Passing faith on to others is primary task of leaders, George says

Receiving … passing on. That is the story of the ministry, the story of the Christian life,” said Timothy George, founding dean of Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham.

“Paul passed it on to Timothy and to John Mark. He passed it on to a runaway slave whom he called ‘my son in the faith.’ To Priscilla and Aquila, Epaphroditus, Luke … the list goes on. He received, then passed it on.”
Preaching from 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, George developed the Connecting with God segment of the state convention annual meeting’s LEADERconnect theme.

He pointed out during the message that Paul said, “That which I have received, I am passing on to you.”
George shared with messengers how others who “had received” passed on to him.

Growing up in Chattanooga, Tenn., in what he described as a dysfunctional family, George said his father died early and his mother had polio and could not care for him.
He was raised by two aunts who could not read or write.

‘The key to Christian living’
The family lived in a section of town called Hell’s Half Acre. “I would say we were dirt poor, but we couldn’t afford any dirt,” George said.

There was a Baptist church in the community that nurtured him. “They didn’t have much but they shared what they had. I am here today because they were there then,” he declared. “That little church taught me John 3:16 and ‘This Little Light of Mine’ and that I was a sinner who could only be saved by grace.”

George became a Christian after hearing a sermon on Psalm 116 and was soon called to preach.
“I am a Baptist because [Pastor] Sam D. Sharp took me under his wing and said to me, ‘Timothy, read all you can. You can believe the tomb is empty without your head having to be.’”

He also told of the influence of his sixth-grade teacher, of Hershel Hobbs, of Martin Luther King and of R.G. Lee.
“I came to know Jesus through the people of God called Baptists — these people who received something and passed it on to me. Receiving … passing it on. That’s the key to Christian living,” George said. “That which you have received, pass it on to someone else.”