My fellow Georgia Baptists, it is my joy and honor to invite you to our 2009 Georgia Baptist Convention, “Love Loud, Light it Up.” This year we will be meeting at First Baptist Woodstock, home church of our Southern Baptist Convention president, Dr. Johnny Hunt.

I am very excited about this year’s meeting because I believe it will be God-honoring, soul-stirring, and mission-centered. Many of you know that the format has been changed and that Tuesday afternoon will be a time in which Georgia Baptists will be at work in the community and surrounding area of Woodstock doing things such as food delivery, landscaping, random acts of kindness, vehicle cleaning, and haircutting.

Matthew 5:16 says that we are to “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” Often we, as Georgia Baptists and Southern Baptists in general, are seen as existing for the purpose of cultural and political causes when in fact we cooperate for the mission of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want you to bring messengers that will be missionaries and if you have more missionaries than messengers, well PRAISE GOD!

Sunday night will start things off with great music from the First Baptist Woodstock Choir and then great preaching from Dr. J. Robert White and Dr. Johnny Hunt. Monday will keep the fires burning with the preaching conference that afternoon with David Platt, Mac Brunson, Adam Dooley, and Steve Gaines. Monday evening our convention gets underway and will conclude Tuesday evening with a celebration of state missions and a time of worship with Charles Billingsley and the Liberty University Praise Team.

To sign up for mission projects on Tuesday, please go to gabaptist.org and click on the “Love Loud, Light it Up” promo. I was recently asked if I was doing this in an attempt to draw a crowd at our convention this year, to which I responded, YES! A crowd of fired-up Georgia Baptists worshipping together, working together, and on mission together that we might glorify the Father and see souls saved. C’mon Georgia Baptist; let’s “LIGHT IT UP!”

Bucky Kennedy is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Vidalia and president of the Georgia Baptist Convention.