This is a long article, but in all thy getting GET understanding! Media is quick to edit and only report on the part they feel is relevant. We asked Dr. Smith for a response and we decided to publish the ENTIRE reply and here it is! Click HERE to see FULL SERMON!
For almost 30 years I have been blessed to share the Gospel in enumerable settings and
favored to move fluidly throughout diverse contexts. I have always been considered an
“ecclesiastical diplomat”, who has sought to find a way to “draw circles” and not “lines” from a Christian vantage point. My focus has consistently been centered on highlighting the essentials of the Faith.
As a student of church growth and history, it has become painfully evident that post-modernity has created a myriad of challenges for established ministries as well as Christianity as a whole. To be quite honest, nearly every main-line denomination in the Western Hemisphere has recently experienced significant decline in terms of conversions, baptisms, missions and contributions. Millions of millennials do not identify with any faith tradition, while a host of others declare themselves as “spiritual but not religious.”
On July 22, 2015, I was given the opportunity to minister at a Holy Convocation of one of the premier African-American Pentecostal denominations in the United States. In preparation for my message on that night, I had a sense of “calling” to focus on the theme of evangelism. My message was taken from Acts 8:1-8 and was entitled “Blessings In Disguise.” The crux of the message centered around some traumatic things that the early church experienced in the opening verses of the 8th chapter. These painful moments were necessary in propelling early church believers to leave “Jerusalem” and spread the Gospel all over the world.
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source: Joy105.com
