Now, turn in your Bibles. I want to read just one verse of Scripture for you. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord and in one place. I began the practice several years ago in Dell City of bringing an annual sermon called the State of the Church. Because I'm going to begin next Sunday preaching through the book of Genesis, I feel that after these six months it would do us good to stop after just half a year and give attention to the State of the Church. It comes to my attention that when the tremendous blessing of Pentecost occurred, a part of the reason was because the people were all in one accord. And people cannot be in one accord, that is, together, if they do not know where they are. And so tonight, I want for us briefly, and you know that means about an hour and a half, I want briefly to consider where we're trying to go, how well we're doing on trying to get there, where do we go from here, and how do we go about it. First of all, you see why I said an hour and a half. First of all, this evening, I am going to take this message that's being recorded, and I'm going to type it and send it out to all of our people. I want us to constantly stay in touch. Someone said that there are so many things that are going on, we're doing so many things, I can't keep up with everything that's happening. I want us to be an informed people. I'm not going to preach in the simple, usual sense of the term. I have so many notes, and I always preach without notes tonight. Tonight, you'll accept this, I hope, as a chairman of the board director's report at the annual stockholders' meeting, and I hope that we'll all be sufficiently inspired. The goal. Why do I believe that God brought me to Houston? What are we trying to do? There are so many things in Houston that are important, that make it the capital of just about everything in all the world. So, in Oklahoma City, the city that I was in, we had five airports. We had one airport with five airlines that flew in and out. There are 39 major airlines that fly in and out of the city of Houston, Texas. Within 10 blocks, 10 miles from here, we have six universities of one size or another, including Baylor Medical Center. The heart transplants are done here. The space capital of the world is here. Astrodome and Astroworld and the Galveston beaches make it the recreation capital of the Southwest. It is the industrial and financial capital and the heartbeat of this part of the nation. It is the jumping -off place to South America, the crossroads of the world, the gateway to outer space. Houston is where the action is. Houston is where it's at. Last Saturday, the report was announced that of the 10 major cities in America, not only is Houston still the fastest -growing city in America and destined to become the greatest city in America and the only city in America that is its size, that is one of the great cities, that can become physically a larger city and continue to grow as so many cities are bound on different sides by different natural areas of blockade and so forth. But Houston is one of only two of the 10 major cities that grew last year. Eight of our 10 major American cities lost in size. A half million people moved out of New York and probably got their first breath of fresh air in some time. But only in Houston, Texas and Los Angeles, California did these only two of the 10 major cities continue to grow. The other eight lost ground. Now, by the same token, Houston is also the crime capital of America. More people are killed here every night than in any city in the United States of America. We're first in many ways, but we are first in some ways we ought not to be first in. In Houston, Baptists, I believe, have been charged with the responsibility of setting goals, of leading the way, of preaching the gospel, and of making an impact on the city for Christ. And I just raised the question tonight. Could it possibly be that the crime capital of the world could possibly be that because Christians have not made the impact on their community that they ought to make? Baptists must have a strategic pulpit. There must be a strong Baptist voice leading the way in our city. Ladies and gentlemen, the largest congregation in all of the Baptist churches in all of the city of Houston have less, has less than 270 in attendance on Sunday night by count. I say to you that Baptists are not pioneering and are not leading the way as they ought to. Someone must champion the cause. Someone must meet the need. Someone must fulfill the responsibility that has been placed upon Baptists who have the message and the know -how to make an impact on this strategic world for Christ. That is our goal. That is our responsibility. We are not called first for nothing. We are not supposed to be second in every area. We should not be following the crowd. The responsibility placed upon us by virtue of the fact that we bear the name First Baptist means that we are to be leading the way, to giving leadership, a guiding light. We are at the crossroads. We are the most inner, inner, inner city church at the heartbeat of the great metropolis with the air of the city, the responsibility of our denomination and the potential of the one day to be the world's largest and greatest city for Christ. When I came, I had some goals the first year. Let me tell you how I arrived at them. I told the deacons this the other night. About a year ago, well, not quite a year ago. I guess it was about September, nearly a year ago, just after your pastor left, my phone rang about 1130. A man by the name of Frank Minton, pastor of the South Cliff Baptist Church in Fort Worth, called me and said, I noticed that First Baptist Church in the standard today of Houston had become pastorless. He said, when I read it, I saw your name written all over it. I said, you were reading it upside down. That's not my name. That's somebody else's. He said, no, I feel impressed of God to write you. I laughed in his face. I said, I'm satisfied. Forget it. You've been eating pizza before you go to bed. You're having nightmares. Go back to sleep. Not interested. We changed the subject and hung up the phone. About an hour and a half later, I realized that my wife, though it was well after midnight, and I were neither one still asleep. I said, what are you thinking? She said, probably the same thing you're thinking. I said, all right, hand me the telephone. In that hour and a half, the wheels started to spin. I believe that God gave me some ideas as to how the First Baptist Church of Houston could move and fulfill the strategic spot that God has placed it in at the heartbeat of a great city. And I called that man back, and I said, I'll tell you what I would do. If those people were willing to give me leadership, to follow me, to give me the expression and the freedom to operate and to move and have some creative ideas and start some new things, if they would follow my leadership, if they'd give me just the staff I wanted, if they'd be willing to move elsewhere downtown when we outgrew those buildings one day, if we could get on television and go in the bus ministry, if they'd be willing to do those things, I believe Houston could move, and I might be interested. Pray about it some more, and if you want to, write the letter. You will be interested to know that in the course of conversation during the weeks and months I talked to your committee, at no time did I ask for these things or demand these things. But naturally and spontaneously, the Spirit of God led our people and our committee to say that we would do these things. And you came to me and approached me with them. I began to see the pieces fall into place. Then when I came, I had four goals for the first 12 months. I believe that there were four things that we could accomplish. In the first month, we would have gone a great way in getting things started. The first was to change the image of the church to a warm, friendly, smiling, evangelistic, happy, informal kind of spirit. And to get people's chins off of the ground, out of depression, get a smile on their face, and forget that the idea that God had gone out of business, and get a spirit, a period of expectancy, and enthusiasm, and optimism in the church. To build a fellowship, to change the atmosphere, to develop an air of warmth, and cordiality, and friendliness, and informality that is conducive to growth, that makes people pay the price. They get out of bed, drive across town, and come to church with that intangible koinonia, that fellowship. That's something that they can't put their hand on, that they don't know what it is when it's there, but they know when it is not there. The spirit of the church. That began to happen. The second thing that I wanted us to do was to remodel the outside of the building. We've done a beautiful picture of that and many people have come and have seen it and have said it doesn't look like it used to. It looks more like a church than a mausoleum. It makes me want to go to church. It's bright. It was depressive and gloomy. And now the image has changed on the outside as well as the attitude on the inside. The third thing that I hope to do was build a staff. Little did I know how much trouble that was going to be. Between Gerald Ray and Jim Hester, I almost got ulcers on my ulcers. I didn't know if these guys were coming or not. Now it isn't easy. You've got to find just the right man. Then contact him. He has to come. He has to decide if he's interested. After he decides, he has to come in view of a call. Then he has to think on accepting the call. Then we have to extend the call and vote and accept him. Then they have to come back. They have to find a place, move here, go home and resign. Believe me, it is not an easy experience in finding and bringing the right staff members to the city. But I believe that God in every way has done a matchless job for us of putting together a tremendous group of Christian workers. The fourth thing that I hope to do seemed to be almost an impossibility. That was to have a television program. The world is going to have to know that we have a product to offer or they're not going to come. I realize all of the time that I was almost pressing you to the point of difficulty. And I realize that the leadership that you had entrusted in me was difficult for me to handle. In that, there was such a willing spirit that I could almost push you to do more than you were ready to do. And I felt that sometimes if I jump up and say, I want a motion that we paint Frank Fouch yellow, somebody would say, amen, I'll make the motion. And so we've had to go very cautiously and yet proceed with vigor and faith and everything has beautifully fallen into place. Now the television ministry came through. And I want to say to you very honestly and proudly that it is a program of which you will be proud. We spent hours perfecting just the opening 45 seconds. I don't know how the next 30 minutes is going to go, but I'll tell you the first 45 seconds is tremendous. Get your friends to watch. It begins a week from Saturday. So all of these things began to happen. Now, as I said, I had in my mind and still believe that there are some things that First Baptist Church would have to offer. One was a warm program of understandable, but professionally done gospel music, music that appealed to the hearts of the people, a first -class staff, a bus ministry, a warm, friendly atmosphere and attitude, a television ministry, and a willingness one day to move elsewhere when we outgrew the First Baptist Church. Those goals have been on our being reached. Now, where do we stand as of this date? You will be happy to know that in the last six months, 500 persons have joined our church by letter and by conversion. 150 of them have been baptized. Sunday school has grown from 700 to about 1 ,000 in attendance. The offerings are up in excess of $2 ,000 per Sunday. A record training union attendance of 714, we're not going to tell them how we did that one, has already been reached. Sunday school has grown from 200 to nearly 400. With 618 enrolled, we have just finished the largest Bible school in our history. The bus ministry has begun to move. We began with 20 people on buses the first day. The second Sunday, 22. The third, 27. Last Sunday, 114 people came to First Baptist Church via the bus. Today, 105. And all of that in just eight weeks. Beginning next Sunday morning, you're going to see some of the most beautiful visitor's cards you've ever seen. Brother Fouch has prepared them. And believe it or not, we have 12 ,500 for only $120. They are five -cent multicolor postcards that are beautiful and something of which you'll be very, very proud. Over 2 ,000 brochures, beautifully done, have been mailed to the college students that are coming in. They are eight -page brochures. A lot of expense was spent. And already, we've been hearing reports of young people who are coming to our church. This little lady this morning, about 18, Elaine, 18 years of age, red -headed girl, is an HBC student. She came with her parents from Oregon all the way, joined today, and is enrolling in HBC beginning this week. Brother Ben has come to our church and is leading us in a great program of evangelism. In the youth work, David's cell. Now it's running about 60 in youth chapel. 60 teenagers in prayer meeting in First Baptist Church Wednesday nights is not enough, but it is 60 more, almost 60 more, than we've been having. It's going in a wonderful, wonderful way. The youth choir has grown, as you see, to about 70. Over 100 are enrolled. This is up from 30. We have a wonderful ministry to those in the inner city, but as well, we're going to begin a very important ministry to the up and out. This week, 10 ,000 invitations that are printed professionally, like a regular wedding invitation, something of which you'll be very proud, are being mailed to 10 ,000 businessmen, doctors, bankers, lawyers, and professionals. But as well, we're going to begin a very important ministry to the up and out. This week, 10 ,000 invitations that are printed professionally, like a regular wedding invitation, something of which you'll be very proud, are being mailed to 10 ,000 businessmen, doctors, bankers, lawyers, and professional people in the city of Houston, inviting them to our Genesis series that begins next Sunday morning. Our choir room has been remodeled. If you haven't seen it, you ought to see it. It now holds 106. A new PA system has been installed, and it's constantly being improved. Zone visitation has begun. We were having six and seven and eight for visitation once a month, and now 140 people are visiting in homes and witnessing for Christ every week. Brother Loring came up to me this morning with a smile on his face and said three of those families that joined today were in direct result of our Monday night zone visitation program. Beginning September the 6th, we will be on four radio stations, KODA, KODA FM, KPRC, and a new program at noon Sundays over KENR. Tell your friends. Channel 39 television begins broadcasting our afternoon service at 4 o 'clock on Saturdays, and a second TV station, Channel 26, to go on the air this fall is talk to us about a possibility of a live Sunday morning at 11 o 'clock broadcast at an approximate price of $200 a week. Somebody get a fan in Fan MB. During the next six months, during the past six months, the Lord has been doing tremendous things through our Sunday school. We've had a slow and steady growth. But I want you to know that the one man on our staff who probably does the most and talks the least is Frank Fouts. Quietly behind the scenes, Frank has been doing his thing. He has been building, enrolling, enlisting, dividing, and multiplying. And beginning this September the 13th, launch day, when our Sunday school goes in orbit, you're going to be thrilled as you see the new Sunday school ministry begin to take place. I have no doubt that we can run from 12 to 1500, literally, realistically, this fall, beginning the middle of September, in our Sunday school. Brother Harvey Knizel has come to join our staff, and I just want to pause right here and say that I am thrilled to death with this wonderful co -laborer. I want to read to you a letter that came to me this week from a lady in our church who went with our people, 10 other people, to work yonder in Corpus Christi in their need over there two weeks ago. She says, I am a group, I am one of the group of lucky people who volunteered to join Brother Knizel in Corpus Christi and to alleviate the suffering of the people in the area of the Annaville Baptist Church. Then she talks about all of the needs and the things that happened, but she says, it will probably be no surprise to you to know that as far as these people were concerned, the privilege of having Harvey Knizel back among them for a few hours was the greatest of all the morale boosters. I feel sure that if they had been asked to list their present needs in order of priority, number one on the list would have been having Brother Knizel back, followed perhaps by ice, chainsaws, food, and clothing. The love that these people have for this man, his wife and his family, is phenomenal. It seemed to be the overwhelming conviction of most of them that if their brother Knizel had been there, this tragedy would never have happened in the first place. After watching him in action for the better part of two days and two nights, I'm strongly inclined to agree with them. His completely unselfish spirit, his electrifying effect upon the flagging spirits of these dear people was beautiful to behold. So, Brother Knizel is, I think, the finest associate pastor that any man ever had. Let me say to you that I appreciate the way you have accepted him as my co -laborer, that he is able to speak for me in meetings, to attend committee meetings, that when he makes a hospital call, the people do not feel slighted that the pastor has not come, but that a regular pastoral call has been made. On my desk after church, if you care to see, I will show you a list of 53 things that I have to do tomorrow. Many of them are programs to be started, details to be followed through. Some of them will take a long, long time. Somehow, God has given me a mind like a buzzsaw that's always filled with ideas. And I believe it to be the best steward of my time to major on creativity and directing the work and starting the ideas and trying to help them to go through and in preparing to preach and preach and visit the lost. These are priorities. And you have allowed me to do that. Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday will not be the same series that I brought in Dell City on Genesis. I'll use that as an outline, as a framework, but they'll be deeper, more polished, better, and all the way around, superior to that. Now, this involves three messages a week. In addition to that, I feel that the prime responsibility for the next few weeks is going to be given to study and preparation for those 10 -minute sermons and 15 -minute sermons on television. I can speak to 100 ,000 and 200 ,000 people in 15 minutes. It would take me 50 years to go into 100 ,000 homes and do that. That's four complete original sermons a week. Now, it takes a good five to 10 hours in preparation for a sermon. Or you can preach with less sermon preparation than that. Someone asked George W. Truitt how long he prepared to preach a sermon. He said, that depends on how long you want me to preach. If you want me to preach an hour, I'm ready right now. I can ramble for that long. If you want me to preach 10 minutes, it'll take me a few weeks to get ready. In addition to that, I've been asked to write an article for a weekly newspaper. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it, but at any rate, these are things that demand prime priority in the matter of preparation, and I do appreciate the wonderful way you're accepting Brother Knizel in these varied responsibilities as he labors with me. Now, the third word is the future. What's going to happen to us in the future? Where do we go? What is planned for the future? Well, for one thing, two important witnessing clinics are just around the corner. September 10 through 13, all of the Baptist churches of the city are invited with our church to a lay institute for evangelism. This is the best personal training you will ever see. Now, you can criticize it. You can be skeptical of it. I went with an open mind when I took the training, and I came out with one conviction. It works. It just works. And people will be witnessing who have never witnessed and who didn't know they could witness. Next April, a citywide with all the denominations will also be sponsored by and held in our church. Dr. Bill Bright himself, founder and director of Campus Crusade, will be the speaker. And we're hoping to see this auditorium packed every single night. Our buildings have been painted and cleaned. They look better than they ever have before. But we still need to do some more painting in many places around the inside of the building. More is going to have to be spent in that area. Spirino is just around the corner. And Richard Hogue is coming to the city for six months. America's outstanding youth evangelist. Our young people are praying for Spirino, which stands for Spiritual Revolution Now. And are believing God for 25 ,000 teenagers saved. We'll have to start a big auditorium Sunday school class for new converts of teenagers only for the first few months, if God blesses as we believe that he's going to do so. We're running five buses and are going to add five more, or at least four more, for the colleges next Sunday. The bus ministry is very fruitful. I believe we'll be bringing in $200 and $300 every Sunday as of next Sunday. But it is also very, very expensive. There's a strong possibility that First Baptist Church is going to need to consider purchasing some buses before very, very long. And And morning, a Sunday morning visitation program is being planned. As you drive to church during Sunday school and church, you will see that there are hundreds of people within a few blocks of First Baptist Church walking the street. These people are prime prospects to be witnessed to and brought to Sunday school and church at First Baptist. We're going to ask Brother Loring, our minister of evangelism, and Brother Shade, our downtown minister, to assist in a program of taking a different Sunday school department every Sunday morning, the year round, to do witnessing on the streets Sunday morning and bring people to First Baptist Church. Ads in all of the hotels and motels are being prepared. Our social ministries are on the increase. Frankly, I had some very serious questions as to the role in social affairs, needy, clothing, the hungry, feeding the poor, better housing, all of these things of the church. But one day when I moved to Houston and people began who were hungry and needy and needing jobs and clothing and began to knock on my door in the office of our church, it moved from the realm of the theoretical into the realm of reality. And I began to understand that the social ministry of the church is very, very important. And though it is never to usurp the place of leadership, of evangelism, it must be an increasing part in next year's outreach program of First Baptist Church. September the 14th through the 16th, the Southern Baptist Texas State statewide convention on social action is being held in our church. We have the opportunity for only $10 a week to give full sponsorship to a mission in Monterey, Mexico. The mission committee is going to be presented some facts on this very, very quickly. And they tell me that already in a town of 30 ,000 people with no churches, Catholic, Baptist, anything, a church is being started, a mission is being formed that needs leadership and sponsorship. And hundreds of people are ready to be saved. In just two days recently, over 200 people accepted Christ. Now, the next year's budget is going to have to include an item for debt retirement as well. As you know, we still owe about $100 ,000 on our building. That's nothing for First Baptist Church Houston. Our church in Oklahoma City is in debt $800 ,000. My former church in Oklahoma City is in debt $800 ,000. A vibrant, growing church is healthy in debt. But next year, plans must be made to complete that debt retirement. We could take up that much and do it in one Sunday if we wanted to. Let's don't think that we've just about arrived. The next year's budget is going to have to be increased in every way. Deaf work is expanding to include work with blind, handicapped, and retarded. A children's worker in the future will need to be added. The church paper, the Orbit, our own church paper, is going to begin publication three weeks from Monday. Brother Ray tells me that the response to the little choirs which will be in training union has been very overwhelming. People have said that they won't bring kids downtown to a choir program in the inner city on Sundays. But already the response has been gratifying and hundreds of boys and girls will be in our little choirs beginning very soon. Under Brother Ray's leadership, the adult choir has now grown to over 115 enrolled and from 40 to in excess of 80 every Sunday morning in attendance. First Baptist Church takes off its hat to no one in its ministry of music. The choir is being remodeled. As you may know, chairs have been ordered to beautify and enhance the productivity of the choir law. The nurseries are going to have to be expanded. On Sunday morning, we are almost at capacity with 1 ,000 in Sunday school. If we are really serious with God, if we really believe He's going to do what we say we believe, then in a very few weeks more nurseries are going to have to be added. How are you going to care for the children of 2 ,000, 1 ,800, 1 ,500 in Sunday school and in church without more nursery space? Petitions are already coming out in the college department to make ready for next Sunday morning and an expected 200 anticipated in attendance. Brother Fouch has been working very hard. I want to stop right here and say a word to you. Frankly, I've only had one disappointment in First Baptist Church Houston and that is the fellowship of our folks in some points to Brother Fouch's ministry. Now, when we have a need, we should not try to tell the pro how to solve that need. And ladies and gentlemen, Frank Fouch is the pro. Now this man, Sunday school, went from 500 in Sunday school to 1700 in Sunday school. I don't mean on a high day. We had 2100 on high days. An average attendance in Del City of 1700 in Sunday school. And through the interim, the Sunday school attendance stayed up and exceeded the 1700. But now when you have a church that's 125 years old, that's been doing things 125 years the same way, and you start changing things, you have some problems. Very frankly, we are making some serious mistakes in religious education methods. Many of our departments are classic examples of how to go downhill, which is exactly what we've been doing. But while Brother Fouch's work has been going up, and ours has been going down, I think it behooves us to follow the leadership of this man. Even though you may not like what he's doing, even though you may have done it that way a hundred years, I plead with you to follow his leadership. We need to divide, to multiply, to change, to split some departments, to start two. This man knows how to do the job. We must follow his leadership. For six months, he has been quietly enlisting, recruiting, enrolling, training, planning. And in three weeks, the new fall program of Sunday school starts. We can... ... ...