Articles by Teresa Young

Texas Baptists leadership offered the opportunity for churches to learn more about the new Texas Baptists Indemnity Program during a luncheon held on Tuesday to close out the Texas Baptists Annual Meeting. 

“Finishing well means being more in love with Jesus at the end than in the beginning, being more passionate about the mission than their own at the end and being more sacrificial of their time, talent and treasure at the end,” explained Abbott.

“It’s hard to live in the unknown, but every month we’ve had everything we needed. Abundance shows up when God is in every moment,” he said, noting thankfulness to other churches who have sponsored the work to help them get established. “He constantly provides, no matter what the budget looks like.”

Elijah Brown, CEO and general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), urged Texas Baptists to follow the five paths of the first church in Acts 2 as they seek to win the world for Christ during his Monday evening message to the convention. 

In a Monday afternoon session titled “Awakening the Church’s Heart: Igniting Mission Through Six Transformative Ps,” Lowin both provided ideas for congregations and introduced some current mission work that shows the power of missional churches.

“Discipleship and evangelism are not just things we should do, but it is disobedience if they are not happening consistently with believers. Leadership is stewardship, and we’re going to be held accountable,” Smith noted. “Our faith is not private but a public matter as we display the very goodness and glory of Christ to those who do not know him.”

“The Great Commission has not been paused, postponed or rewritten – it still calls us to go, to love and to make disciples.”

In just three and a half years, the Pave program has seen a major wave of growth not only in their participant numbers but in the churches involved in the revitalization effort. And that impact was celebrated in a workshop held Monday at the Texas Baptists Convention in Waco.