Longview church sets sights on 110 by 2010

LONGVIEW—At First Baptist Church in Longview, the goal is 110 by 2010—110 people who have come to Christ, been baptized and had their lives changed by the gospel—by Easter 2010.

The church, which baptized 32 people in 2007, baptized 33 people in the first three months of this year. Pastor Tim Watson said the church is focusing on sharing the gospel with its community, allowing God to use them to bring more people to himself.

The effort is part of the church’s participation in Texas Hope 2010, a Baptist General Convention of Texas initiative to share the gospel with every Texan by Easter 2010.

“We made a decision to put intentional evangelism back in a position of priority at First Baptist Church, and Texas Hope 2010 was a perfect vehicle to implement what was a big part of our vision,” Watson said. “We are doing many great ministry things, and we want evangelism to be one of them.”

As the church works toward its goal, it will conduct a series of events meant to share the gospel with every member of its community, including distributing a multimedia compact disc containing Scripture and dramatic gospel presentations. The events include a conference with Team Impact this month to reach students, Just Walk Across the Room relationship evangelism training in October and a four-day evangelistic event in January 2010.

The congregation also has put an emphasis on intentional relationship development with non-Christians, Watson said.

By cultivating relationships, Christians naturally can share with those who have not embraced the gospel, he said.

“We have taken BGCT resources and the Texas Hope 2010 vision and tailored it to our church and community,” Watson said. 

“It has already been a success, and more is coming.”