Jesus stood in the praetorium after a night of being arrested and questioned by Caiaphas the high priest. Now it was Pilate who asked him, “Are you a king then?” Jesus replied, “You say rightly that I am a king” (John 18:37). And what a King!

He is the King of the Jews. In Matthew, a delegation of Eastern Magi arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?” Near the end of Matthew, a sign is affixed to the cross of Jesus reading, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.”

He is the King of Israel. In John 1:49, Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

He is the King of Righteousness. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus was prefigured by Melchizedek, the mysterious character in the book of Genesis, “to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated ‘King of Righteousness.'”

He is the King of Peace. In the same passage in Hebrews 7, Jesus is compared with Melchizedek in his role as king of Salem, which, according to verse 2, means “King of Peace.”

He is the King Over All the Earth. This title is found near the end of the Old Testament, in the passage in Zechariah describing our Lord’s glorious return. “And the LORD shall be King over all the earth” (Zechariah 14:4, 8-9).

He is the King of Glory. This is another messianic title from the Old Testament. In Psalm 24, King David cries, “Lift up your heads… And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty…he is the King of glory.”

He is King of kings and Lord of lords. In Revelation 19 as Christ returns to earth in triumph, we read: “And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

The rulers of this world enjoy limited authority for a limited time—current events in our world today exemplify that truth. Only Jesus possesses infinite authority for all of eternity. Many rulers have improved the quality of life for their subject but only one gives abundant life and eternal life.

Except for him, all leaders, being human, are flawed. Many have unleashed wars, triggered riots, annihilated opponents, bankrupted treasuries and acted as fools.

Others have exhibited great courage and demonstrated legendary leadership.

But only one belongs to eternity. He’s the King of an endless empire. Jesus rules above the stars and within the heart.

He is Lord of heaven and earth. As the New Testament opens, he is coming from heaven to earth as a baby, as the King of the Jews. As the New Testament ends, he’s coming on a white charger as the King of kings.

The Emperor Napoleon is said to have made this assessment of Christ: “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force! Jesus Christ alone founded His empire upon love: and at this hour millions of men would die for him. I have so inspired multitudes that they would die for me; but, after all, my presence was necessary—the lighting of my eye, my voice, a word from me—then the sacred fire was kindled in their hearts. Now that I am at St. Helena, alone, chained upon this rock, who fights and wins empires for me? What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal reign of Christ who is proclaimed, loved, adored and whose reign is extending over all the earth.”

Inside our hearts there is a throne, and around that throne are all the components that make up our lives—finances, jobs, marriage, children, home, hobbies, habits, leisure, church, entertainment, health. When Jesus sits as King on the throne of our hearts, all these areas fall into submission under his authority. In the process, he blesses all that he reigns over. He brings peace, joy and everlasting hope. He elicits worship, praise and never-ending thanksgiving.

“My King…had no predecessor and he’ll have no successor. There’s nobody before him and there’ll be nobody after him” (S.M. Lockridge).

That’s our King of kings; that’s our Lord of lords.

My first international mission trip took place on a farm in central Kentucky.

As a new pastor in the community, I found myself interacting often with migrant workers from Central and South America. And I soon realized that most were spiritually lost. From conversations with farmers, I learned many of them were as concerned as I was about the eternal state of the souls of these (mostly) men who were so far away from their homes and families. As we began to pull together churches in our association and piece together a plan to begin a migrant ministry, we found an organization ready and eager to help us: our Baptist state convention. With the assistance of our state convention staff, we were soon seeing people from all over Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua come to Christ — though we never left Kentucky.

Ministries in our 41 Southern Baptist state conventions vary from state to state, but their mission is the same: help churches reach their state and our world for Christ. As we enter the fall of the year, most of our state conventions are promoting their annual state mission offering to support these vital ministries. My family will be giving to support the work in our state. As grateful and enthusiastic as I am for Southern Baptists’ support of international missions, I’m also thankful for and supportive of the ministry and mission work of our state conventions.

From my past experience as a pastor and state mission leader, I have seen firsthand the missional impact of state convention ministries. Where I served in Kentucky, more than 100 missionaries in the state receive varying levels of support for their work. Ministries to refugees, migrants, and ethnic minorities are often led or assisted by state convention team members and resources. State conventions help facilitate church planting, church strengthening and revitalization efforts, as well as provide evangelism training and coordinate Disaster Relief ministry. In many states, collegiate work is led by the state convention and support is also provided for the ministry of local Baptist associations.

One of our adopted daughters was rescued and kept safe by our state convention’s orphan and foster care ministry before she came into our family. The lives of unborn children are being saved by crisis pregnancy centers that are often funded, in part, by the state convention. Several state conventions are actively involved in lobbying efforts for legislation that will protect unborn children from the horror of abortion.

Many state conventions provide training and funding for prison ministries, through which inmates are hearing the gospel, trusting Christ, and being baptized by local churches. Women in the adult entertainment industry are being shown pathways to freedom and salvation, and churches are equipped for ministry to the homeless and those suffering addiction.

Across America, people are finding new life in Christ as churches work together through their state convention ministries. In addition to your church’s Cooperative Program support, your annual state mission offering isan opportunity for Great Commission and Great Commandment giving. Will you join my family and be a part of what God is doing through these ministries by giving through your state mission offering this year?

When terrorists attacked two cities and killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001, the world mourned.

But 1,460 miles away in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, hope was shining bright.

Gander was the default destination for 38 planes and about 6,700 people travelling over the Atlantic Ocean when the United States closed its airspace on Sept. 11, 2001.

Those 6,700 people were heading to places like Denver and Disney World when their planes were told to make a sharp right and land in Gander, a North American city in Canada that is so far east that it’s closer to London, England than to St. Louis, Mo.

As one passenger later said: “I had never heard of Newfoundland.”

They were stranded in a place they didn’t want to be, far away from friends and family. Even worse, they were stuck in a town that — on first blush — wasn’t equipped to house and feed them. Gander’s population was about 9,000. Where were these 6,500 extra people supposed to go? 

But a strange thing happened. Over the course of the next five days, Gander’s citizens became the passengers’ friends and family. They opened their arms to cloth and feed 6,700 strangers, not knowing if a terrorist was hiding among them. 

Gander became a Canadian version of Mayberry, complete with a friendly policeman, a kind mayor, and hundreds of volunteers who cooked meals, found them a bed and even gave these stranded strangers a tour of the scenic island.

Next Wednesday, a documentary about this unique week — You Are Here— lands in cinemas. It includes interviews with crew members, passengers, citizens and city officials who saw their lives changed — for the better — during a period most of us were despondent. It will be shown for only one night.

“We saw [6,700] people who needed food. They needed clothing. They needed shelter. But most of all, they needed love,” the mayor says in the film. “We showed them that human kindness will outdo hatred any day.”

You Are Hereis a feel-good film that will give you the hope-filled emotions of a Hallmark film — yes, there’s a surprising love story in it — and the down-home nostalgia of The Andy Griffith Show. We learn how the Salvation Army pitched in to help. We discover how a Baptist pastor used a Bible to communicate with Russians. Most of all, we watch ordinary people do seemingly extraordinary things, taking care of people round-the-clock. When the week ended — most passengers were in Gander for five days — many were sad they were leaving.  

Home videos from the week bring the story to life, as do clips from a local TV channel. That channel was closely monitored by citizens throughout the week to learn what was needed.   

“You asked for moose [on the show], you got 20 pounds of moose from 15 different people,” the host says, reflecting on that week.

Because the passengers were prohibited from taking their luggage off the planes, they needed clothes, too. Ganderites filled in that gap, as well.

You Are Hereisn’t a faith-based film, but it nevertheless serves as an example of the love in action God commanded of the church: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers …” (Hebrews 13:2).

The story is so uplifting that it inspired books and a Broadway musical.

“In [those] five days we became very close to those people,” the mayor says. “… [O]n the fifth day, we lost 6,700 family members.”

Content

You Are Hereis unrated but should be treated like a PG film. It contains minor language (one “living h-ll” and about five OMGs — some heard from the day of the attack) and discussion of the terrorist attack (a first responder says he saw body parts on the ground outside the World Trade Center). Among the passengers interviewed are two gay men who were a couple on the day of the attack. We also see people drink alcohol.

Discussion Questions

1. How would you react if 6,700 strangers landed in your city, needing food and clothing?

2. What can the passengers teach us about contentment?

3. What can the citizens of Gander teach us about how the church should welcome strangers?

You can’t know where you’re going until you know where you are currently. That’s true as an individual, as a church, and as a state convention. That’s why it’s important that your church participates in the Annual Church Profile (ACP).

“ACP reports help us celebrate wins together through baptism and church attendance stats,” said Tony Wolfe, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) Pastor/Church Relations director. “They help us evaluate geographic and generational areas of needed improvement every year, and they kind of pull our focus back toward what’s really important in our cooperative work. In a nutshell, the ACP enables us to tell the story of what God’s up to in the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.”

But last year only 53 percent of SBTC churches participated in the Annual Church Profile. That means the SBTC and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) can only tell part of the story of what God is doing through Texas Southern Baptist churches.  

While the ACP has been a part of Southern Baptist life for decades, it’s never been so easy for churches to participate. Through the SBTC, you can submit your ACP information on the convention’s online church portal.

“When your church reports ACP data through us, we share it with the SBC and with associational DOM’s upon their request,” Wolfe wrote in an article on the topic last year for the TEXAN. “This means that if you use our system, you only have to report one time. And we work very hard to make that one time as simple as possible.”

Noting the national discussion among Southern Baptists on the recent decrease in baptisms and other significant metrics, Wolfe says more churches participating could mean the SBC and SBTC could share a different narrative with the world. While some churches believe their totals are too small to make a difference, Wolfe pushes back on that response.

“I know numbers don’t tell the whole story, but they do tell part of the story,” Wolfe said. “Every number represents a soul saved, a worshiper faithfully engaged or a dollar sacrificially given to kingdom work. The threshold for celebrating the work of God in a local congregation is just one, just one baptism, just $1. There are no numbers too large or too small to report because there are no churches too large or too small to matter to God.”

Churches with specific questions about the ACP can contact the Pastor/Church Relations office at the SBTC. The ACP tool allows convention leaders to evaluate current ministry strategies and better develop plans for the future. It also helps associational missions strategists and convention staff to evaluate areas where Southern Baptist witness needs to be more effective.
 
“We believe that God is doing some amazing things in the Southern Baptist churches across the Lone Star State,” Wolfe added. “We consider it our great honor to tell your story to the world as God’s gospel movement passes through our generation, but we can’t celebrate what we don’t know.”

To submit your church’s ACP information, log in to the Church Portal at the SBTC website.