Sermon: Keep Sowing Good Seeds

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This week the Augusta Conference of The African Methodist Episcopal Church had its Annual Conference.
Pastors make a report at the annual conference. As part of our report which is a written document in addition to an oral report, I reported that we had zero conversions, meaning no one under our watch during the 2023-2024 conference year gave their lives to Christ.

At Greater Bethel we have one mission one vision one purpose: That is fulfilling the Great Commission Command of Matthew 28:16-20—That command is to make disciples for Christ.

So, there are 52 Sundays in a year. And each of those Sundays, during the 2023-2024 conference year we had a church service.

And during those services, we offered the people in the church, the people watching online, the people listing to the sermon later on a Podcast, we have offered them Christ. We have offered them salvation we have offered them Jesus.

No one came, no come accepted Jesus.

At Greater Bethel we have one mission one vision one purpose: That is fulfilling the Great Commission Command of Matthew 28:16-20—That command is to make disciples for Christ.

And in the 2023-2024 conference year, we failed, as your pastor I failed. For no one accepted Jesus.

In 1st Samuel chapter 8 we find that Samuel whom God has appointed as his anointed leader is growing old. Samuel appoints his sons as leaders. They do a poor job, and the people are upset.

The people of Israel who have never had a king, demanded to have one saying in 1st Samuel 8:6 “Give us a king to lead us,”

Depressed and believing that he had failed Samuel prayed to God asking forgiveness. God answered saying it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

Saints, after offering Jesus every week in our worship service, and our in everyday efforts to offer Jesus on our prayer call, Bible Study, devotional moment and two Sunday Schools. No one accepted Jesus it was not us that was rejected it was Jesus.

In every age and in every place, people can, will, and will continue to reject the Jesus.

We see Jesus in John chapter 8 verses 58-59 escaping being stoned by an angry mob because they did not like his teaching of the gospel.

The text tells us that our savior was saved to live another day, however, the life of Christ and the life of the followers of Christ is a constant tail of rejection.

Isaiah 53:3 describes Jesus as a person who was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. He was despised, and held in low esteem.

Nathanael in John 1:46 rejected Jesus saying, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

In the book The Great Dechurching authors Jim Davis, Michael Graham and Ryan Burge chronicled that America is currently in the middle of the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country.

About 15 percent of American adults living today (around 40 million people) have effectively stopped going to church, and most of this dechurching has happened in the past twenty-five years. And with a ton of it happening as churches returned to in person operations after the restrictions of the pandemic.

What does Greater Bethel AME in Athens, Georgia A church with one goal, one mission, one vison which is to make disciples for Jesus do when the people reject Jesus?

What do we do in Athens, Georgia a town with a vast college population? What do we do in Athens, Georgia a town with diversity from some of the best educated people in the state to go alone whit one of the largest homeless populations in the state?

What do we do, what do we do? As in all things I must tell Jesus.

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