It’s All About Value

I have been to a lot of denominational training events during my time in ministry. All have value. We should learn at least one thing at any training we go to. The events I remember the most are the ones where the importance of the content was demonstrated in the quality of who was sharing, what content was being shared, how that content blessed the people who attended and when attendees were thanked for their attendance.

As followers of Jesus, we have in our possession the most valuable asset in all the world, the Gospel. We know that the gospel is to be shared in our communities, in our state, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) As church leaders, we understand the value of the Gospel. As pastors and leaders, we also know that our most valuable asset is our people. And when it comes to sharing the Gospel, we ALL can do better. CSBC is helping and you and your church should be a part.

Last fall, at the request of our local association (High Desert Baptist Association) the church I pastor FBC Hesperia hosted a training event to help churches to be better equipped to share that which is most valuable, the Gospel. We gladly took on the responsibility, but I felt led to do more.

So instead of just hosting “another training event,” I wanted to make it AN EVENT, worthy of the Gospel and the people who attended, (and it really was). So, what did we do to make it so special?

1. We prayed over the event.
2. We promoted the event.
3. We offered online registration and in-person registration (in our church).
4. We offered the training in English and Spanish (CSBC can do that!). Honestly, I really pushed for that. 59% of my community is Hispanic and FBC Hesperia is blessed with a vibrant Hispanic ministry. How could I not offer the content in Spanish?
5. We had our Spanish and English worship teams lead us in worship.
6. We had a continental-style breakfast and
7. Had lunch catered by Chick-Fil-A!
8. We did “SWAG” bags for every participant containing “swag” from our various other SBC partners as I wanted to also promote The Cooperative Program.
9. Finally, we ended with door prizes.

So how did it go?

I cannot speak for other churches but for mine, we had 80 attendees! We were beyond blessed to serve other churches, worship with other churches, learn great content, and be inspired to build a more evangelistic culture in our church!

So let me encourage all associations and churches who host CSBC Evangelism Workshops to do more than just host a training. MAKE YOUR TRAINING AN EVENT! People will give time and energy to what they value. What we value as leaders, our people will value. Evangelism matters. The Gospel matters. The people from our churches sharing the gospel matters. It’s all about value.