The service opens with Scripture reads from Psalm 24:7, Isaiah 40:3, Isaiah 40:5, and 2 Corinthians 4:6, (00:00-00:43) followed by an introduction for C. Y. Dossey and Julian Hopkins. Dossey was from the Division of Evangelism of the Home Mission Board (now the North American Mission Board), and Hopkins was the Secretary of the Division of Evangelism of the Baptist Convention of North Carolina. Hopkins read the sermon text, 1 Corinthians 1:17-25, and prayed before Dossey gave the sermon (00:44-06:00). Dossey began his message by highlighting the effective witness of the first-century Christians, and he challenges his listeners to have effectual ministries as well (6:01-07:10). First, we need a renewal of authoritative preaching, proclaiming what the Bible says in a way where people can understand it (07:11-09:03). He mentions that we must not become a Biblical critic or attempt to defend the Bible, but only preach the Bible well, not cleverly. He declares that the reason why some Baptists have chased the "tongues movement" is because we have failed to preach accurately about the Holy Spirit (09:04-13:38). He emphasizes the importance of experiencing Christ's power now instead of relying too heavily on Christianity's rich past or on Christianity's rich future (13:39-17:19). He also says there must be a renewal of the eschatological emphasis in our preaching accompanied by courage, and we must be willing to disturb people with the boldness of the Biblical message by holding some "over Hell until they can smell fire and brimstone" (17:20-24:23). He closes in prayer (24:24-25:00).
