has written, slated for released at the Southern Baptist annual convention’s June 13-14 annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C.
On Sunday, missionaries spoke at 12 local churches during their morning and evening services, and Beth Taylor of the IMB hosted 80 women for an afternoon tea focused on praying for Muslim women.
“All the people who came expressed that it was a great weekend,” Lewis said of the weekend. “It is an ideal model for any association to expose churches to missions and the study of the Kingdom of God. I would recommend to any association to have the EKG study and do the weekend like we did.”
Pastor Todd Vinson of First Baptist Church in Keiser said the EKG study has his congregation “looking at the bigger picture, which is what Kingdom growth is about.”
“It has really opened our eyes to the opportunities to share … [and] look for people and families who are hurting,” Vinson said.
Having co-led a group of about 20 people through the EKG material since Jan. 22, Vinson voiced the need for all believers to become aware of a Kingdom perspective.
“This [topic] is at the heart of everything we do as a Christian,” the pastor said. “Everything is affected if we don’t understand we’re a part of the Kingdom.”
While Vinson said the EKG study might take longer than 40 days — his group will finish it in about five months — like Lewis, he suggested others look into the material.
“It takes applying what we’ve learned so that it becomes an integral part of our Christian walk,” Vinson said. “I highly recommend it to anyone. It is a great asset for churches.”
According to LifeWay Church Resources, approximately 3,100 EKG leader kits have been sold to date.
Fred Bourland, director of the University of Arkansas Northeast Research and Extension Center and deacon chairman at FBC Keiser, has participated in his church’s EKG study group since its beginning. Bourland underscored the impact it can have on his community.
“It is real good to bring a better vision that we’re a part of the Kingdom,” he said. “We’re carrying that around with us all the time, and people are watching.”
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