The Gospel Invitation: Why Publicly Inviting People to Receive Christ Still Matters

2024 OUTREACH RESOURCE OF THE YEAR (EVANGELISM)

An essential guide in the art and instruction of issuing Christ's invitation to the lost.

Historic denominations are dying. Church memberships and baptisms plummet with every passing year. Pastors and church leaders are concerned about their churches plateauing. Why? One of the major reasons is because congregations aren't being publicly called to faith in Christ. A growing number of evangelical pastors have opted for non-confrontational approaches to calling people to faith in Jesus. Some seminaries have removed evangelism classes from their curriculum and pastors aren't being taught how to give an effective, God honoring public invitation, void of manipulation.

Authors O.S. Hawkins and Matt Queen are asking church leaders to reconsider and rediscover the effectiveness of asking people to publicly decide to follow Christ.

O.S. Hawkins is a respected pastor who has led thousands to faith in Christ in both church and public settings. Matt Queen is a trusted and gifted professor of evangelism who has consulted multitudes of pastors in personal and congregational evangelism. Together, they wrote The Gospel Invitation to assist others in successfully issuing a public appeal to receive Christ.

The Gospel Invitation covers:

• A brief history of public gospel invitations
• The biblical justification for gospel invitations
• Practical and proven instructions for incorporating invitations into sermons
• Best practices

The Gospel Invitation will equip pastors, seminary students, and anyone who evangelizes with the confidence to share the gospel and help more people come to Christ.

O. S. Hawkins, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, is a graduate of Texas Christian University (BBA) and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDiv, PhD). He is Chancellor and Senior Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the former pastor of the historic First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and is President Emeritus of GuideStone Financial Resources, the world's largest Christian-screened mutual fund serving 250,000 church workers and Christian university personnel with an asset base exceeding twenty billion dollars, where he served as President/CEO from 1997 to 2022.

Dr. Hawkins is the author of more than 50 books including the bestselling "Code Series" with over two million in print, including The Joshua Code: 52 Scripture Verses Every Believer Should Know, The Bible Code: Finding Jesus in Every Book in the Bible, The Christmas Code: Daily Devotionals Celebrating the Advent Season, and The Easter Code: A 40-Day Journey to the Cross.

He preaches in churches and conferences across the nation. He is married to Susie and has two daughters, two sons-in-law, and six grandchildren. Visit him at OSHawkins.com and follow him on X @OSHawkins.

Matt Queen is the L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism ("Chair of Fire") and professor of evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He also serves as associate dean in Southwestern's Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions. He is the author of Recapturing Evangelism: A Biblical-Theological Approach (B&H Academic, 2023), Everyday Evangelism, 3rd edition (Seminary Hill Press, 2020), and Mobilize to Evangelize (Seminary Hill Press, 2018). In addition to having edited and contributed chapters in several other books, he has also been published in academic journals. He also serves as Associate Pastor of Evangelism at Lane Prairie Baptist Church, Joshua, Texas and as an Evangelism Consultant for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Queen regularly leads evangelism workshops and preaches in churches across the country. He is married to his wife, Hope, and together they have two daughters. Follow him on Twitter @DrMattQueen.