Jay Wolf said a long time ago, he made a promise to Jesus.
He promised that he “would press on all the way to the finish line, because I have one compelling goal, and that is to hear Him say when I pass through the portal of death, to hear ‘well done.’”
That is the end game, Wolf told those present at the final session of the Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference on Nov. 10 at Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville.
“So between now and then, we’ve got a job to do, we’ve got a world to win, we’ve got a race to run,” he said.
Preaching from Philippians 3:12-14, he said he had a one-point message — “That’s what we’re here to do is to say like Paul, ‘I press on.’ ”
Wolf, pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church Montgomery, told stories from over the years of God’s faithfulness in his 55 years of ministry, 32 of which were at FBC. He shared about how as a 13-year-old boy, his uncle’s funeral prompted him to ask questions about what would happen after he died. A schoolteacher encouraged him to read the Bible, and he gave his life to Christ, or as he described it, “Jesus got a hold of me.”
From there, God drew Wolf into the church, and at 16 he started teaching Royal Ambassadors and began to see how fulfilling it was to see lives changed. He surrendered to the ministry at 17, and as the years passed, Jesus’ hold on him continued to prompt him to get up each day and say, “Lord Jesus, I surrender.”
“That’s the way to start your day — that’s the way to live your life, friends,” he said.
Earlier in the evening, Wolf was named the fourth recipient of the Fred Wolfe Lifetime Pastoral Ministry Award.
The award is named in honor of Wolfe, a longtime Alabama Baptist pastor and SBC leader who died in 2021. It is given annually to a pastor who has invested through mentoring, discipling and encouraging other men of God.
Richard Richie, pastor of Blue Springs Baptist Church in Somerville, presented him with the honor and shared about how God used Wolf to change his life over the years, starting in 1989 when Wolf baptized him at First Baptist Church Alexandria, Virginia.
“He then took me under his wing to disciple me, to help grow me in my faith,” Richie said. “He taught me evangelism and how to share my faith.”
Then Wolf started taking Richie with him on hospital visits, to counsel families who had lost loved ones and to get involved in the community.
“He also taught me about community involvement,” Richie said. “People of all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds were people to whom he said we must reach and we must overcome boundaries and barriers.”
Wolf also invited Richie to preach his first sermon at a Christmas service in a prison.
“He counseled me and encouraged me as he has for thousands of men and women during his ministry to respond to the call of Christ on our lives to full-time Christian ministry,” Richie said. “Thank you, Jay — thank you for the impact you’ve made in my life, thank you for the thousands of Alabama Baptists whom you’ve touched and the thousands of others throughout the world whom you’ve reached through your missions and ministry involvement for our King Jesus, for His Kingdom, for over 50 years.”
Chad Hess, ABPC president and pastor of Woodmont Baptist Church in Florence, also shared that Wolf is gifted at preaching “with clarity and creativity as he communicates biblical truths and biblical principles for all areas of life.”
“Jay Wolf has been an excellent pastor,” Hess said. “He has led First Baptist Church Montgomery for 32 years and retiring in 2020, he has still pastored well — pastor to pastors, pastor to people he served on the missions field and helped so many people in their time of need … for that, we say thank you.”
Wolf said the award was “a joyous honor.”
“I can’t thank you enough, but primarily I want to thank the Lord for giving me the high and holy privilege of serving Him for the last 55 years,” he said. “Serving Jesus on the menu of life, my friends, is filet mignon and crème brulee — there’s nothing better.”
During his sermon, Wolf encouraged pastors to renew the promise they made to Jesus back when they first entered into the ministry. He said sometimes pastors might be carrying “extra rocks in their backpack” that might make ministry hard, and it can make them lose their fire.
“Maybe what you need to do is say, ‘King Jesus, I promise to press on,’ ” Wolf said.
He challenged them to come take a small metal cross from the stage and keep it with them as a reminder of the promise they’ve made to Jesus.
“If Jesus would take that cross for you, won’t you give your highest, best and most to serve Him, pressing on all the way to the finish line?”
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