WOODSTOCK, Ga. (BP)–I would like to encourage all my fellow Southern Baptists to join me at our annual meeting June 23-24 in Louisville, Kentucky.
It has been a joy and privilege serving as your president the past nine months. I have traveled to many of your states and witnessed first-hand the way the Lord is moving in so many places. That has been so encouraging to me. However, we still have so many places nationally and internationally where we need to encourage, motivate and refocus on the mission the Lord has given us to reach others with the good news of the Gospel.
That is exactly what we want to accomplish as we gather together in Louisville. We have sought the Lord as we have planned our program for our meeting. I believe He has helped us to do just that. We have some incredibly encouraging worship times planned with some musicians who truly desire to honor the Lord and lead us to the throne of God. I have invited some young men to speak to us who have never addressed our convention. They will have a special and fresh message to challenge us from the Word of God from a little different perspective than perhaps we have been accustomed. I believe that will be healthy for us as a denomination. I have also made committee appointments with many of the young men who are doing a great job in many of our churches. Many of them have never served before.
As you may have heard already, I have chosen the theme “LoveLoud — Actions Speak Louder Than Words.” The Scripture is Matthew 5:16. We simply have got to do a better job of showing this generation that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ not only talks the talk but walks the walk. It really is true that “people don’t care what you know till they know that you care.” All our time together in Louisville will be with that focus in mind.
I am asking you to make a commitment to do absolutely all you can to be present in Louisville. I realize this is a bad time with the economy and it will be increasingly more difficult for you to make the effort to come. However, we cannot be encouraged as effectively to make new strides in our efforts to reach the world as we can if we come together for those two days. I believe with all my heart you will leave inspired and grateful you made the effort to come on Wednesday night, June 24, when we complete our time together.
I am looking so forward to seeing you in Louisville. Visit www.sbc.net and register as a messenger and bring some folks with you. Join me in praying that our time in Louisville will honor our blessed Lord. That is my desire. If you are not able to join us there, please log on to the sbc.net web site and watch as much of the meeting as you can during those two days.
–30–
Johnny M. Hunt is pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga., and president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
