I’m looking forward to seeing you this Sunday as we kick-off our new sermon series, “The One Anothers.”  The Bible teaches that we do not just go to church, but we are the church.  The Spirit of God dwells in each of us, and we are united by the same confession of Jesus Christ.  As Christ-followers, the Scriptures provide instruction for how we should interact with one another as His church.

Did you know the New Testament has over 50 “one another” commandments?  These commandments shine light on what it looks like to live in Biblical community as the church.  For the next six weeks, we will examine six of the most important “one another” commandments, starting with the biggest one: “love one another.”  I hope you plan to join us this weekend for a special Lord’s Supper Sunday.

And don’t forget Midweek is back Wednesday night!  Come experience the life of our church at 5:30pm for dinner, and 6:30pm for classes with all ages.  Go BE the church this week and invite a friend to join you at 8:45am or 11:15am.

Onward and Upward,

Dr. Jonathan Spencer

Our fourth core value at ABC is authenticity.  1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”  God wants us to be authentically known by him and by others.  We were made for relationships, and thankfully the Gospel reconciles us back to God and to each other.

When we surrender to Christ, he begins to light up our lives.  We then walk in the light as he is in the light and have fellowship with him.  But John takes it a step further and says we also begin to have fellowship with one another.  The body of Christ is a beautiful thing.  Within the church, we do not need to hide in darkness because we are all reconciled sinners by God’s grace.  Instead, we can build meaningful fellowship with one another through the unity of Jesus Christ.

Do you have authentic Christian community here at ABC?  Admittedly, we are too big of a church for everyone to know everyone.  However, we are NOT too big for everyone to be known by someone.  I encourage you to establish rhythms of community this fall semester.  Join a BFG group at 10am.  We have groups for every age and stage of life.  Join us for midweek when it returns on August 20^th.  We’ll have dinner every Wednesday night at 5:30pm, with equipping classes and ministries available for all at 6:30pm.

Take a step of faith this week and build fellowship in our church.  Don’t just go to church.  Become a part of the family because we have room for you.

Onward and Upward,

Dr. Jonathan Spencer

One of our core values at ABC is grace.  John 1:14 says “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  The Son of God put on human flesh and walked in a fullness of truth AND grace.  Most people are only strong in one of the two.

Some believers are strong in truth.  They boldly proclaim what God’s Word says and do not fear drawing hard lines in the sand.  However, some of these saints struggle to season their speech with salt, or have compassion for the lost.  Other believers can be strong in grace.  They are empathetic and compassionate, always considering the well-being of others.  However, they care so much they are unwilling to communicate hard truth when they know it will hurt.

Jesus was miraculously able to do both perfectly.  He was bold and prophetic, but he was gracious and kind.  He called out sin, yet he spent time with sinners.  Children found him to be winsome, and the lost found him to be warm.  Admittedly, none of us will ever be perfect like Jesus, but we are called to do our best to imitate his example.

This means we must lift up the truth so all can see the light (Psalm 119:105), but we must also welcome others with the warmth of Jesus Christ.  I am thankful to pastor a warm congregation.  We have some of the most loving people on planet earth right here at ABC.  However, we must not take that for granted.  We must strive to maintain that culture and scale it as we grow.

Who can you be gracious to this week?  Perhaps you could send a text message, a hand-written note, or a thoughtful gift.  You could set aside time from your friends this Sunday to instead look for new people to welcome into our church.  Oftentimes it is these little touches that shine the brightest.  Go shine your light this week.  Be gracious with others as Christ has been gracious with you.

Onward and Upward,

Dr. Jonathan Spencer

One of our core values at ABC is impact.  Jesus instructs the church to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  Jesus’ followers are called to shine their light and push back against darkness in our world. As we make an impact together, we pray our good works will lead many others to give glory to our Father in heaven.

I am excited to see how God will increase our impact in these coming months.  By the grace of God, our debt is down to the final $1 million!  Through the Light the Way generosity initiative, our church has rapidly paid down our debt in recent months.  The upcoming elimination of our debt will undoubtedly lead to an increase in kingdom impact.  When the debt is paid off, I will encourage our church to begin “tithing” within our budget.  I would love to see us set a baseline for 10% of our contributions to go outward to missions partners.  When you give to the church, you will also give through the church to bless our city, nation, and world.

Begin praying with me about what it could look like for our church to shine farther than we ever have.  Thank you for your generosity to our general fund and to our Light the Way initiative.  I look forward to celebrating the completion of all three LTW objectives in the coming months as we eliminate our debt, expand our mission, and extend the message of Jesus Christ.

This Sunday we will press on in our summer sermon series, “Summer Stories.”  I look forward to seeing you at 8:45am or 11:15am.

Onward and Upward,

Dr. Jonathan Spencer

One of our core values at ABC is truth.  The apostle Paul describes the church as “a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).  We are commanded to lift up the truth, the Word of God, for all to hear it.  But Paul also instructs God’s people to be clothed in the truth.  He says we must “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” (Titus 2:10).  It is one thing to speak the truth, but it is a much more challenging task to live out the truth for all to see it.

Every day you preach a sermon.  God has given each of us a captive audience through our children, grandchildren, co-workers, neighbors, friends, and even strangers.  The question is, “What sermon are you going to proclaim?”  Unquestionably, your audience is listening to your words.  But don’t forget your decision making and conduct are preaching as well.  I pray your audience hears a message of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control through your actions today (Galatians 5:22).

Let’s continue to be a church that “grows in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18).  Invite a friend this Sunday and come grow with us.  And I pray you preach a compelling sermon this week.  I look forward to seeing you Sunday.

Onward and Upward,

Dr. Jonathan Spencer

Here at ABC, we want to see God light up your life, your home, your neighborhood, and the world.  This vision statement gives our church clarity in its ministry strategies.  We want to be an impactful church reaching people beyond our church doors.  VBS is one of the pillar events that helps us fulfill that vision.  We’ve experienced a record setting crowd this week with 500+ children and 150+ volunteers.  I am so proud of our church and thankful for the way God continues to use this body to shine His light into our community.

Thank you for your prayers, your service, and your faithful stewardship.  Your steadfast giving makes ministry like this possible.  A healthy church is one with the sound of children in the hallways.  We celebrate that sound at ABC, and I pray God will turn up the volume even louder through more children in the days to come.  May we continue to be a church that prioritizes children and youth ministries.  We do not merely aim to keep them busy.  We aim to lead them into a life-changing relationship with the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

Don’t forget this Sunday is our patriotic celebration.  We will feature special choir and orchestra music, and we will honor our veterans in both worship services.  Sunday’s services will then feed into our annual patriotic celebration on Wednesday night, “Freedom Over Austin.”  Take the opportunity to invite a neighbor to come celebrate freedom with the ABC family.  I look forward to seeing you at 8:45am or 11:15am this Sunday.

Onward and Upward,

Dr. Jonathan Spencer

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 100^th 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

It was a great “I Love My Church Sunday!” Thank you to the many staff and volunteers who worked so hard to make it all possible.  And thank you to everyone who invited a friend to join us for our special day of celebration.  Worship was powerful, and I was encouraged to see our church fellowship together as a multi-generational family of faith. 

I look forward to having another “I Love My Church Sunday” when we fully eliminate our debt in the near future!  I hope you were as encouraged as I was by our Light the Way update.  I love seeing the debt disappear so quickly and seeing our missions and media ministries begin to take shape.  Let’s continue to be faithful in our generosity to the general fund and Light the Way, and together we can eliminate our debt, expand our mission, and extend the message of Jesus Christ (more info HERE).

This Sunday I’ll kick off a new sermon series titled, “Summer Stories.”  This summer we will look at some of Jesus’ most famous parables.  Each week we will examine a story told by Jesus and unpack the deep spiritual truth behind it.  But a parable is more than an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.  A parable goes after the hearts of God’s people and compels us to respond to his truth.  I’m looking forward to seeing how God will transform us this summer as we gather for a story each week.

This Sunday we will send off two charter buses full of teenagers and leaders to Gulf Shores, Alabama for Beach Camp.  Thank you for your generosity in supporting this effort, and I encourage you to join me in prayer for an impactful week in our students’ lives.  I will also be leading us in the Lord’s Supper this weekend before the message, so may we all come to worship with expectant hearts as we approach the table together.

I look forwarding to worshipping with you at 8:45am or 11:15am.

Onward and Upward,

Dr. Jonathan Spencer

I Love My Church Sunday is just around the corner!  I hope you’re planning to join us for a special day of celebration on June 1^st.  We will have an altered schedule that morning with 9am BFG’s, one combined worship service at 10:30am, and a church-wide luncheon at 11:30am.  We will offer free hamburgers, ice cream, and fun activities for the kids.

It will be a multi-generational celebration of all God has done, and continues to do, through the ABC family.  Note June 1^st is also “promotion Sunday,” and our ABC Kids and Students will be going up a grade level to their new classes.  It’s going to be an incredible summer kick-off party, so I hope you do not miss your opportunity to invite someone to church.  The invitation is simple: “I love my church, and I think you would too.”

This coming weekend is Memorial Day weekend.  For those not traveling on this three-day weekend, I encourage you to join us in worship this Sunday.  We will continue in our series on David, and we’ll have a special time of prayer for our nation and military families.  Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).  We thank God for the brave men and women who have poured out their blood to protect our freedom.  And we thank the Lord Jesus Christ for pouring out his blood to liberate us from sin and death.

It will be a wonderful weekend of worship and remembrance.  I look forward to seeing you at 8:45am or 11:15am.

Onward and Upward,

Dr. Jonathan Spencer

Our mission at ABC is to lead people into a life-changing relationship with the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.  I love how we are advancing this mission through our next generation ministries.  ABC invests our finest staff, volunteers, and resources into leading the next generation to Jesus Christ.  From the big events and camps to our weekly discipleship programs, our children’s and youth teams do an incredible job pouring into our kids.

This Sunday is the culmination of that discipleship effort for one class.  It is Senior Sunday, and we’ll be recognizing our graduating seniors at the conclusion of each of our worship services.  We will honor them from stage and pray over them as they launch into their next steps.  Additionally, we will have individualized prayer bookmarks at their individualized tables in the Great Hall for you to pick up.  I encourage you to pray for these seniors by name as they launch to college campuses and/or the workplace.

Thank you for being a generous church and prioritizing our children’s and youth ministries.  As we send these seniors off, may we hold fast to God’s promise over their lives: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).  Bring a friend, and I look forward to worshipping with you at 8:45am or 11:15am.

P.S. Save the date for “I Love My Church Sunday!”  We will alter our schedule on Sunday June 1^st with 9am Bible Study, a 10:30am Combined Worship Service, and an 11:30am Church-Wide cookout and carnival. I hope to see you there for this special day of celebration.

Onward and Upward,

Dr. Jonathan Spencer

Senior Pastor