BURTON, MI – When I was a small child, my grandmother would place me by her side on a bench in front of her old, dark wood stained piano. She would open up the little black and gold hymnal, and start singing “This Is The Day” and have my cherub-like voice (kidding) to sing along. That song still resonates in the corners of my mind every so often. It reminds me of precious moments with my grandmother of course, but it also reminds of something greater (which I think is the lesson Mamaw was trying to teach me). That we should, as Psalm 118 declares, “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever." And that we should be reminded each and every day God has granted us is a gift of His marvelous grace. We indeed can be glad in them.
As I look back over this last year, serving as your president of the Baptist State Convention of Michigan (BSCM), I can’t help but be grateful and glad in the days that God has given us. I am thankful and I believe thankfulness is best expressed in “thank yous”.
Thank you LORD for giving us days filled with love, care, and sacrifice from families that share their time to serve in Kingdom Work. Without their willingness to set aside these days the movement, that I believe has launched in this state, could have scarcely begun. We can never fully count the man-hours that have been yielded by volunteers from the churches in Michigan, and in our cooperative partnership with the BSCM. When I think upon this, I am indeed amazed, glad, and can’t help but say thank you.
Thank You God for rekindling the hearts of our churches in evangelism. The Gospel is the gracious gift of our glorious God. It is the good news of Jesus that gives us hope in these days and the promise of better days. But of course, as Carl F.H. Henry once aptly stated, “The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.” We must be about the business of getting the greatest news of all time to people in their time of need and to tell them of the time to come. We are here for such a time as this.
Indeed, this year, the rekindled flame of evangelism has been fanned. From training workshops to conferences, from renewed emphasis in churches to hosting harvest evangelists, from new church plants to mobilizing established churches with innovative strategies… It is a new day in Michigan. It is a day that declares we will not go quietly into that long dark night, but we will strive for that greatest of days. Indeed, this deserves gladness and the sincerest of thank yous.
As your president this year, I have seen where we have been in past years. I see where we are now, building upon the great foundations of yesterday with what is needed for today. And all of this is so that we may look ahead and serve well in the days our gracious Lord continues to give. We want to be faithful as we move forward, but let us not forget to be thankful.
Share your thanks to the Lord and to those he has placed around you, and do it today. For it is a day the Lord has made, let us rejoice within it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerome Taylor is the pastor of Eastgate Baptist Church in Burton, Michigan. He was elected to serve as president of the BSCM in 2017.