Our Judea

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Sardis Baptist Church Senior Pastor Nick Bates encourages Georgia Baptists to look for the ways they can minister in their community. GETTY/Special Sardis Baptist Church Senior Pastor Nick Bates encourages Georgia Baptists to look for the ways they can minister in their community. 

Back in June, I had the awesome opportunity to attend the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis, MO. While there, I heard a passionate message from the former SBC President, Dr. Ronnie Floyd. In his message, Dr. Floyd made a quote that has stuck with me since that day. He said "God has you where you are at the right time to accomplish the purpose of God."

Now I don't know about you but I needed to hear this!

God is a sovereign God who is in control of all of our circumstances. He is not a careless watchmaker who sets things in motion in the beginning and then lets the watch go and fulfill its purpose. No, our God is one who has His hand in our everyday lives, not because He desires to control us, but because He loves and cares for us. He has placed you in your setting for a purpose.

Consider the words of God recorded in Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you." Again consider these words recorded in Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

God knows us in our innermost being. He created us and He has purpose for us. Another thing that Dr. Floyd said in his message was this: "You may have given up on yourself but God has not. He can do more in a moment than you can do in a lifetime." With over seven billion people on our planet, it is easy to feel insignificant, but God made us in His image with great purpose. We can leverage this to the advantage of the Kingdom.

While we might not reach millions and certainly not billions, we can have a significant impact on our circle of influence; our Judea, if you will. Every one of us can fulfill the Great Commission in our own communities.

Do your neighbors know of the great love with which God loves them? How about the clerk in the grocery store? The person who sits across from you on the daily bus commute? The guy who picks up the garbage every week? These are people with whom we interact weekly, if not daily. These are people God loves so much that He would send His Son to die for. Do they know the reason for the hope that is within you?

God sovereignly created you for such a time as this. He placed you in the community in which He desires for you to serve. He makes no mistakes. It is time to be intentional disciple-makers in our communities. It is time to reach out to a world that is lost by simply walking across the street.

Remember when you feel insignificant that "He can do more in a moment than you can do in a lifetime." He is our strength! He is our boldness!


This post originally appeared on Bates' blog

community, Great Commission, Judea, Mission Georgia, missions, outreach