By Jessica Ingram
The Alabama Baptist
Thank you.” That is the phrase Albert Mohler repeated to Alabama Baptists in his message during the Nov. 13 evening session of the state convention annual meeting.
“Thanks for your encouragement and thank you for your generosity,” he said.
“I have never received anything that hasn’t been provided by Southern Baptists and in so many ways Alabama Baptists. The biggest single donor to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is the Alabama Baptist State Convention.”
Mohler, who has served as president of Southern Seminary for the past 25 years, spoke on the importance of faithfulness among Christians and in churches as he preached from Acts 20.
“Paul was in haste to reach Jerusalem where he would likely face imprisonment or martyrdom,” Mohler said. “But he was faithful to the call he had received from God, and Jerusalem presented an opportunity for the massive public preaching of the gospel.”
“Faithfulness is multifaceted,” he said. Christians must hold to theological faithfulness, moral faithfulness, evangelistic faithfulness and congregational faithfulness, he explained.
‘Mark of a church’
Whether a pastor, a church or a convention, we can’t possibly be faithful in any other aspect if we are not theologically and doctrinally faithful, Mohler said. “The gospel is at stake. … The first mark of a church is not the building, but the preaching of the word of God.”
Because we are morally redeemed, we are morally accountable, he said.
“The moral witness of the church is where many churches are failing,” Mohler said. “We cannot act like we don’t know what God’s plan for humanity is.”
Evangelism is not just something Christian’s should do, but it is who we are.
Quoting the Apostle Paul in verses 26–27 — “I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” — Mohler noted the blood. He said it is his prayer for himself, for the denomination and for our churches that on the day of judgment we have no blood on our hands.
Importance of missions
“It will only be true if we are evangelically faithful,” he said. “It will only be true if we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. … Missions is the very heart of God and command of Christ to His Church.”
Mohler credited the faithful giving of the congregations of God for allowing him the opportunities he has had. So many blessings in Mohler’s life and the lives of others are the results of the contributions of thousands and millions of people we will never be able to thank, he said.
“The real secret to the SBC (Southern Baptist Convention) is that there are people in our churches who go without and give. And they pray,” Mohler said. “We cooperate in such a way that we give to people we will never meet in places we will never go for those we will never see until the great marriage supper.”
As Southern Baptists and as Alabama Baptists, “let’s walk together as long as the Lord allows,” Mohler said. “We will preach the gospel together and love together and then accompany each other to the ship (v. 38),” he added. “It all depends on how we finish.”
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