Greetings! St. Mark 2:3-5. “And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was; and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” I know they’re not given names in the Bible, but let’s give them names. I promise to make a point. #1 – Mr. Concern – Mr. Concern comes to three of his fiends saying, “I have a dear friend that someway, somehow needs to get to Jesus. There is no help for him other than Jesus!” #2 Mr. Cooperation says, “I can see your concern. Count me in! Whatever you need me to do, I’ll will help!” #3 – Mr. Consideration steps up saying, “I’ve considered every aspect and I see Mr. Concern’s concern. I agree we MUST get him to Jesus! It will take all of us working together to get him through the crowd, tear off the roof, and lower him down to Jesus. I’m in, too!” #4 – Mr. Consistency says, “I’m in! When it comes to getting someone to Jesus, Count me in!” You see, I believe 126 years ago when SMBA was formed, our forefathers knew that through concern, cooperation, consideration, and consistency churches, while working together in the northern Wilkes County area, could reach more people for Jesus than working individually. This is how I view SMBA – we are a group of 16 churches in an area of Wilkes, working as a team to get the lost to Jesus. We are not a club or organization but a group bound together with one common goal. Whether we’re preaching, teaching, doing Bible School, giving to the N.C. Mission’s Offering, The Annie Armstrong Offering, giving to N.C. Baptist Children’s home or Ebenezer’s Children Home, or going on a mission trip – EVERYTHING we do at SMBA comes down to one thing – Working as a team in God’s Kingdom to win a lost world to Jesus!
As a teenager in my church youth group we would sing,
“We will work with each other, we will work with each other – we will work side by side. We will work with each other, we will work with each other – we will work side by side. We will guard each man’s dignity, and save each man’s pride. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love – by our love. Yes! They will know we are Christians by our love!”
St. John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”