(Editor’s note: This was published in our June magazine prior to the SBC 2025 in Dallas.)
“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2 NKJV).
The Southern Baptist Convention will meet June 8-11 in Dallas, Texas. This will be the 180th year of the SBC, and this year’s business sessions have been arranged around the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program and the Baptist Faith and Message. The 2025 Order of Business Committee is encouraging messengers and guests to come to Dallas ready to celebrate the substantial history and heritage of our common mission and confession. I want to encourage messengers and churches to pray for this year’s annual meeting of Southern Baptists. The greatest need of the SBC, and the greatest work of the SBC, has always been and will always be prayer. S.D. Gordan taught, “We can do more than pray after we have prayed, but we cannot do more than pray until we have prayed.”
Prayer is hard work. It takes spiritual discipline to be earnest and vigilant in prayer. While many SCBaptist churches send messengers to the annual meeting or perhaps watch the online stream, give to the CP and affirm the BF&M, how many SCBaptists are committed to “continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving”? I want to encourage SCBaptist churches to add the annual meeting, the messengers and our leadership to your prayer list. I also encourage each church to call a prayer assembly or reserve time for prayer for this year’s SBC Annual Meeting sometime between June 1–7. Every SCBaptist can pray daily for the annual meeting June 8–11.
Think for a moment of all the resources held within the SBC family. Think about the people, the years of experience, the years of education, all of the facilities and all of the financial holdings. We cannot begin to fathom the value, but we can make the mistake of trusting in our own resources instead of trusting in God. Our mission can only advance when it is advanced in God’s time and by His power. I am praying that Southern Baptists will be desperate for and dependent on God. The Southern Baptist Convention has 49,906 churches and 12,982,090 members. Our size naturally produces a lot of diversity — and without prayer, a lot of division. Before we can reach the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ, we must have a love for God and a love for each other. In John 13:34–35, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Our unity does not begin with a common name, mission, giving channel, or doctrinal statement. Our unity begins as we humble ourselves before God in earnest prayer. I am praying for the SBC to experience the unity that God brings to us when we love Him and love each other. As we plan the SCBC in November, I have seen a small sample of planning and sacrifice that it takes to put the SBC Annual Meeting together. I am praying for President Clint Pressley and everyone involved in planning and leading this year’s SBC.
My favorite part of each year’s annual gathering of Southern Baptists is the Pastors’ Conference that takes place prior to the annual meeting. I have enjoyed listening to D.J. Horton’s interviews with the preachers who will be preaching from 2 Timothy, where Paul described God’s plan for a pattern for pastors’ lives that is worth following. If you are able to travel to Dallas, I hope to see you at the SCBaptists’ gathering following the Pastors’ Conference. We will meet at Punch Bowl Social and enjoy some late night snacks and activities. Don’t worry about how you will get there — a round-trip shuttle will be provided between Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and Punch Bowl Social. I look forward to seeing fellow SCBaptists in Dallas.