Tonight’s session is usually the highest attended at the BCM/D annual meeting. So far, we have a little more that 300 people registered, give or take. The BCM/D Chorale has sung and the orchestra is currently leading in worship while a special offering is taken for the upcoming EMBRACE Wilmington effort.
The first election of officers is up next, followed by the Evangelism portion of the BCM/D staff report. The finale of the night will be Dr. David Lee, the Executive-Director, as he brings his annual message to the Convention.
Nominations have been opened for the election of President of the Convention. John Gauger from Perryville Baptist Church has nominated Rev. Byron Day from Emmanuel Baptist Church in Laurel, Maryland. No other nominations were made. Thus, Byron Day was elected President for the coming year by acclamation. No other nominations were made for any positions tonight.
The BCM/D Evangelism presentation was done by video. It was picture after picture of baptisms from all across the convention. My guess is at least 100 baptisms were shown from rivers to swimming pools to traditional church building baptistries. Thom Thornton, state director of evangelism, is now recognizing the churches with the highest number of baptisms for the last annual year.
The Chorale and Orchestra led the crowd of messengers in worship with “You are God Alone.” Now Bill Archer is leading them is singing “Midnight Cry.”
Dr. David Lee is preaching on “In the Eye of the Storm” from 1 Corinthians 13:13. He notes that Paul was the master of the summary statement (e.g., Romans 6:23; Romans 8:28). “And now abideth faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.” He served in hurricane-ravaged Mississippi in his early ministry storm. He never has experienced the “eye” of a storm, though some of his friends have. In the eye itself the wind is calm, the sky is clear. In the eye of the storm, some go out and tidy up and even clean up the mess that’s started. But you have to do it quickly, because the other half of the storm was coming.
The Corinthian church was in the eye of such a storm, with more to come in the days to come. He believes the BCM/D is in the same “eye” of the storm. He’s afraid that the backside of the storm may be even more difficult. However, we have time to prepare.
1. We must strengthen our faith….”now abideth faith.” There is a theology of faith, “what should I believe about God?” and the key question is “How big is God?” Then there is the theopraxy of faith, “what I do in my life based on my faith?” Here the key question is “Is God big enough?” It’s not always easy; it may be really tough. Doing what we’ve been trained to do may not be enough. We can’t fix what we’re facing without Him. Just surviving the storm is not good enough. It’s going to take faith! Do Baptists hoard money just like the banks in American are accused of doing that brought about this economic questions? BCM/D is known for being bold, to take the steps necessary even in the eye of the storm.
2. We must get busy telling the story of hope…”now abideth hope.” The landscape around us has changed but it has done nothing more than make things clearer for us. The changing world and our economy has made a difference. The generations following us have a very different view of denominationalism from those who have gone before. What does our world need most? The hope of the Gospel. What do we have to offer? The Gospel of hope. We know exactly what we need to do. Soon we will launch a futuring initiative for our convention. For 10 years we have been doing business on a previous plan. But now we must look forward to a new plan and vision. The core of what we must do is get the message of hope to a world that needs to hear it. It’s not time to go independent; now more than before we need each other.
3. We must figure out this whole love thing…”now abideth love; and the greatest of these is love.” At the end of the day love is the only thing that will win us a hearing with others. Love is all that really gives us credibility in a culture that is quickly running away from God. Most of our churches are plateaued or declining. Why is that happening? True, some have past their relevancy. Some are just trying to keep the institutional machinery going. But the main issue is that those who call themselves followers don’t get along with each other. Paul encouraged the Corinthians to consider a better way. Love never fails.
The church has always done better in times of Kingdom expansion during persecution. But not usually with Baptists “on the front end.” Baptists want to silence the “dreamers.” We cannot stop dreaming and trusting. Keep move forward boldly as we plant churches…as we do missions… Be sure to tell the story of hope. Take it to the people who so deperately need it. There is not a limited supply of the love of God! In fact, the more we give, the more our capacity to receive it.
Dare we ignore the wise counsel of the apostle Paul?
