Christlikeness is key to evangelism, NOBTS President Kelley says

Christlikeness is key to evangelism, NOBTS President Kelley says

By Caleb Jones
Intern, The Alabama Baptist

Kicking off the 2017 Alabama Baptist State Evangelism Conference (SEC) with a challenge for Christlikeness, Chuck Kelley said, “Everything (in regards to the Christian life and evangelism) is based on the assumption that life with Christ is different than life without Christ.”

Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, pulled from 2 Corinthians 3:18 for his sermon.
“Christlikeness is the key (to evangelism) and without that no evangelism strategy will bear fruit,” he said. “We will not be able to make a mark on this world unless we look like Christ.

“Only by being known by who we are in Jesus … will one be able to make an impact in the lives of others,” Kelley said Feb. 27 at First Baptist Church, Pelham.

Discipleship

He said Christlikeness in regards to discipleship means:

• attentive obedience,
• reserving time to build discipleship,
• personally digging into the Word,
• building a healthy budget for discipleship and
• working Jesus into everyday conversations.

Trying to live in Christ-likeness is the first step to having a heart for evangelism, Kelley said, but Christians also need to have “an anxiety for the lost and make losing the lost a tension point in the lives of our churches today.”

A key factor in proper evangelism is actually telling people about Jesus, he added.

“Don’t lose the lost; go after them.”

For a copy of the slideshow and information from Kelley’s sermon, contact the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions office of evangelism at 1-800-264-1225, ext. 258.