Weekly Update
Living out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission
Jun 05, 2026
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8 NIV)
This is the first week of our GC2 Press 13-week Bible Study “GC2 Strong: A Great Commandment Great Commission Awakening.” I hope your church is using this excellent resource. This is the first of our Connect 360 series that provides a video companion for each lesson, which we are currently working with RightNow Media to deploy.[1]
This week’s text is from 1 John 4. The Great Commandment and the Great Commission begin with God’s love. We love him back. We love others from that love relationship with God. And we make disciples of all nations because of God’s love, which flows from us to those without Christ.
We see this lived out in Texas Baptists ministry and local churches every week.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in the Texas Baptists River Ministry missionaries' retreat on the BUA campus in San Antonio. It was an inspiring time with these excellent servants, many of them couples, who live out God’s mission on both sides of the Texas/Mexico border.
River Ministry exemplifies what it looks like to live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as they meet human needs in Jesus’ name and make disciples among the nations.
The work in Mexico is done in partnership with the National Baptist Convention of Mexico.
Since January of this year, River Ministry has seen 4,288 professions of faith, 72 baptisms, 27,043 spiritual conversations and 24 new churches. They have served 3,735 people and mobilized 2,296 volunteers. And summer is just starting, which is a very busy time for mission teams serving along the border!
On Sunday, I was honored to bring words of congratulations and gratitude to the First Baptist Church of Waco as they celebrated their 175th anniversary. A beautiful worship service was followed by a celebratory lunch with approximately 500 people present.
FBC Waco has lived out the gospel in a holistic way, passing on a legacy of faith to multiple generations.
They have proclaimed the gospel in word and deed in Waco. They were pioneer contributors to Christian higher education in Texas, as well as to theological education. They sent missionaries internationally, including the Bagbys, who began Baptist work in Brazil. And they were the venue for the formation of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1886.
With a rich heritage of kingdom impact, they continue to be a vibrant congregation today that is growing and serving. They model the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. They have also been strong partners and contributors to Texas Baptists cooperative work for 140 years. I am thankful for Dr. Matt Snowden for his pastoral leadership of this historic congregation.
On Monday, I shared with our staff in chapel about our reorganization for the GC2 Strong strategy that we are implementing. I spent the next couple of days with our leadership team discussing plans for the rest of this year and for 2027. I am so grateful for these Godly leaders, and I am so looking forward to where the Lord is leading us together.
I hope you are making plans to be with us for the Texas Baptists Annual Meeting in Waco this November 15-17. We ask that you continue to pray for a GC2 Awakening and that we prepare spiritually for our time together in Waco as we seek to push back lostness in Texas and beyond.
1. You may know that every Texas Baptists church can get a free RightNow Media account through us.
Dr. Guarneri is the 21st executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. He holds degrees from Texas A&M University Kingsville, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Dallas Baptist University. He has more than 39 years of ministerial experience and is passionate about sharing the Gospel with the nations and cross-cultural missions and ministry.