Will you lead your church to “Fill the Tank” on Sept. 12?

“Fill the Tank” is a statewide initiative in which every North Carolina Baptist church has the opportunity to celebrate the sharing of our faith and God’s saving power.

Church leader, here are three ways this initiative can be implemented well in your congregation:

1. Baptisms already scheduled
If your church has regular monthly or quarterly baptisms, or if you have a pre-baptism class or process, you can schedule these things to coincide with Sept. 12 and join together with brothers and sisters across the state in a display of kingdom unity.

2. Evangelistic outreach
You can use this event to mobilize your church members toward healthy missional rhythms — praying for the lost, cultivating relationships with people who do not yet know Christ, and having earnest gospel conversations with them.

“Fill the Tank” is not just about what happens on Sept. 12, but what happens between now and then, and after then, as we embrace our identity as Christ’s ambassadors in a fallen world.

One idea would be to hold a kickoff celebration over a weekend that could include a time of equipping for evangelistic prayer, gospel conversations and disciple-making. The weekend could culminate with members committing to pray for and have gospel conversations with one or more specific people (for example, “Who’s Your One?”) These commitments could include goals of praying as a church for a specific number of lost people every week, and a collective total of gospel shares by church members every week.

3. Believers who have not been baptized
There may be folks regularly attending your church who have professed faith in Christ, but who have not yet given public testimony of their faith through the ordinance of believer’s baptism. There may be others in attendance who were “baptized” before they became followers of Jesus.

“Fill the Tank” is an opportunity to put a date on the calendar and begin conversations with these folks about taking this important step of obedience to Christ and making this public testimony of faith in Him. A sermon or sermon series on baptism might call for a specific response to take this step of obedience. Members of the church might share testimonies of their own baptism experience as a way of encouraging others to follow their example of faithfulness.

Church leaders, please visit www.fillthetanknc.org for resources related to this initiative and to register your church as one who will “Fill the Tank” on Sept. 12. If convention staff can assist you in planning and preparing, please contact the convention office.