Archive for January, 2016
Pastors, Lead Your Church into Special Seasons of Seeking the Lord Seriously
There are moments in the life of the church where the pastor needs to lead the people of God to seek the Lord seriously. Through the years, Cross Church has chosen to do this in many ways.
We are in a season of seeking God as a church right now. We are calling our church to go on a spiritual journey with God for twenty-one days in the month of January. It is simply called 21 DAYS.
The Bible challenges us in 1 Peter 4:7, “Now the end of all things is near, therefore, be serious and disciplined for prayer.” I believe as we continue forward in these days, there are moments we need to resolve to take our spiritual life seriously. We do this by being disciplined in prayer.
The Challenge is Clear
We are challenging our people to be disciplined to pray for twenty-one days successively for their own spiritual life and development, for our church, and for our nation.
Relating to their own spiritual life and development, we are asking our people to determine a specific breakthrough needed in their life. The challenge is also to identify and pray for a family member or friend who needs Jesus Christ. Additionally, we are asking them to establish a spiritual goal for their life in 2016. As our people go on this journey, we believe if they pray about their own spiritual life for twenty-one days in a row, especially if they target these things, God will take them to a new level.
We have also extended a challenge to join us in praying for our church and our nation. We have defined three specific things to pray for our church and our nation. In fact, you can see exactly what we have enclosed in the 21 DAYS booklet. Please give attention to the heart of the book on pages 3-4.
Make it a Win
Through our preaching over the past few weeks, we have tried to make our focus a win for everyone. Our appeal has been: Just think what God could do if you focused on your spiritual life for twenty-one days in a row and joined thousands of others praying for our church and our nation at the same time.
We have challenged our people to establish some level of commitment by giving up something they love during this time. At the same time, it is a challenge for many to focus on praying about these specific matters for twenty-one days successively.
Therefore, our ultimate challenge has been: Find the level you believe God wants you to go to, and go on this journey with us. Everyone can find their level of commitment, even if they have to depart from it a few days due to travel or personal matters. Our goal is for everyone to take their spiritual life seriously enough to go on some kind of journey with God. You can see our commitment card here.
As a pastor or church leader, you may be wondering how we extended these challenges from the pulpit over the past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago, we spoke on 21 DAYS and this past week on How to Pray Through Your Problems.
My desire in making these sermons and other resources available is to be helpful and encouraging. If you do something like this for one day, seven days, or twenty-one days, you will need to adjust things for your situation and church.
Walking in Expectation
Many times, we do not walk in expectation. Journeys of faith move us to walk in expectation.
I can assure you, I am expecting great things from God for my own life and in the life of our church. I am looking for the Lord to do some powerful things in the lives of our people.
If we believe prayer really matters, then we will see the Lord do great things.
William Carey was a missionary to India. Among other things, he was known as the father of modern missions and this statement is credited to him: “Expect great things; attempt great things.”
Pastors, live your life, operate your ministry, and lead your church to expect great things. When you believe our God is able, you will not just expect great things, you will attempt great things.
This is why as spiritual leaders we need to lead God’s people to seek God seriously. Our God is able. Expect and attempt great things!
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
The Spiritual State of Our Union in 2016: America Must Come Back to God
This is the time of year when millions of Americans tune in to hear our President give his State of the Union address. He will give his assessment of our national security, our priorities, and our vision for the future.
This is a tricky word—“our.”
For these days it seems as if America can hardly find “our vision” for anything, much less the future. Our nation is deeply polarized around our political parties and totally unrelenting in our commitment to fighting against one another. Despite growing national security threats, violence erupting, escalating racial tensions, the devaluing of human life, and economic insecurity, we find ourselves unable to agree on almost anything.
What’s especially alarming to me, serving as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention, is that we fail to realize how the spiritual health of our nation affects the state of our union. As our spiritual lives go, so goes the nation.
It wasn’t meant to be this way in America. One of the reasons our founders so cemented Judeo-Christian principles in our nation is because they were skeptical of men’s ability to govern themselves. America would be a nation first subject to God – and subject to His higher law – so that our respect for our creator would provide a baseline for our “more perfect union.”
We would at least be united around important things when we couldn’t find unity among many things. Where are the leaders in America today that can bring people together, rather than separate us?
For our founders knew that the moment we no longer saw ourselves subject to God – and to His higher law – that we would begin to fight over everything in an attempt to gather God’s authority for ourselves.
When our political leaders and the people of America lack fear of God, we become subject to that awful temptation we find in Judges 17:6, “to do what is right in their own eyes.”
Since the beginning of time, we have been tempted to be like God. And when a nation’s leaders and her people lose their fear of God and replace it with their own authority, we begin to live in a kind of chaotic unity – not with one another – but in an unholy union with that very sin that brought sin to earth in the Garden of Eden. Aside from all of the others, we fail to follow the very first commandment given to us through Moses, “thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
In America, we have replaced God with government and granted politicians the ability to circumvent God’s higher law at will. It is our fault as citizens because we are a country that elects our leaders.
While we profess to remain “one nation under God” – and while we have inscribed such belief on our currency and in marble all over our capital – we seem to be more interested in “God bless America” than in actually being “one nation under God.”
The first phrase infers what we want from God, and the second phrase infers what God requires. We want His blessing, but His blessing comes with our being subject to His authority.
Rarely is God ever mentioned in the State of the Union address except with that customary salutation, “God bless America.” It’s all about what we can get from God, and less about what we need from Him.
So, what is the actual spiritual state of our union?
It is very simple.
We need to repent, come back to God, and put our trust in God alone. America needs a Great Spiritual Awakening.
Now is the time to elect leaders who fear God and we need to learn to fear God again ourselves.
We need not say phrases like “God Bless America” because they are our tradition. We need to speak them with a holy reverence for God’s authority, for without God there never would have been an America at all, and without God at its center America would not exist as it has.
I’m trusting that 2016 is a year where we apply a simple verse from 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church
President, Southern Baptist Convention
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Dr. Ronnie Floyd is currently serving as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention. The Southern Baptist Convention is America’s largest Protestant denomination with more than 15.7 million members in over 51,094 churches nationwide.
To request an interview with Dr. Ronnie Floyd
contact Gayla Oldham at (479) 751-4523 or email gaylao@crosschurch.com.
Visit our website at http://ronniefloyd.com
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.