The Baptist Centenary Congress has kicked off its third day with an impressive round of Bible studies and worship with the theme ‘Empowerment of the Holy Spirit’ in English, German, Russian and Spanish. Bible studies were preached by leading Baptist figures, including the UK’s Steve Chalke and American Tony Campolo.

The Symphony Hall was the venue this morning for an inspirational Bible study and worship session led by Faithworks’ founder, Rev Chalke.

In his sermon, Chalke pushed the audience, asking, "When did God lose confidence?" He urged members of the audience to consider seriously why God had decided to stay indoors and close the door to the public. He asked again, whether we have isolated ourselves from the outside world and made the God of universal into a tribal God.

Chalke recalled how God had called Abraham at the age of 75 and promised to make him the origin of blessings in an attempt to explain the purpose of the Church today. He also spoke of how the temple was regarded as the centre of the universe and the source from which all blessings would flow out to the earth, with Jesus being the true temple.

The point of the sermon was summed up when he quoted Jesus saying, "Jesus said let anyone who is thirsty come to me. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

Chalke also urged Baptist churches to seriously consider just what kind of church they were, encouraging them to become ‘water-well churches’ and not ‘fence-churches’. He wittily explained that sheep can be kept either with a fence around them or with a water-well dug into the ground. He made his point, saying, "If you provide fresh water, sheep never stray far." He asked: "How many of our churches are water-wells, providing water?"

At the same time, at another Bible study, the fiery Campolo kept listeners entertained whilst still posing a serious question. He urged members of the audience to reflect on whether or not they were really living with the Holy Spirit in them.

Campolo said believers must learn to wait for the Holy Spirit to come down on them in order to live a life of love. He criticised the love of western societies as being nothing more than superficial romances, and argued this was a key contributing factor to the high number of relationships that are breaking down.

"In western society the only kind of love people think about is romantic love. So many marriages are falling apart because people don’t have the power of love," he said.

The number of delegates coming to listen to Campolo’s Bible study was so many that the organisers had to stop people entering the full hall. He challenged the packed crowd to look beyond outward appearances to the inner spirit of another person, as the only true form of love: "There is a difference between looking at a person and looking into a person. That takes more than romance. That takes power."

He continued: "We need the Holy Spirit in our relationships in order to have depth in them and so that they aren’t just superficial romances...We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit to love."

The Bible studies in English were led by:
Henry Mugabe (Zimbabwe); Ross Clofford (Australia); Steve Chalke (United Kingdom); Kenneth Fong (USA); Otniel Bunaciu (Romania); Tony Campolo (USA); Alistair Brown (UK); Brenda Harewood (Guyana).

Bible study in German was preached by Karl Keinz Walter (Germany), with Yuri Sipko (Russia) preaching in Russian, and Raquel Contreras (Chile) delivering under the same theme ‘Empowerment of the Holy Spirit’ in Spanish.