“World Changers is a hands-on mission experience, engaging students in meeting the needs of people in communities across North America. Students can put their faith into action by serving others and sharing the gospel.” Our Poplar Springs Baptist Church youth ministry has partnered with World Changers many times across the years and this week we have forty members of our church serving together on another World Changers project in Little Rock, Arkansas. They left out early this past Saturday morning and they are now hard at the work of serving others through construction style projects in “The Natural State.” We are thankful for Nicole’s organization of this mission trip even as we are thankful for the eighteen adults and college students of our church who are serving alongside twenty-eight youth from our youth group. Thank you for your prayers for them throughout this week. You can watch for them on the Poplar Springs Youth and Children Facebook page AND you can even check in on the World Changer’s Facebook page to see if you can spot any of our team’s faces (Connect with their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/wcmissions). Also, you can send each one a direct E-couragram at https://airtable.com/shrxt1AuX3jVsl5al. Our prayer for the team this week is the fulfillment of this passage of Scripture: “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have and do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
Our B-A-P-T-I-S-T-ness
It is always good to remember who we are as Baptists and to note that our Baptist-ness is a good thing and not simply a controversial thing! At the heart of being “Baptist” are the following hallmarks:
Bible is our authority for faith and practice.
Autonomy of the local church (I will come back to this part!)
Priesthood of the believer (We have direct access to God).
Telling others about Jesus (We tell the good news, i.e., evangelism)
Immersion as believers’ baptism (We dip because that is what “baptize” means in the New Testament. We dip those who have chosen to follow Jesus.)
Soul competency (We are created with the capacity to make spiritual choices.)
Torchbearer for Religious Liberty (We started out as persecuted people so now we are quick to stand for others who are persecuted.)
These are the values that make us “Baptist” and they all hinge on responsibility! Each of us is responsible to the Lord and to one another to accomplish these values! Which brings up a conversation we had lately during the meeting of the Church Council. As we discussed the matter of encouraging greater participation in the bi-monthly Church Conference, some of the members noted that perhaps folks did not know they were supposed to participate OR that they were invited to do so. Well, because of our “Baptist-ness” please know that “yes” all our members are invited and encouraged to be part of Church Conference because it is there where we make decisions about our life and ministry together. As the “A” in Baptist describes above, our church is an autonomous body – we make our own decisions, we do not receive decisions from another level of Baptist life. It is at the Church Conference where we each have a part to play in decision making. Please know your voice is welcome and appreciated every time we gather and make our plans to serve others and share the Gospel!
In the Love of Jesus,
Tony Tench