A Word from Your Mission Strategist, Steve Laughman
As we approach the 137th Annual Fall Meeting of the Centennial Baptist Association I want to take a few minutes to thank you for allowing me to serve as your Associational Mission Strategist. 2020 has been a difficult year for all of us. Much of what we hoped to accomplish this year has been put on hold or abandoned in favor of more pressing tasks. We have been challenged to think about church in new and different ways. Some of those challenges have resulted in more people being reached and church members choosing to prioritize people over preferences. For those things, I am thankful. However, other challenges have left us frustrated and overwhelmed.
During times like these, I would be surprised if you have not thought of Jesus’ return. The subject has come up many times in our home. Regardless of your understanding of eschatology and the order of end times events, we can all agree on two things: 1) Jesus is returning and 2) His coming is closer now than ever. When I read through the book of Revelation, I am comforted by the heavenly perspective it gives us. I am reminded that if future events are planned out with such precision by our Father, then so are the events we are living through today. There is tremendous peace in knowing I can trust God no matter what happens.
As we move forward as an association of churches, I trust the Lord to order our steps. We will make plans knowing that everything we do is contingent on His allowing us to proceed. We hope that this next year will include the FOCUS missions conference, a return to Pennsylvania to continue our partnership with Riverbend Church, various equipping events like a preaching/teaching lab, and a continued emphasis on resourcing each church to accomplish what God has given you to do. We move forward with hope.
None of us knows exactly what the future holds, but this is not a reason to fear. We know the Source of all good things, and we call Him Father. We have been redeemed by His Son Jesus and filled with His Holy Spirit. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?... Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31, 35, 37-39
