Archive for the 'Prayer' Category
Ronnie Floyd Delivers Message of Love and Racial Unity at Mother Emmanuel AME Church
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Nearly three and a half years after a white supremacist killed nine parishioners at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, Dr. Ronnie Floyd took the pulpit to deliver a message of love and racial unity and reconciliation.
“Racism is the most tragic sin in this nation’s history and present,” Dr. Floyd said. “Racism is an assault on the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s completely opposite to the message of love.”
“When you belong to Jesus, you belong to love, and you forfeit your right to choose whom you will love. Love is the better way. Love is God’s way.”
Dr. Floyd, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, was a guest speaker at the annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Marshall Blalock, president of SCBC and pastor of the historic First Baptist Church in Charleston, was behind Tuesday’s event. He moved the convention’s evening session for that day to the 200-year-old Mother Emanuel Church and invited Dr. Floyd to come speak from Arkansas, turning the evening into a special worship service between South Carolina Baptists and the church’s parishioners.
“We need to stop letting our nation define who we are. America needs to see the church rise up as one, which is the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Dr. Floyd said to audible agreement from the audience. “We are not black churches, we are not white churches, we are not Latino churches, we are not Asian churches, we are not Native American churches — we are the church of Jesus Christ.”
During his tenure as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Floyd made racial reconciliation a priority for America’s largest Protestant denomination. In the wake of the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Mo., and following the 2015 mass shooting at Mother Emanuel, Dr. Floyd and Dr. Jerry Young, president of the predominantly African-American National Baptist Convention, came together to build unity between black and white Baptists. Their groundbreaking efforts were highlighted in the New York Times.
Dr. Floyd’s message paralleled the recently unveiled theme for next year’s National Day of Prayer on May 2, 2019: “Love One Another.” The theme comes from the words of Jesus in John 13:34, “Love one another. Just as I have loved you.”
As president of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, Dr. Floyd oversees the team that each year mobilizes millions of Americans to participate in prayer gatherings across the United States.
In 2018, an estimated 50,000 gatherings across all 50 states were held on the National Day of Prayer. More than 1 million people from 38 countries have viewed the broadcast of the National Observance, which was held at National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Floyd reminded the audience that Christians would not be known by their creeds, songs, doctrinal statements, achievements or the color of their skin.
“Jesus said you are only known by his love, and his love through you,” Dr. Floyd said.
Media note: Dr. Ronnie Floyd is available for interview. Please email mediainquiries@thekcompany.co to schedule an interview.
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Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the senior pastor of Cross Church and president of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, which each year mobilizes millions of Americans to unified public prayer for the United States of America. He’s the author of “Living Fit: Make Your Life Count by Pursuing a Healthy You.” Follow him on Twitter @ronniefloyd.
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
When the Pastor Prays Publicly
Do you ever wonder why it is important for pastors to pray publicly?
The pastor should be one of the greatest prayer warriors in the church and in his city.
I believe that prayer by the pastor should be one of the highest moments in public worship services. This moment of public intercession can be absolutely powerful.
As the spiritual leader of the church, when you pray, you are standing the gap for the people of God.
8 Considerations When You Pray Publicly
1. Context
The pastor needs to set up the context for this prayer moment. He can do this before or after asking the congregation to bow their heads, preparing to pray. Plan this moment with diligence.
2. Timing
The timing for you to pray in worship is very important. I prefer to set this time just before we receive the offering. For us, this usually occurs just before the final song before the message.
One other thing pastor, do not shorten this time. Your people need to hear you pray and they also need you to do so in a way that is genuine, not just checking the list of things we do in worship services. Not only is the timing important, but the amount of time allocated for the prayer is important.
3. Agreement
When you pray, teach your people how to agree in prayer with you. As pastor, they need to be engaged with you while you are praying. They can agree with you verbally while you pray. As we turn the church house into a house of prayer for the nations, people need to become involved as you pray.
4. Planned
The ministry of prayer in worship needs to be a planned time. It should have purpose. The pastor can even list the topics of prayer to the people before the prayer begins. Understand what is happening in the culture and then you will know how to be relevant in your public prayer life.
5. Conviction
The pastor should pray with a strong conviction. A conviction is not just something you have in your heart, it something that has you. This will illustrate to the people that you pray because you believe in it, and it really matters. Pray with conviction.
6. Passionate
Pastor, when you pray, pray passionately. The people will then also become passionate in their prayers when they see modeled before them a pastor who prays with passion.
Never should we be afraid to have our emotions involved while we are praying, from enthusiasm to expectation, to weeping, and perhaps even shouting. Regardless, be authentic, but make sure you are passionate.
7. National and Global
Pastors should pray for national and global needs publicly. Pastors and churches need to pray for our national leaders, and about situations existing in the nation and across the globe. If we really believe in prayer, we need to act like it relating to national and global needs.
8. Posture
Oftentimes when I pray before our people, I kneel. I do so in reverence to God. He is Lord, not me. He is the Sovereign One, not me.
Then there are times when I pray publicly, I walk around on stage. At other times, I stand still when I pray in public worship settings. Whatever the public posture, the posture of your heart should always be humility before God.
The Church Needs to Hear You Pray
Pastor, I just want to be one of the people out here that appeals to you always pray before your people in public worship. You are the God-called and God-anointed pastor of the church, so do not try to delegate prayer away from your leadership.
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.