Neal Hughes said one of the churches in his association — Pike Road Baptist — was in despair a while back. It was hard for them to see a vision for the future when, after a rich 133-year history, their congregation had declined from 300 to 15.
But Hughes said God began to work and sent a neighboring church, Thorington Road Baptist, to foster them. Thorington Road eventually commissioned three men to help lead at Pike Road.
“In March, they were averaging 10 to 15, and now they’re averaging 60,” said Hughes, director of missions for Montgomery Baptist Association, as he brought an “Unfinished” theme interpretation message to those gathered Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 14) for the 2023 Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting at First Baptist Church Montgomery.
One of those now attending the newly revitalized Pike Road Church, Hughes noted, is a young woman named Brittainee who worked at a local restaurant.
“She began to fall in love with Jesus as people from the church began to share their faith with her,” Hughes said. “The Holy Spirit broke her heart, and she gave her life to Christ.”
“God’s up to something, y’all, and it’s good,” Hughes said.
‘Don’t miss out’
The story illustrates the theme of “God isn’t through with you yet” that he was challenged to preach as part of the convention’s bicentennial celebration.
“Don’t miss out on the action,” Hughes said. “God’s not through with you yet. Press on.”
In Philippians 3:10–14, that’s what the Apostle Paul challenged the church to do, he said. Many people today have “quit in their spirit” and “think their church is a goner,” Hughes explained. But God can breathe life back into a church like He did with the dry bones in the Book of Ezekiel.
“God invites us to a sense of submission,” he said. “When you see a period, God sees a comma. Don’t quit; don’t give up.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Hughes also challenged churches to press on when they feel like they’ve arrived. It’s possible to focus so much on the good of the past that churches don’t realize that God has so much more for them in the future.
“We need to be simple servants in the hands of a lustrous Master, and we need to press on, because the best is yet to come,” Hughes said.
He also told Alabama Baptists that when they’re tempted to do missions alone, they should press on together, because God says together is always best.
“Alabama Baptists are a dream team — it’s awesome … to God be the glory,” he said. “That means there are just that many more people who will hear the gospel, that many more church planters we can send out. … The Cooperative Program isn’t just a bunch of finances; we are the Cooperative Program.”
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