That was the message from incoming president the Revd Chris Duffett in an address that was in part humorous, in part creative, but at its heart, deeply challenging.

Chris, a street evangelist, will spend his presidential year visiting each Association to help join them in creative ways of sharing the gospel. It's called the Big Hearted Tour and is backed by a new website. 

'God loves people more than we could ever believe,' Chris said,  'and he longs to show this love through you and me.'

Taking Hebrews 1: 1-4 and 8-12 as his text, Chris said the passage shows that this is a God 'who speaks'.

Could his election as president of the Baptist Union of Great Britain - as just one of the 20 Baptist evangelists in the UK rather than one of the 1601 pastors - be a humorous way of God speaking?

'Could God be saying that despite our slimming down as a Union, the need has never been greater to creatively reach out to those who don't have what you and I have?'

He said that his year would involve 'doing evangelism, not just talking about it', with as many Baptist Christians as possible throughout the Associations. And while he conceded that evangelism was difficult, he compared the situation the Union finds itself in today with the early church in Acts.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus gave his disciples power to go to everyone, everywhere. However, they stayed 'safe and snug' in Jerusalem. By Act 8:1 a great persecution against the church meant they were scattered - and the church inadvertently fulfilled her original commission.

'Do our recent financial hard times as a Union carry a message for us to remember why we do what we do?'

Chris, who interspersed his address with poems and stories from his street ministry, then outlined four things we can do to work in partner

ship with God.

Firstly, we need to do church differently. 'Many of our Baptist church buildings are like sex shops and bookies. They deliberately restrict access, they don't shout out 'please come in!'
'But that's all too like most Baptist church buildings I have seen; the windows are frosted or too high and the doors remain shut.

'As church we need to be people of God where others can see in but also experience us out and about where they can feel the good news message.'

Secondly we need to enjoy the adventure. The letter to Hebrews reminds us that the revealing of our exuberant God was through His Son who is anointed with the oil of joy.

'Our joy in what we have as Christians reveals to others what God is like,' said Chris.

Thirdly, we must love people. 'Through our regard for others, we become incredibly relevant,' he said. 'They get it!'

Finally, we need to do something new. The writer to the Hebrews starts his letter, 'In the past God spoke through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken through his son.' Chris said this could be paraphrased, 'In the past God did that, but now he does this.'

'As Baptists part of our story of bringing the never changing gospel contextually is to be able to say, 'In the past we did that, but in these last days we do this...'

'We need to change what we do in our demonstration of the gospel for the sake of others getting it.'

Visit http://www.bighearted.org.uk/