Those who know me well know that I love being a South Carolina Baptist. I am thankful for each church, association and ministry partner that make up our SCBaptist family. I stand in awe, filled with gratitude, as I hear reports of how the Great Commission is being advanced all across our state daily while I am busy serving and sharing in Ninety Six. I believe every church in our state has been strategically placed by God at its address for a reason. I pray that more churches will be added at new addresses this year.
While churches are not all the same style or size, we are empowered by the same Spirit. Each church is an important member of our family. Churches sometimes make the mistake of determining their value or success by comparing themselves to other churches. The Holy Spirit does not compare us; He unites us to advance the Great Commission together in every nook and corner of South Carolina, across our nation and to the nations.
Creating and maintaining a sense of togetherness with our larger faith family requires us to be intentional. A few years ago, I prayed for a way to help our church understand that the churches around us are not our competition but we are all a part of a larger family with a shared mission. I obtained a listing of all the churches in the Lakelands Baptist Association. Each week we highlighted a sister church on our prayer list. I contacted a pastor each week and asked how we could best pray for him and the church he leads.
During our mid-week prayer time, I shared the burdens and the victories of each church, and we spent time interceding on their behalf. It was exciting to watch our church celebrate and praise God for what He was doing in other places. When we heard that God was working in other churches the way that we desired to see Him work in Ninety Six, we were not envious or discouraged but even more hopeful that God would work through our church family in His time. We also shared in carrying the burdens of churches located around the corner or on the other side of the Lakelands. We felt a oneness that had been missing as we lifted their burdens, often through tears. That is the type of oneness that God desires to see in our SCBaptist family.
Our staff at Ninety Six First Baptist have been contemplating having shirts printed with the following message: “It is in the bulletin.” I know we are not alone in publicizing events and ministry opportunities through every means available, yet some remain uninformed and uninvolved. This struggle is shared by our ministry partners and our state convention. Our SCBC staff are diligent to publicize and highlight events and ministry opportunities. Stories and statistics are shared through every available means to help our SCBaptist family see and celebrate how the Great Commission is being advanced through our cooperative efforts.
Because pastors and churches are focused on the work in front of us, creating and maintaining a sense of togetherness with our larger faith family requires us to be intentional. When I take the time to learn of all that is happening through our SCBaptist family, I find myself cheering and celebrating what God is doing. I was encouraged early on in ministry to give one day a month to focus on cooperation with our larger Baptist family. Today I make it my goal to give a couple of hours each week to reading through The Baptist Courier, looking up the SCBC and our ministry partners on social media, checking the SCBC website, reading our associational newsletter, and, yes, I even open and read the mail that I receive from churches and ministry partners.
Cooperation takes intentionality, but when we make being informed and involved a priority, we realize that there are many Great Commission victories to celebrate. I invite you to see and celebrate what God is accomplishing through SCBaptist cooperation Nov. 10-11 at Taylors First Baptist.