Willy Rice, pastor of Clearwater’s Calvary Baptist Church, will be nominated for a second term as Florida Baptist State Convention President. |
DAYTONA BEACH (FBC)—“We are better together. We need each other,” exhorted Florida Baptist State Convention President Willy Rice as he helped kick off the 146th annual meeting of the Florida Baptist State Convention, Nov. 12.
More than 1,100 Florida Baptist messengers gathered together in Daytona Beach to consider this year’s theme, “We Are Better Together,” based on Philippians 1:4-5. Monday evening’s session focused on “Encouraged Together,” and featured two presidential addresses and a sermon from a leading Florida Baptist pastor.
Southern Baptist Convention president Frank Page, pastor of the 4,400 member First Baptist Church of Taylors, S.C. set the tone for the annual meeting as he examined the parable of the fig tree in Luke 13. He warned the messengers that becoming “useless” or unfruitful, like the fig tree, is the “crime of all crimes.” Pointing out that the unfruitful fig tree sapped important nutrients from the ground that could have been used by other plants, Page then stated that it is easy to “move from uselessness to becoming a positive hindrance quickly.” He concluded by encouraging attendees, “May we be a Convention that will bring forth the fruit God wants us to bring forth.”
Drawing on the experience of Jonathan and his armor bearer in 1 Samuel, Rice, pastor of Clearwater’s Calvary Baptist Church, reminded participants, “God can win the battle if we only we will step out and seize the day.” He noted three distinct qualities of Jonathan from which Florida Baptists could learn. One, Jonathan had a “sense of dissatisfaction” or a “holy discontent,” he said. “The way things are are not the way things have to be,” explained Rice. He noted the difference between churches focused on mission and those focused on maintenance, stating, “Survival is not the same thing as success.” He also stated that a “faithful ministry is a fruitful ministry.” Two, Jonathan had an “absolute confidence in the power of God.” Rice pointed out that Jonathan was willing to take a risk, admonishing participants, “We’re playing it way too safe, and our dreams are way too low.” Three, Jonathan and his armor bearer had a “strategy of cooperation,” supporting each other both emotionally and practically. Florida Baptists’ partnership with Haiti, he said, is making a transforming difference on the tiny impoverished island that 12 years ago, at the beginning of the partnership, had fewer than 40 Southern Baptist congregations and today has more than 700.
The evening was wrapped up by David Uth, pastor of Orlando’s First Baptist Church, which led all Florida Baptist churches in Cooperative Program giving in 2006. Drawing on the biblical text found in Exodus 15, Uth acknowledged that all believers will “sooner or later come to a place of bitterness.” In those places of difficulty, Christians “should build your faith on God’s character, not His miracle. The circumstances of life do not change Who He is,” he said. Sharing a personal story of an experience in which he was discouraged in his ministry, Uth reminded attendees, “For every bitterness in your life, there is a God who heals.”
