The 30th anniversary of Godstock — a weekend evangelistic event of Hillvue Baptist Church of Bowling Green, Kentucky — gives evidence to the truth of Ephesians 3 that God is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”
Lead pastor Steve Ayers said Hillvue has been praying for the past 20 years to have 100 baptisms at Godstock. This year that prayer was met and exceeded when 120 baptisms were recorded.
“There was a spontaneous response to the gospel,” said Ayers. “We didn’t go into the weekend with a schedule of 120 baptisms. This thing went totally out of control when the Spirit of God fell. None of us ever experienced 120 people being baptized at one time. People began to pray sincerely. I think we had enough people pray in belief. Before, we prayed and hoped somebody else would participate in the invitation. But this year they invited their friends.
“I’m overwhelmed — I never doubted God could do it, but I just never had seen it. This is what happens when the people of God invite people to hear the gospel. We saw a lot of deep movement in teenagers. All ages were baptized — from seniors to children, and whole families.”
‘Hungry’ world
Ayers said Godstock exemplifies “how hungry the world is, and shame on us if we will not feed them.”
Church members were encouraged to bring friends and acquaintances and “just let them hear the gospel. This is what happens when the people of God invite people to hear the gospel — there were enough saints awakened to that at Godstock.
“We are amazed at what God did, but at the same time thinking this is what we’re supposed to be doing all the time.”
Ayers said there were three major takeaways from the weekend event at Barren River State Park.
- Enough people were convinced that Jesus wants to save people that they wanted to do something about it.
- They prayed that Jesus would save people.
- Those prayers led them to participate in presenting the gospel.
“I had a young lawyer ask me if I could explain this,” Ayers recalled. His answer: “Seriously, do you think my education level can explain this? We were in a moment where you cannot explain God.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chip Hutcheson and originally published by Kentucky Today.
