BRANSON, MO. — Something Brent Green said must’ve rubbed the devil the wrong way.
The associate minister for the Kansas Expressway Church of Christ in Springfield, Mo., was about halfway through his sermon, titled “Satan Wants You,” when a summer squall erupted outside. Rain pounded the A-frame, wood-slat roof of the Branson Church of Christ’s auditorium. The winds howled, attempting to drown out the message.
Brent Green shows an artificial intelligence-generated image during his sermon at the Show Me State Bible Lectures. A friend heard the title of Green’s sermon, “Satan Wants You,” and said it reminded him of armed forces recruiting posters featuring Uncle Sam, which prompted Green to have another friend create the AI image.
Green wasn’t even scheduled to speak on the next-to-last day of the Show Me State Bible Lectures. Another minister, slated for the Saturday night spot, contracted meningitis and was hospitalized just before the lectureship. Organizers asked Green, who also teaches for the Bible Institute of Missouri, to fill in.
Despite the impromptu request and the noisy weather, Green preached fervently, quoting from Ephesians 5:15-16 as he warned about Satan’s use of distractions to tear believers’ focus away from God: “See then that you walk carefully, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
“We’re in a battle for our spiritual lives,” Green said. “The devil does not take a day off.”
Thunderstorms pelted this tourist town in the Ozark Mountains throughout the week. But the weather didn’t stop the 40-member Branson congregation from offering eight days of gospel preaching by 29 ministers, seven congregational singing sessions and six fellowship meals. Nearly 300 church members came for the kickoff service on Sunday, and an average of 200 attended throughout the week, representing nearly 90 congregations in 14 states, organizers said.
Speakers at the Show Me State Bible Lectures put heavy emphasis on Scripture, in keeping with the state’s unofficial nickname. The “Show Me State” is thought to come from an 1899 speech by Missouri Rep. Willard Duncan Vandiver. “Frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me,” Vandiver said. “I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.”
Participants in the Show Me State Bible Lectures sing hymns, including “I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” before the Saturday night sermons.
Evan Orr traveled 730 miles from Midland, Texas, to see what the lectures had to show him.
“It’s a good spiritual refresher, always uplifting,” said Orr, who at home worships with the Westside Church of Christ. “It’s almost like a family reunion.”
Orr’s uncle, Blane Orr, is an elder of the Branson church, which launched the lectures in 2017 as a community outreach, said longtime member Danny Menter. The church broadcasts and records the sessions on its YouTube and social media channels.
Danny Menter leads an opening prayer during the Show Me State Bible Lectures
Unlike the music shows, dinner theaters and dramas that draw 10 million visitors to Branson each year, the church does not charge attendees.
Providing the free event is expensive, said Tim Kidwell, elder and minister for the church. Costs, including housing speakers and providing meals, are close to $25,000.
With that price tag in mind, launching the event was a leap of faith, Kidwell said. But soon after the church announced the first lectures, a real estate agent approached the leaders about buying a piece of land that the congregation owned but wasn’t using. The sale gave the church the money it needed for the lectureship.
Participants browse through the offerings from Chula Vista Books during the Show Me State Bible Lectures.
“Ever since, the pockets of God have been deep,” Kidwell said. Churches across the Show Me State and beyond contribute to keep the lectures going.
The schedule alternates between afternoon and evening start times, allowing participants to enjoy Branson’s activities. Rather than set a theme, organizers ask ministers to share “something that the church needs to hear,” Kidwell said.
Topics this year ranged from “I’m Too Wicked for God to Save Me” by T Roy Hass to “Scientific Evidence Supporting the Biblical Age of the Earth” by Jeff Miller to “What Will Happen to America?” by Kerry Duke.
Steave Pearce speaks on “Dealing with Disagreement” during the Show Me State Bible Lectures.
Attendees and speakers found the lectures useful, said Steve Pearce, who delivered a sermon before Green on Saturday night. As Pearce prepared to speak on “Dealing with Disagreement,” the minister for the Aurora Church of Christ in Missouri found himself revising and rewriting his thoughts continually, eventually leading to self-doubt. Then he recalled Noah Olson’s sermon from the previous afternoon on “How to Love Myself” and Cory Orr’s on “Worry.”
“Was I even listening?” Pearce asked himself.
During his sermon, Pearce used the example from Philippians 4 of Euodia and Syntyche, two Christian women in the midst of disagreement. The minister outlined the apostle Paul’s model of commendation, confrontation and resolution when dealing with conflicts among believers.
Teens listen and take notes in their Bibles as Steve Pearce speaks during the Show Me State Bible Lectures.
A cluster of teens from the Kansas Expressway church was among the Saturday night attendees.
“I thought they nailed it,” Cayden Green, 18, said of the speakers. “I got the chance to ink up my Bible. I take a lot of notes in the margins.”
Even in the digital age, the teens prefer to read — and make notes in — paper copies of God’s Word. Although there are multiple Bible apps available, “I just get distracted” when using a phone to read Scripture, said Nolan Heavin, also 18.
“I got the chance to ink up my Bible. I take a lot of notes in the margins.”
Heavin and his family have attended the lectures all 10 years. His sister, Grace, 14, said that the lectures give her a chance “to see a bunch of friends that I don’t get to see a lot.”
Nolan, a recent high school grad, plans to study at the Bible Institute of Missouri and visit Africa this summer. The Missouri school is part of the Global Schools of Biblical Studies, a network that includes campuses in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia.
“I really want to teach people how to become Christians, and the Gospels,” Heavin said.
From left, Eli Heavin, Cayden Green, Grace Heavin and Nolan Heavin speak with The Christian Chronicle after the Saturday night sermons at the Show Me State Bible Lectures.
Tracy Menter, who has worshiped with the Branson Church of Christ since 2000, said that the small congregation enjoys seeing friends from across the country on an annual basis.
Though the devil and the winds may wail outside, “this is what heaven is going to be like,” she said, “all of us together, worshiping and singing.”
ERIK TRYGGESTAD is President and CEO of The Christian Chronicle. Contact erik@christianchronicle.org.
