Praise the Lord for all 73 labors for the SBO’22!

Alex Burt Team Preaching

Alex Burt Special Report - Blog Post

The highlight of February was the trip to LA for the Super Bowl Outreach. I was blessed to be a team leader once again and had a great team. You can read my post about the mystery team members here. Although the planning for this trip was a bit bumpy, it was relatively smooth when it came to execution. Bill Adams does an outstanding job with the logistics as far as accommodations, meals transportation, etc. The team leaders simply have to get on the plane, pick up the van and get our teams where they are supposed to be at the appointed time. It’s a little more complicated than that, but…

My team made my job super easy. I had seasoned evangelists, most of whom had been to at least one other Super Bowl Outreach so they knew what to expect. That doesn’t take away from the fact that they were all punctual and cooperative, even taking initiative when they noticed something that needed to be done. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for them! Waking up at 4:15 on Friday and Saturday and 3:15 on Sunday was a challenge after long days of teaching and ministry out on the streets, but they pressed through! 

The team leaders all get to teach a 50 minute class. Due to my name beginning with the 2nd letter of the alphabet, I got to teach first on Thursday night. The theme this year was the responsibility/duty of the evangelist inside and outside the church. Each of us chose a book and filtered it through Ephesians 4. I read “And Some Evangelist” by Roger Carswel. It’s a good read that I would highly recommend.

The schedule for the outreach goes something like this for Friday and Saturday

6:00 AM prayer

7:00 AM Teaching

8:00 AM Breakfast

9:00 AM Teaching

10:00 AM Grab a box lunch and head to the ministry location for the day.

6:00 PM Head back to the Hotel from the ministry locations

Sunday everything was backed up one hour due to a 3:30 PM Kick-off time.

If you ever think evangelism isn’t hard work, you’ve never done much of it. While it certainly is a joy to do, it can be very tiring. It’s what I refer to as “good tired.” What a joy to be on the plane flying home knowing you have been able to focus on the Gospel and share the great news with so many people.

Here’s a short encounter I had with a man on Huntington Beach Pier.

The man was riding around in a cart he had built with decorations and a sound system. He was also wearing a mask. He stopped and informed me that he had 26 semesters of Seminary. Maybe he meant hours but I’m almost certain he said semesters. He began by telling me he believed we were all God. He continued with statements beginning with “I believe….” When I got the chance to respond I pointed this out and we had a discussion about whether I should believe what he believed or what God said. Trying to focus the discussion we dialed in on the “We are all God” statement. Since he would not accept that he was in error because the Bible contradicted his view, I thought I would try logic. I asked him if God could sin, to which he replied, “He could because He can do anything.” I rephrased the question to avoid a rabbit trail and asked him, if would God ever sin? He agreed that God would never sin. Then I asked him if he sinned and he admitted that he did. See the flaw in his belief? I asked him if God would never sin but humans do sin, how could we be God? He said, “You got me there. I’ll be back in a little while and have something for you.” I supposed he was returning with some sort of reasoning to support his belief but I never saw him again. Sometimes we get intimidated by people who announce they have some sort of higher education and think we will not be able to give a defense for the hope that lies within us. First, we do not have to have all the answers. Remember we are not here to prove God. We are proclaimers, seed sowers, and waterers. It is God who gives the increase. Secondly, just because someone has an education or is a good debater doesn’t mean they have a sound, logical argument. 

Friday the 18th and 25th it was back to cold weather in Athens. After being in LA with temps in the high 80s, 40 degrees felt colder than normal. Foot traffic was a little light but we preached the Gospel and gave away some Gospel tracts for a few hours. It is good to have a consistent ministry location but I believe it is also good to get away to a different environment a few times a year. The change of scenery is a good way to refresh. 

Thank you for your prayers and financial support! 

Until All Hear!

Alex

Ref:  https://alexburt.wordpress.com/2022/03/01/super-bowl-outreach-2022/

Alex Burt: THE MYSTERY SUPER BOWL OUTREACH TEAM MEMBERS

After five months of prayer and recruiting my Super Bowl Outreach team only consisted of 5 people, including me. Five may seem like a pretty good team, and it is, but the requirement is that I have at least 10 team members. I began with a list of over 20 past and possible team members and felt confident I would be able to fill all 10 slots. As time went on the list began to get shorter and shorter. Even those who I was certain would/could go began to drop off the list.

There were commitment conflicts, wives having babies, sickness and some who just didn’t want to go to the west coast. Not saying any of these reasons are invalid, it is just the way life and ministry works. I will admit I gave into frustration at times but ultimately was trusting God to send those He wanted on my team. I settled into the fact that I was going to have a 5 person team and became content with that because those on my team were all solid, seasoned evangelists. 

Shortly before the trip I had a young couple and their 8 month old added to my team, bringing the total to 8. Yes, I am counting the 8 month old as a team member. Grasping? Maybe, but she was with us the entire time so she gets credit. With the team being set, off we go to Hollywood Blvd. on day one.

Scott got the team set up as Rich and I went to park the van. We were set up in front of the Metro station with the preaching rotation starting along with tract distribution and Gospel conversations. There was a woman that came up and listened for a long time. As one of the team members began to talk with her we found out she was in town for the Super Bowl and felt led to come down to Hollywood Blvd. but she wasn’t sure why, if I understood correctly. Naturally I thought God had this planned from the beginning. After praying for five months for God to send me team members and being a few short of the goal, here was Mona.

We didn’t know she was coming and apparently she didn’t either. Mona ended up staying with us for hours passing out Gospel tracts. You might say, that was just a coincidence, and I might have agreed until Day 2.

Day 2 was a nice change. Hollywood Blvd. can be a bit hectic and wear on you after an entire day so going to Huntington Beach Pier on day 2 was a nice change. Again, as Rich and I went to park, Scott got the team set up on the pier and began preaching, passing out tracts and engaging people in conversation. A man came up in a wheelchair who had asked God that morning how he could serve Him on that day (paraphrase).

Horice stayed on the pier with us for hours offering Gospel tracts to people and telling them he had some good news for them. Again, God had sent us a great team member. 

God is faithful. As we prayed for 5 months for God to send us team members, He was working on these two saints and we didn’t have a clue. His ways are not our ways. 

We were praying to 10 team members and that’s exactly what God gave us. 

Until All Hear!

Alex

Ref:  https://alexburt.wordpress.com/2022/02/19/the-mystery-super-bowl-outreach-team-members/