Fanny Crosby wrote in a hymn a century ago, “To God be the glory, great things He hath done.” She ends the chorus with “O come to the Father, thro’ Jesus the Son, and give Him the glory, great things He hath done.”
This morning I want to identify four “great things” God has given to His children and specifically apply them to Alabama Baptists.
God has given us the Great Commission
A pastor friend, David Dykes, shared in a sermon the story of Coca-Cola. The discoverer of the soft drink was John Pemberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta in 1886. Coke was not marketed overseas very much until the 1970s. It was then that the company set a goal to make it available to everyone in our world.
A survey a few years ago reveals how close they are to their goal. “Ninety-seven percent of the world’s population has heard of Coca-Cola, 72 percent of the world’s population have seen the Coca-Cola logo and 51 percent of the world’s population have tasted a Coke. Every day there are 1.6 billion servings of Coke,” Dykes said. “If Jesus had given the Great Commission to the Coca-Cola Company, the gospel would have already been presented to every person on earth. But He didn’t give the Great Commission to Coca-Cola or Apple or McDonald’s. He gave it to us.”
In Matthew 28:19–20, Jesus commissioned the disciples before His ascension. He essentially was launching them into ministry. He gave them their marching orders. Jesus also was looking forward to us as well. His Great Commission to the disciples 2,000 years ago is our Great Commission. Let’s take a close look at these two verses.
In verse 19 it says, “Therefore go.” This phrase is best translated, “As you go” or “as you are going.” As you are going to work or school or shopping or vacationing, etc., Jesus commands us to do three specific things.
First Jesus said to “make disciples of all nations.” A disciple is a follower. We are to share our faith with the lost and give them an opportunity to follow Jesus. It is to be a lifestyle, as easy as talking to people about our families, our work, our passions and favorite sports team.
Second Jesus said, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Why baptism? It is a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Our baptism identifies us with Christ and is a public witness of our salvation and obedience to Christ.
Third Jesus said, “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” In other words we are to disciple new converts. Just as Jesus taught His disciples, we teach. Those who are taught are in turn to make disciples and teach them.
Note the closing phrase of this Great Commission. Jesus gave a promise. He said, “And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” This is a reminder from our Lord we are not alone. Jesus is with us as we go into all the world to make disciples, to baptize disciples and to teach disciples to obey all His commandments.
This is the universal, fundamental mandate of all individuals, churches and denomination work.
God has given us great power
In Matthew 28:18, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” Jesus knew the disciples would feel ill-prepared and totally inadequate to go to all nations and make disciples. Well, Jesus does have “all authority.” So what did He do? He promised to give them power for this task.
In Acts 1:8, He promised, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” Ten days later the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. The church was birthed and from that time to now the Holy Spirit has come to reside with every believer at the moment of their spiritual new birth.
You have Almighty God’s Spirit in you bearing witness that Jesus is your Savior and Lord but also empowering you for service. You have His presence in you. You have His promise He’ll always be in you. You have His power. God has given you Great Power.
God has given us great resources
There are two specific great resources I want to address. The first is great human resources. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:27, “You are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it.” Earlier in this chapter Paul spoke about the importance of each part of the body functioning correctly. Everyone has an important part to play. Everyone is to serve.
Why do we serve? One reason is because Jesus did. Matthew 20:28 says, “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.” Another reason is serving demonstrates love (Gal. 5:13–14). A third reason is God made us to serve. Peter notes this in 1 Peter 4:10. God gifted us to serve others. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
During this year as your president I have attended numerous board meetings and committee meetings. I have seen the great resource God has given to Alabama Baptists in the way of human resources. I’ve seen our entity leaders for years. We are blessed to have gifted and committed men and women in leadership. This year I was able to see and meet the men and women that make up the boards and the staffs responsible for ministry. It has been awesome to see them in action. They are committed to their part of Kingdom ministries. I noted their passion and enthusiasm to serve. I noted their spiritual gifts and vocational skills being used. I noted how their life experiences help to give perspective to their board meetings and decisions. I noted the various personalities and leadership styles. Our God has given us great human resources to serve Alabama Baptists.
In Nehemiah 3 we read a list of workers rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. There is a total of 38 names and 42 work groups. Every section of the wall was covered. A wide range of people worked together side by side to accomplish one task — to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. Scripture said they had a mind to work. There was a dependence on each other.
This is an appropriate description of what we are doing as Alabama Baptists. From all corners of our great state we have come with a single-minded purpose … to cooperate together. We can accomplish more together than we can alone. We have a Great Commission and great power to do it.
God also has given us great financial resources. I want to thank Alabama Baptists for your faithful financial support of the Cooperative Program (CP). It was 96 years ago that Baptists inaugurated the “$75 Million Campaign.” It was a fundraising effort to raise money for state conventions and Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) causes and distribute the monies in a fair and equitable way. While falling short of the goal over a five-year period, the success of Baptists cooperating birthed CP in 1925. Now 90 years old, millions of dollars have been raised to support Kingdom causes.
Alabama Baptists, you have led the way in recent years. Nearly 1 dollar out of 10 given through CP comes from Alabama. Plus we are leaders in Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong special offerings. God has given us great financial resources.
I believe in CP. Much of who I am is because of the benefits I received through the Florida Baptist Convention, Alabama Baptist State Convention and our SBC family.
We, like Nehemiah’s rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, are united for Kingdom building. We have a calling to fulfill the Great Commission. It takes human resources but it takes financial resources as well.
Alabama Baptists, I challenge you to do more. We can do better.
God has given us a great challenge
In John 9:4, Jesus said, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.”
Let me challenge you with Jesus’ admonition. We must work and serve our God now. Ephesians 5:16 says we are to redeem the time or make the most of every opportunity God gives to us. Time is growing short.
Not only is there an urgency of time, Paul encourages us in Galatians 6:9, “Do not grow weary in doing good.” I know these are difficult times. We have moved from the Post Christian Era to an Anti-Christian Era. Is persecution next in our country? Church attendance is in decline. Church members are not as loyal or faithful as one time. Yet we know God is on the throne reigning on high. He is still in control. He is still Faithful and True. He is still raising up young leaders in the Church. Alabama Baptists, let’s hold to the Bible. Let’s covenant to pray like we never have before. Let’s trust the Holy Spirit as it “blows where it will.”
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