« September 13, 2007 | September 13, 2007 | September 13, 2007 »

Pastor's Page

Posted on September 13, 2007 ...

An essential truth of God's work in our work is that we can do more together than we can do on our own. This is true for us as individual Christians and why God desires every Christian to be a part of a congregation. As we have been studying on Sunday nights, God designed us to use our individual gifts for the common good of the entire church body and its ministries.

It is equally true that congregations can do more collectively than we can accomplish as individual churches. While each Baptist church is autonomous and self-governing, it is healthy for us to work together with other churches toward common goals. This collaboration especially is proper for congregations within our Baptist family.

As a denomination, Southern Baptists are structured for cooperation on local, national, and state levels. September is the traditional time of year that Southern Baptist churches emphasis the work of their State Conventions. The Tennessee Baptist Convention is a collective fellowship of over 3000 Baptist churches in our state representing over 1.1 million members.

Each year during this September emphasis, our church receives a special offering to support the unique work of our state conventions. Named after Dr. and Mrs. W.C. Golden, pioneer workers in Tennessee Baptist missions, the Golden Offering for State Missions funds a variety of ministries. These ministries include disaster relief, various community ministries, student ministry teams, ethnic missions, Christian job-placement assistance, and funds to help start new churches targeting un-reached people in our state.

Throughout this month, we will feature videos in our morning worship times that highlight some of the lives benefited by the collective efforts of Tennessee Baptists and the resources made available through the Golden Offering for State Missions. Further information is available on a printed Prayer Guide named "Tennessee, My Mission Field." Pick up a copy in the Welcome Center.

As a native Tennessean, I am proud of our church's historic partnerships with our state convention. I encourage you to pray, give, and participate generously so that we can accomplish more together as Tennessee Baptists. Jay