Greg Laurie Encourages Pastors at TPUSA Pastors Summit to Preach the Gospel

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California Pastor Greg Laurie encouraged pastors at the Turning Point USA Pastors Summit in Santa Barbara, Calif., to prioritize evangelism, reminding them that it is imperative for churches to preach the gospel.

Author, podcast host and senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, and founder of Harvest Crusades, Laurie, in his remarks, pointed out how houses of worship can and do sometimes become preoccupied and distracted by other things. He reminded those people in attendance that their number-one job is and should always be to share the gospel and reach the lost for Christ.

“Do you know what Jesus loves? He loves to see lost people found,” Laurie said. “He tells us there is joy in heaven and the presence of the angels over one sinner that comes to repentance.”

He added that pastors can also be reluctant to invite people to respond to the gospel, Church Leaders reported.

“Sometimes we’re reluctant. We’re reluctant, even as pastors, to extend an invitation in a sermon, because we’re afraid if we do, no one will come forward,” he said. “And there have been times when some will come, and times when many will come. That’s ultimately in the hands of God.”

Drawing on the biblical account of Jonah and his reluctance and outright disobedience when called to preach in Nineveh, Laurie noted that Christians have two invaluable, life-changing resources at their disposal. Both, he adds, are underutilized in the church today.

“One of them is praying, and the other one is preaching the gospel,” Laurie said. "Praying and preaching the gospel."

Laurie went on to stress that while everything around them may be transforming, always in motion and forever in a constant state of change - cultures, technology, generations, and even hairstyles - God's Word, the gospel, is the same today, yesterday and will be tomorrow. It does not change. 

“What do we need to do to reach our culture? How can we change our culture?” Laurie asked. “Just preach the gospel. Every generation needs the gospel. Culture changes. Technology changes. Hairstyles change. ”

Also, in his message to preachers, Laurie added a quote from the late conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder, Charlie Kirk, about reaching younger generations with the gospel.

“Gen Z and Gen Alpha are coming to Christ in massive numbers. They don’t want fluff. They don’t want a watered-down gospel. They want the top, honest truth. They want the unfiltered gospel of Christ crucified and the power of the resurrection,” Laurie said as he quoted Kirk.

“We’re not all called to be evangelists, but we are all called to evangelize,” he added. “And listen to this, new converts are the lifeblood of the church.”

Laurie shared that churches that do not share the gospel can become stagnant.

“You show me a church that does not have a constant flow of new believers coming in, and I’ll show you what church that’s beginning to stagnate,” he continued. “The church has a choice. We can evangelize, or we can fossilize.”

At one point in his message, Laurie recalled that his childhood job was delivering newspapers and used that experience as an analogy for avoiding overcomplicating the gospel.

“My job was not to write the news. My job was not to make the news. My job was to deliver the news,” Laurie said. “And it hasn’t changed for me, and it hasn’t changed for you either.”

Laurie closed his message by telling pastors to encourage their churches to establish “an evangelistic culture.”

“The thing I want to encourage you to do is develop an evangelistic culture in your church,” Laurie said. “Encourage your folks to bring on people that do not know the Lord, and wrap your messages up with an evangelistic close, and call people to Christ, and it will revitalize your church.”

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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.