Last week was a busy one for the staff at ABC. Several members of our team were in Gulf Shores, Alabama to help lead our student ministry’s beach camp. As you heard on Sunday, it was a phenomenal week of ministry, and we are so encouraged that 10 students made life-changing decisions for Jesus Christ! I was also gone last week with a few of our ministers for the Southern Baptist Convention and Pastor’s Conference in Dallas, Texas. I was overall very encouraged by what God is currently doing through the SBC.
Overall, church attendance is up, seminary enrollment is up, and baptisms are up across our denomination. In fact, the SBC has experienced an increase in total baptisms for four consecutive years. The last time this happened was in the 1990’s! Additionally, the International Mission Board commissioned 58 new missionaries at the annual meeting, and I was encouraged to hear the IMB has over 1,600 prospective missionaries currently in processing! That number was only 300 about 7 years ago.
God is doing a great work through our SBC churches, including Austin Baptist Church. We have experienced similar growth in recent years, and I believe the best is yet to come. I hope you are encouraged by what God is doing through the SBC Cooperative Program. This year marked the 100th anniversary of the CP. When we give with SBC churches to the CP, we are supporting thousands of missionaries, church planters, and future ministers across our six SBC seminaries. I look forward to increasing our impact in this effort as we fully eliminate our debt in the days to come.
This week is all things VBS-prep at Austin Baptist Church! If you walk through our doors this week, you will see decorations going up on the walls and volunteers serving faithfully to get us ready for the big week ahead. We have over 400 children pre-registered and it is looking like this will be our largest VBS in church history!
Join me in praying for Rachel Tovar and her team of staff and volunteers. They have a big week ahead of them! But also join me in praying for the hundreds of children who will come through our doors. VBS is not babysitting. VBS is missions. We are sharing the Gospel every day and praying for God to move in the hearts of these children. I’ve met so many world-changing Christians in my life who came to know Christ through a Vacation Bible School. I’m praying for God to raise up a new generation of world-changers through our VBS next week.
Thank you for your continued generosity to our general fund. Your faithfulness makes ministry like this possible. May we each continue to be faithful as God is always faithful to us. I look forward to seeing you Sunday at 8:45am or 11:15am.
Onward and Upward,
Dr. Jonathan Spencer
www.jonathanspencer.org 