LITTLE ROCK – In his message to Arkansas Baptists at the 2024 Pastors’ Conference, the Rev. Fred Luter Jr. reminded pastors of the transforming power of God’s Word.
Luter, senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, shared Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.”
“Your life and my life was transformed by the power of the Gospel. Your walk was transformed. Your talk was transformed. Your mind was transformed. And it was all because you heard and received the Gospel,” Luter said. “… If the Gospel transformed your life, I believe the same Gospel can transform our cities and our culture and our community and our country.”
Luter went on to share four characteristics about the transforming power of the word of God. He described the Gospel as personal, powerful, practical, and persistent.
“No matter where you’ve been. No matter what you’ve gone through, you can always depend on the Gospel. From the beginning of time to the end of time. From start to finish. From Alpha and Omega …. You can depend on the word of God,” Luter said.
Quoting Matthew 24:35, Luter said, “’Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word will stand forever,’ because it is the power of God unto salvation because it is the power of the Gospel that God reveals himself to us.”
“Love is in the Word. Peace is in the Word. Forgiveness is in the Word. Deliverance is in the Word. Strength is in the Word. Power is in the Word. And salvation is in the Word,” Luter said. “If the word of God changed you …why can’t the same word change the lifestyle of those that are lost.”
Luter was one of four pastors featured at this year’s Pastors’ Conference. The others were John Venable, lead pastor at New Life Baptist Church in Saline County; Brian Mills, senior pastor of Together We Church in Yukon, Oklahoma; and Jordan Easley, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee.
This year’s Pastors’ Conference theme was “Advance,” a verb that means to move forward. The event was held at Geyer Springs First Baptist Church in Little Rock.
The Pastors’ Conference was held prior to the 171st Annual Meeting of the ABSC, Oct. 22-23. A livestream of the Annual Meeting can be found here.