‘Burden lifted’ as high school graduate professes Christ at evangelism conference

Six years ago, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary hosted a concert for the Christian band For King & Country in MacGorman Chapel. During the concert, the band gave a Gospel presentation, directing those who desired to respond to designated prayer rooms where seminary students and faculty were stationed. At least three people did so, surrendering their lives to Christ as their Lord and Savior. 

Among these three were two women, Emily and Brenda. They spoke with Matt Queen, L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism, who was manning one of the prayer rooms. He counseled them about their desire to be saved, ultimately inviting them to profess their faith in Christ. After doing so, Brenda thanked God for lifting the burden of her sin. 

Sharing this story during a session of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s annual Empower Conference, Feb. 22-23, Queen recalled her saying, “God, I feel like the weight is off me; the burden is gone. [I feel] so light I can fly.”

Queen was among several speakers at this year’s Empower Conference, and his session focused on the relationship between evangelism and discipleship. He shared this story about the concert merely to illustrate how he leads people to confess Jesus as Lord, as Emily and Brenda had done. 

But the notion of a “burden” being lifted stood out to one of the attendees at Queen’s session, a high school graduate named Andrew. At the close of the session, Andrew went to Queen and asked him, “Is that what it’s supposed to feel like?”

Initially unsure of what Andrew was asking, Queen asked what he meant. Andrew responded, “That story you told about that encounter with that lady, is that what it’s supposed to feel like when you get saved—like a burden is lifted off of you?”

Queen explained that this is not necessarily the case for all new believers, especially children. “But for somebody who’s a little older and has lived through a lot more and has a lot more anxiety, it can feel that way,” he said. 

Andrew shared that he had prayed to receive Christ as a child at church camp, but that since then, he continually felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit to respond whenever he heard a Gospel presentation. He expressed that he felt much anxiety, and that he was unsure of where he would go when he died. 

Because Andrew was attending the conference with his church, Queen invited Andrew’s father and one of his pastors, Nelson Fonseca, to join the conversation. Queen proceeded to ask Andrew a series of questions, citing 2 Corinthians 13:5—“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves.”

Andrew ultimately realized that he had never truly surrendered his life to Christ; his previous “profession” had been merely an empty repetition of the so-called “sinner’s prayer.” 

Fonseca, a 2019 Master of Divinity graduate of Southwestern Seminary and associate pastor of New Life Baptist Church in Dallas, shared the Gospel with Andrew along with “the hope we have in Jesus.” He then invited Andrew to respond.

“And on his own,” Queen says, “he prayed a beautiful prayer,” professing once and for all his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Queen recalls that after completing his prayer, Andrew had a smile on his face. 

“So how does it feel, now that Jesus has forgiven you of your sin?” Queen asked. Andrew responded, “It feels exactly like you said—a weight has been taken off of me.”

Fonseca and Andrew’s father are now following up with Andrew, who plans to be baptized on Easter Sunday. 

Regarding how Emily and Brenda’s salvation story led to Andrew’s profession of faith, Queen notes, “There were still ripples of that salvation into this guy’s life.”

Fonseca reflects, “Imagine a professor of evangelism who used a real-life illustration in a conference that impacted the life of a young man who turned to Christ for the forgiveness of sins—that is priceless!”