I love the church. I always have. That’s why I get very excited when Georgia Baptists plant a new church. As you come to the convention this year, you will learn that Georgia Baptists added about 60 new churches last year. New churches infuse fresh enthusiasm and life into our Convention. New churches are aggressive in giving, soul-winning, and church growth.

We have not been able to keep up with the rapidly increasing population in Georgia, so we must commit to continue planting new churches and reaching new people for Christ, people who come from varying backgrounds and cultures. I am grateful for Jim Millirons, who leads our New Church Development Ministry, and Jerry Baker, who leads our Language Missions Ministries, as they provide the primary leadership for church planting in our state. Please keep them in your prayers as they energetically lead Georgia Baptists to dot the landscape of Georgia with new churches.

I am also excited about churches that have been a part of the Georgia Baptist Convention for a long time. This year I have had the privilege of preaching for several of our churches that were celebrating significant anniversaries. A few issues of The Index ago I mentioned preaching at the White Plains Baptist Church as they celebrated their 200th anniversary. Two Sundays ago, I was blessed to be invited to preach the message for the 100th anniversary celebration of First Baptist Church in Folkston, Georgia, where Randy Jacoby is pastor.

I found First Baptist Folkston to be an exceedingly healthy congregation demonstrating a strong commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and a great love for one another. You will be interested to know that a part of the Sunday morning worship service was the reading of the Church Covenant. It had been some time since I had been in a worship service when the congregation read the Church Covenant.

I must say that as we read through the Church Covenant that morning I realized again how helpful it would be if all our congregations would read it aloud and in unison as a part of the morning worship service. We need to be brought back to the basic tenets of our faith and doctrine. We need to dedicate ourselves anew to the matters of personal integrity, appropriate reputation in the community, and living the lifestyle of Jesus Christ on a daily basis.

As we read the Church Covenant that Sunday morning, I remembered those years in the life of the church that it was glued to the inside front cover of the hymnal. The reading of the Church Covenant was a regular part of Sunday morning worship at least quarterly.

After the worship service that morning, as you might expect, we went to the fellowship hall for a covered dish luncheon that was truly outstanding in every way. As I drove away from the church on Sunday afternoon, I thanked the Lord for First Baptist Folkston, for Randy Jacoby’s fine leadership, and for the congregation that loves Jesus, loves the Georgia Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention, and is profoundly committed to worldwide missions through the Cooperative Program. Clearly, we would not be the Convention we are without these strong, stable, historic churches.

On last Sunday, I was thrilled to be invited to preach the message for the 200th anniversary of the Rehoboth Baptist Church in Washington, Georgia. Actually the church is located in Metasville, but several years ago Metasville lost its post office and Rehoboth gained a Washington, Georgia address.

The area around Washington, Georgia is filled with the history of the beginnings of Georgia. I love to travel in that part of the state to see not only the historic buildings and landmarks, but also the magnificent, huge, old, oak trees that are everywhere. Across the road from Rehoboth Baptist Church is an old cemetery. Some of the markers in the cemetery date back to the 1700’s. To be invited to preach the anniversary sermon for a church that was begun in 1806 was indeed a great honor.

The pastor at Rehoboth is Steve Rayner. For years Steve was a minister of music, but three and one-half years ago, he surrendered to the Lord’s call to serve as pastor and began his ministry at Rehoboth Baptist Church. He still uses the gifts of music that the Lord has given to him and last Sunday morning was no exception.

When I visited with him in his office prior to the worship service, he informed me that not only was it the church’s 200th anniversary, but it was his and his wife’s 20th wedding anniversary. He told me then that he was going to surprise his wife by singing to her the song that he sang at their wedding ceremony.

When Steve turned to his wife, who was sitting in the choir, and sang this beautiful song of commitment to her, I could feel the tears welling up in my own eyes as they did in the eyes of many others present that morning. It truly was a meaningful moment, not only for Steve and Celia, but also for all of us who were present.

After the worship service, we walked across to the old Metasville school building, which is now owned by the church. Inside the old school, a covered dish luncheon awaited the congregation that provided enough food to feed three times the size of the congregation that morning. We had a great time! I am so thrilled to be a Baptist, because Baptists love to celebrate great events with great food. I get in on a lot of outstanding dinners.

During October I had the privilege of preaching for the 100th anniversary of the Pulaski-Bleckley Association, as well as for the 100th anniversary of Rabun County Baptist Association. For 100 years the churches of these two associations have been faithfully cooperating together for the cause of proclaiming the Good News of Christ around the world. These associations provide a great demonstration of what it means to be a Baptist and why cooperation is essential to our worldwide mission.

The Georgia Baptist Convention is healthy, happy, and growing. In unison, we give God the glory!