“They had turned inward,” the pastor said with regret.  As I gathered with a group of pastors, AMSs, and church leaders from around Kentucky in Cincinnati recently to hear about ways their churches and associations can partner in the Queen City, one pastor in Cincinnati shared an all-too common story about his church.  When he first arrived at his church 15 years ago, the congregation had just completed a building project that increased the seating capacity to about 250 people.  However, when the pastor arrived at the church there were only about 30 people attending. 

“What happened?” one of our Kentucky pastors asked with curiosity.  The pastor went on to explain, “They had turned inward.  In fact, I discovered as I got to know the community that the people who lived here did not even know that this was a church.”  As I have reflected on this conversation with the pastor, I wonder how this can even happen.  The short answer, as described by the pastor, is that churches turn inward. 

In other words, we forget the work to which the Holy Spirit calls each church. What is that work?  To find that answer we turn our attention briefly to Acts 13.  Perhaps the second most influential church in the New Testament next to Jerusalem is Antioch, located about 300 miles north of Jerusalem near the Mediterranean Sea.  The church at Antioch was a mission-sending, mission-participating congregation.  The DNA of this first-century church flowed with making disciples of all nations.  From the outpost of Antioch, the Holy Spirit sent out Barnabas and Saul (Paul) on what we refer to as Paul’s missionary journeys (Acts 13:1-3). 

Notably, this church places a premium on worshipping and seeking the Lord (Acts 13:2), which is key for a church in avoiding the trap of an inward focus.  While the church of Antioch is filled with robust leaders—Barnabas, Simeon (Niger), Lucius, Manaen, and Saul, the Holy Spirit says, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2).

But what was “the work” to which the Holy Spirit had called them?  If Acts 1:8 is the theme of the book, then our answer lies within that passage.  In short, Jesus calls the apostles to make disciples of all nations in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.  This work of disciple making to which Jesus calls the apostles is extended to the church as we see the gospel spread from Jerusalem and beyond. In essence, disciple-making involves reaching the unreached and discipling the reached.

The Missions Mobilization Team is excited to help each KBC church do the work to which the Holy Spirit has called them with a new Fall 2022 initiative called Every Church On Mission (ECOM).  This initiative seeks to help each KBC church identify their unique role in the Great Commission, equip members to live out their role in the Great Commission, send members to fulfill the Great Commission locally and globally, and care for those who are sent both locally and globally.  For each of these four elements there are assessment questions and recommended resources.  The goal of this initiative is to help churches focus on the work of making disciples locally and globally, while avoiding the trap of turning inward and forgetting the work to which we are called.  Learn more about ECOM at kybaptist.org/ecom. 

The work of the church at Antioch is our work.  The work of all churches is to make disciples of all nations among whomever we can and wherever we are.  Some recent gospel “workers” serving in another country had to leave their place of work for another place of work.  In reflection about that move, they affirmed, “God called us for the work, not for a place or a people.  He called us for the work to ‘make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19).  Whatever changes we may experience in the world or in our life, and wherever we may find ourselves to be, may we do the work God has called us to do!”

It’s September!!  Vacations are over, school is back in session, football season is here, and Fall is in the air.  For Kentucky Baptists September is recognized as state mission’s month.  Next week, September 11-18, is the week set aside in our calendar for State Missions Emphasis and the week most Kentucky Baptist Churches receive the Eliza Broadus Offering. 

As Missions Mobilization Coordinator with the Kentucky Baptist Convention, let me say thank you for your prayers and gifts through the Eliza Broadus Offering to state missions.  Through your praying and giving you are part of the work of 117 Kentucky Mission Service Corps Missionaries that serve across the state, and the 874 professions of faith that they reported.  You had a part in ministering to children and teens, men and women, repairing homes for needy families, ministering to those in and coming out of jails and prisons, church planting, pregnancy care centers, internationals, disaster relief, associational work, and much more.  As is often said, “we can do more together” and that is certainly true in Kentucky as we pray and give through the Cooperative Program and the Eliza Broadus Offering for State Missions.

Kentucky Woman’s Missionary Union so faithfully promotes state missionaries and ministries year after year and provides materials for our mission emphasis.  Through their print material and videos we have an opportunity to learn what is going on in Kentucky, are encouraged to pray for missions in Kentucky, are given the opportunity to give to missions in Kentucky, and are provided with many ways do missions right here at home.

Thank you, Liz Encinia and staff, for your promotion of Kentucky missions.  Thank you, Kentucky WMUs across the state, for your support of Kentucky missions.  And thanks to all of you who pray, give, and go to share the Gospel right here at home.  Because of your faithfulness to promote and participate in state missions we can reach Kentucky for Christ.

Check out the State Missions and EBO materials at www.kywmu.org and the Kentucky missions page at www.kybaptist.org/missionaries.   

I have often joked and laughed about the three rules of a handyman. First is to contemplate what to do. Then you contemplate on how to do it. And finally, you just contemplate.

How many times have you followed those three rules without even realizing it? There are many times I have projects I either really don’t know how to do, or I’m just trying to think through the best way to do it. Or it’s a really hard or dirty job and I don’t want to do it, so I keep putting it off.

Yet there is something completely different when it comes to serving through the Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief ministry. It is interesting how we will go places, serve with people we’ve never met, and sleep in strange places on cots or air mattresses. We will also go into homes which have been destroyed by water and mud (which is a smell all its own), dangers we would typically avoid, and work harder and longer than we ever would at home. But we love it.

It is the hardest work you’ll ever love.

This work doesn’t make sense to most people. And honestly, sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me. So, I began to ask, “why is this?” And I was reminded of several things.

It is a motivation from God.
It is an obedience thing. As I look through Scripture, God is always using someone to care for others. God can meet needs by the very words of His mouth. But He chooses to use people to love and care for people. So, God calls His people. He stirs in the hearts of His people. And we respond to His call. We bring help.

It is a model of Jesus Christ
The main reason I am so passionate about the disaster relief ministry is how it models the ministry of Jesus Christ when He walked this earth. He saw a need. He compassionately did something to meet the need. And He had opportunity to tell them about the hope they can have through Him. Disaster relief does the same thing. People have a physical need. We see their need. We are moved with compassion to meet their need, and it opens the door for gospel conversations. We bring hope.

It is a ministry of compassion
When you see people hurting who have lost everything, they don’t know what to do. Their physical world had been destroyed, and it leaves them emotionally and spiritually numb. We can come alongside those who are hurting and care for them. Listen to them. Spend time with them. Hear their stories and let them grieve and we often cry with them. We bring healing.

It is a mission of the Church
The Great Commission commands the church (us) to go into all the world. It does not tell us to proclaim the world come to us, rather we are to go to them. I have seen many people get out of the pew and into the field through disaster relief.

The beauty of all of this is it requires people of all skill sets. This ministry requires good leaders, those who can manage people, assign work projects, and oversee a specific area. It requires those with good organizational skills. Those who can cook (we love our cooks!). Those who have good mechanical skills for set up of equipment, repairs, and resources. Those who do not mind getting dirty and willing to work hard. Those who have the gift of evangelism. Those who just want to serve. And the list goes on. God has a place for anyone He calls.

It is an evangelistic opportunity
Evangelism and missions always go together. You cannot be on mission without a focus on evangelism, otherwise why do it? You cannot evangelize without being on mission because that is the calling and purpose. Jesus said He came to this earth to seek and to save (evangelize). Yet, when you look at His method, He was on mission as He cared for those who were hurting. He met their physical need and sought to meet their spiritual need.

It IS the hardest work you will ever love.

You can learn more about the Kentucky Disaster Relief ministry at www.kybaptist.org/dr. Also visit www.kybaptist.org/flood to learn of opportunities to serve in eastern Kentucky with the flood response and rebuild.

The time has finally arrived. The long drought is almost over.  Fall is just around the corner.  In fact, you can almost feel it in the air as the temperature and humidity have dropped in recent days.  No, I am not referring to the arrival of pumpkin spice latte or even pumpkin bread or pumpkin pie (though either of those latter two are welcome). 

As always, at this time of year, fans of college football are optimistic, as they envision their favorite team’s mission to accomplish a championship season.  Tennessee Vol fans are no different.  I know, I know.  I live in Wildcat and even Cardinal country, but Vol fans are everywhere.  And we are optimistic, perhaps more than we have been in a long time.

I realize that this is where Bama and even Bulldog fans (sorry but I am unbiased that the SEC is the best conference in college football) begin to laugh at my optimism.  But lest these two and other teams forget, TN has been a top-tier SEC football program for a long time.  I realize it’s been a minute since that were so, but as the saying goes, “There is always next year.”  Well, next year has arrived with the kick-off of college football unofficially this weekend and officially next weekend.

I do realize that my optimism has been unrealized for more than a dozen years now.  Yet, I am (pretty) confident that the tide is changing.  While it’s always fun to dream and talk about how “next year” is going to be the turnaround we have been waiting for, when it comes to God’s mission I do not rest in a kind-of-confidence, but in a certain expectation.

Unlike the success of our favorite college football team, the success of God’s mission is not a whimsical wish.  We are not hoping that circumstances will change, and our team will accomplish the unimaginable against all odds.  Rather, we know that God wins, and His mission will not be thwarted.  

We have read the end of the story.  John the revelator describes the victory of God in Revelation 7:9: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands, and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”

God wins.  What is amazing is that God uses His people to accomplish His mission through the church, the mission to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:16-20).  No need to speculate; no need to predict what will happen.  God’s mission is certain.  How will God use your church to accomplish His certain victory?  The Missions Mobilization Team is ready to help your church discover how to join in God’s victory to make disciples of all nations. And that is no mere speculation or wishful optimism!

It’s that time of year again – halfway to the Christmas season.  Has your church committed to fill Christmas Backpacks for needy children?  With temperatures in the 90s, it’s hard to think about Christmas, but the collection date for Christmas Backpacks is only 3 months away.     

Statistics show that only 4 states have a higher percentage of children living in poverty than Kentucky.  For these children, Christmas does not always come with gifts, like it does for others.  A Christmas backpack filled with food, clothing, hygiene items, school supplies, toys, and a Gospel witness brings a smile on a lot of children’s faces.  It will bring a smile on your face too, just knowing you have helped to provide a needy child with a special Christmas gift.     

The KBC Missions Mobilization Team has been preparing for the Christmas Backpack Initiative since January.  Applications requesting backpacks have come in from ministries across the state and many churches have committed to fill backpacks.  If your church has not already done so, it’s not too late to get on board. 

Instructions for filling the backpacks can be found at www.kybaptist.org/backpacks.  There you will find a promotional video, bulletin insert, poster, the “Christmas Story” leaflet, and the link to register your backpacks.  Be sure to print copies of the leaflet to put in each backpack. 

Another good idea is to print extra copies of the “Christmas Story” leaflet and share with girls and boys in your neighborhood, at the grocery, in your family, and even children in your church.  It is a great Gospel witness.

Let’s work together to exceed the goal of collecting 10,000 backpacks from Kentucky Baptist churches! Many of the backpacks collected will be distributed directly to children living in poverty in Kentucky, while others will go to needy children in our partner SEND City, Cincinnati.  Collection date is October 24-28 so please respond soon and join us in making a difference in a child’s life this Christmas and, very possible, for eternity.

If you have questions please email the Missions Mobilization office at [email protected] or call 606-875-3079.  Thank you for helping a child this Christmas season.

“Let’s not neglect to do good and share what we have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” Hebrews 13:16

The day of Stephen’s death was the day that a “great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1).  As the first known martyr of the Christian church, God used the “blood of martyrs as the seed for the church” (Tertullian).  As persecution spread, so too, did the early church and the gospel with them. The gospel spread north and eventually west of Jerusalem, lodging powerfully in the city of Antioch (Acts 11:19-26).  It is in this city that the disciples of Jesus were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).

Perhaps the second most influential church in the New Testament next to Jerusalem is Antioch, located about 300 miles north of Jerusalem near the Mediterranean Sea.  The church at Antioch was a mission-sending, mission-participating congregation.  The DNA of this first-century church flowed with making disciples of all nations.  From the outpost of Antioch, the Holy Spirit sent out Barnabas and Saul (Paul) on what we refer to as Paul’s missionary journeys (Acts 13:1-3). 

Notably, this church places a premium on worshipping and seeking the Lord (Acts 13:2).  While the church of Antioch is filled with robust leaders—Barnabas, Simeon (Niger), Lucius, Manaen, and Saul, the Holy Spirit says, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2).

But what was “the work” to which the Holy Spirit had called them?  If Acts 1:8 is the theme of the book, then our answer lies within that passage.  In short, Jesus calls the apostles to make disciples of all nations in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.  This work of disciple making to which Jesus calls the apostles is extended to the church as we see the gospel spread from Jerusalem and beyond.

Their work is our work.  The work of all churches is to make disciples of all nations among whomever we can and wherever we are.  Some recent gospel “workers” serving in another country had to leave their place of work for another place of work.  In reflection about that move, they affirmed, “God called us for the work, not for a place or a people.  He called us for the work to ‘make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19).  Whatever changes we may experience in the world or in our life, and wherever we may find ourselves to be, may we do the work God has called us to do!”   

The church at Antioch understood the work God had called them to—that of making disciples locally and globally.  This work is not easy work, and at times, our location of the work and the people to whom we are working among will change, but the work remains the same.  We are to work at making disciples of all peoples wherever and to whomever God sends us.  May the DNA of the church at Antioch be in us all, until our work on earth is done.