More than 3,000 Southern Baptist churches have registered commitments to develop an intentional and comprehensive missions strategy through the Acts 1:8 Challenge.
Launched in May 2004 by the International and North American mission boards in cooperation with Baptist state conventions and associations, the Acts 1:8 Challenge is designed to encourage SBC churches to take a fresh look at how they plan and execute their missions efforts.
The 3,019 churches on board with Acts 1:8 across the United States and Canada are “a testimony to the passion that Southern Baptists have for Jesus’ Acts 1:8 mandate to impact lostness and create disciples of all nations in less than three years,” said Tim Yarbrough, director of church relations at NAMB.
The Acts 1:8 Challenge assists congregations in implementing a comprehensive missions strategy involving their community, region, continent and the world. It’s based on Jesus’ charge to the apostles in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
To fulfill its Acts 1:8 commitment, an SBC church is encouraged to cooperate with its local Baptist association, its state convention, NAMB and IMB. Churches accepting the challenge commit to eight “Kingdom-growing” responses as they work to intentionally carry out Acts 1:8: to prepare, learn, pray, give, go, tell, send and multiply.
Texas leads the top 10 states in the number of Acts 1:8 churches with 268. Others in the top 10 include Georgia, 260; Missouri, 254; Florida, 215; Tennessee, 177; Alabama, 171; North Carolina, 170; South Carolina, 165; Louisiana, 157; and Mississippi, 142.
“Through the Acts 1:8 Challenge, any church of any size can embrace a strategic, biblical missions model that literally impacts eternity,” Yarbrough said. “After all, missions is the overarching purpose of the church.”
When a church commits to the challenge, it receives a packet of resources to help develop a more comprehensive and intentional missions strategy.
New implementation tools for churches are being developed in 2007-08. For example, a pilot of the Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekend was held during a March weekend in a Denver-area church.
“Churches desiring to jump-start their Acts 1:8 missions commitment should look closely at conducting an Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekend,” Yarbrough said. “There’s no better way to bring awareness to and a passion for God’s mission in the world than through a focused event like a renewal weekend.”
In 2006 alone, 12,700 Southern Baptists were involved in church renewal, said Bob Foy, NAMB national missionary and renewal coordinator based in Mooresville, N.C. Foy said the Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekend is designed to ignite revival in the church – all focused around God’s mission for the church.
“Although the main purpose of Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekends is to get saved Baptists back on fire for missions, we had 132 salvations and 7,600 rededications during the 160 church renewal weekends held in 2006,” Foy said. He said 112 churches have signed up for specific renewal weekends during 2007, while 28 others are tentatively scheduled.
Foy emphasizes that Acts 1:8 Renewal Weekends are led by laypeople, not pastors. The four-day session begins with a 24-hour prayer vigil on Thursday, followed by general and teaching sessions, worship/sharing celebrations, prayer time and fellowship meals from Friday night to Sunday night.
“We try to make people understand we’re all gifted in some way and that laypeople can step out and serve where they are,” Foy said. “Laypeople think that God can’t use them where they are – that they must go to Africa or China to serve. Renewal weekends show that a person can already be placed where God wants them.”