February 9, 2000
TOGETHER:
All is possible for Texas
Baptists--together with God
___"We are laborers together with God." (1 Corinthians 3:9)
___From my earliest memories of working to accomplish goals, I have believed "together" is one of the great words in our language.
___A story that helped shape my view of life tells of three brothers in a poor family. Faced with grave challenges as young teenagers when their parents died, they vowed to stand together against all opposition and discouragement.
___The oldest brother picked up a fallen tree limb an inch in diameter and held it up before his brothers. He broke it cleanly in two, and then once again, he snapped one of the sticks in two.
CHARLES WADE
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board
___He handed the three pieces of the limb to one brother and asked him to try to break all three at one time. He could not, and neither could the youngest brother. The big brother said, "If we stand together, we can succeed, but alone we will fail."
___I believe what is nigh impossible alone can be accomplished if we work together. That has been true in every church I have pastored. Nothing worth doing can really be done alone, I have found. We need each other.
___God surely believes that to be so. "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him" (Genesis 2:18).
___Moses' father-in-law counseled him: "The work is too heavy for you, you cannot handle it alone. ... Select capable men from all the people ... men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain--and appoint them as ... judges for the people at all times. ... That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you" (Exodus 18:17-23).
___When God was ready, in the fullness of time, to send his Son into the world, he chose Mary to be the one through whom the gospel of God would be born. He invited her partnership, and she replied, "I am the Lord's servant ... may it be to me as you have said" (Luke 1:38).
___Jesus chose disciples to do what he could not do in his humanity. He could live a sinless life, die an atoning death, rise up from the grave in power, ... but he could not touch the whole world with his human hands. He needed a church made up of those who belong to him to put their arms around people and in the power of the Holy Spirit, bring them to God (Acts 1-2).
___Here is the word that, for me, defines our future: "We are laborers together with God." (1 Corinthians 3:9, King James Version). "We are God's fellow workers" (New International Version).
___Across this great state, Texas Baptists are at work serving God in the rural areas, small towns, cities and metropolitan urban centers.
___As I have traveled across the state and felt your desire to love the people of Texas and the world to God, I rejoice at the privilege I have been given to serve with you.
___The church members, ministers, pastors, directors of missions, Baptist Building staff and institutional leaders I have met and heard from want to make a difference in people's lives for Jesus Christ.
___I ask you to pray for Rosemary and me that God will use us together, with you, to put our arms around Texas.
___God has called us to a great work. Together, with him, all things are possible.
___We are loved.
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