NC Baptists

Eric Simmons - The early church faced extreme persecution and held no political power, yet it grew exponentially. Today, with extreme political power and little persecution, the present-day church in America is dying. Why the change? First Peter 3:15 gives us the answer — apologetics. We have stopped teaching the “why” behind the “what” of Christianity. This session will cover the role of apologetics in discipleship, including practical insights for equipping Christ-followers to defend their faith in an ever-changing culture.

Jonathan Blaylock - Making disciples means being in relationship. Learn how to leverage the relationships God has given you to make disciples.

William "Duce" Branch - Moses’ staff, David’s sling and the disciples’ nets were all common tools of their particular trades. When they encountered the God who claims people, these tools became His means of His glory and the advance of His kingdom. Disciple-making is the current overarching agenda of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will use the common cultural and artistic tools of the day for disciple-making purposes. This session will explore the intersection of the heart of God for disciple-making with culture and the arts in hopes of reinforcing a commitment to disciple-making in one’s cultural context and through artistic platforms. We will advocate artistic fervor anchored in gospel fidelity.

Sarah Davenport - Second Timothy 2:2 teaches us to think about being reproducible in all we teach. In this session, we will walk through some ways to make disciples across the globe with chronological Bible storying and Henna storying.

Sammy Joo - We are told how important it is for parents to take the lead in discipling their children, but what does that look like? This session will cover practical techniques for parents to lead their children to love God and live on mission.

John Davenport and Nathan Stamm - Are the folks in your church staying in the “holy huddle” instead of looking outward? Are you concerned that discipleship focuses on gaining more knowledge rather than applying what is learned? Do you want to challenge others with obedience to the commands of Christ? Come learn a simple yet comprehensive framework that will help you examine various aspects of disciple-making. This flexible tool will help you determine the health of your disciple-making and will encourage you as you lead your members to engage the lost and make disciples.

Matt Curry - Our communities and those we seek to reach for Christ are a part of a rapidly changing world. However, our main purpose of making disciples has remained the same. Join us as we discuss how to be a more effective disciple-making church in a fast-moving world.

Ronnie Parrott - Is there a difference between Sunday School and small groups? Aren’t they both the same? Don’t they both accomplish the same purpose? The answers to these questions are often determined by the discipleship strategy of each individual local church. However, many churches have a traditional Sunday School model without a clear discipleship strategy in place. With the continued secularization of American culture, churches must define their discipleship strategy, equip and train effective leaders, and move their Sunday School beyond Bible intake and into life-on-life discipleship. The goal of this breakout is to help pastors and leaders determine, define and implement a successful strategy for making disciples through small groups.

Matt Capps - What does beauty have to do with spiritual formation? How does our aesthetic sense serve as a signpost to stir our affections toward God? In this session, we will explore the theological relationship between beauty, aesthetics and spiritual formation. Suggestions will be made for how we can utilize these truths for the holistic formation of the local congregation through preaching, worship, teaching and service.

Courtlandt Perkins - Ephesians 6 gives us the imagery of the Word of God being a sword. We would hate for a sword to end up in the hands of 6-year-old boy messing around in the garage because they can hurt themselves, and we also would hate it for an evil villain to get their hands on a sword in any movie we were watching because they can hurt others. The same is true about the Bible. This book unlike any other book has literally changed the world because of what it says, but throughout time, people have used and misused its content to deal with racial issues. This session will highlight some common passages from God’s Word that can be used and those that have been misused to have discussions about race and the church.