ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–Southern Baptist churches have an opportunity to set aside one “Big Day” this fall to focus on the importance of every individual being prepared to share their faith.
Also known as Soul-Winning Commitment Day, the event can be customized with a variety of training opportunities, sermon ideas and other tools to reflect the needs of individual churches, according to Dick Church, church evangelism and resource coordinator for the North American Mission Board’s personal evangelism team. The mission board sponsors the annual emphasis, which has a suggested date this year of Oct. 3.
“The goal of Soul Winning Commitment Day is to encourage pastors and church leaders to dedicate one day of the year to motivate, inspire and challenge church members to make a commitment to reach beyond the walls of the church and engage in some form of evangelism,” Church said.
For some, he said, that might mean committing to take a course on how to share their faith. For others, it might be a commitment to participating in visitation or outreach events. Others might simply commit to looking for opportunities to share their testimony of how Christ has changed their life.
The theme this year is “Every Believer Sharing,” which ties into Southern Baptists’ 10-year “God’s Plan for Sharing” initiative launched this year, Church said. A key GPS goal is to equip every believer to share the Gospel, he said.
Resources for the Big Day include a comprehensive planning guide that can provide either a full turn-key plan for churches to implement or a set of tools to customize their own emphasis. Some churches have chosen to utilize the “One Hour Witnessing Workshop” during their Sunday morning worship service, for instance, while some pastors might craft a sermon using points from a sermon outline and offer opportunities to make a commitment. Among other resources are Sunday School/small group lessons and drama scripts.
All resources can be downloaded free at www.thebigday.org.
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James Dotson is a writer for the North American Mission Board.
