Author: Russell Lightner

Central Texas pastor finds community, support through Young Pastors Network

‘They take you to the feet of Jesus’

HEWITT

For Michael Visy, senior pastor of Grace Church Hewitt, connections make the difference. Through a series of divine connections, he has found friendship, encouragement, and accountability via the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Young Pastors Network.

The Maryland native was on staff at Grace Church Waco when a non-denominational church in Hewitt, its attendance declining, closed its doors. The cornfields once surrounding that church, nine miles south of Waco, had given way to neighborhoods full of families, with many adults commuting to Waco or nearby Temple for work. The members of the former church didn’t want to sell the property and see it become just another development.

Instead, they gifted 6.5 acres and buildings to Grace Church Waco to start a new work. Grace Church Hewitt was born in 2018.

“They said they didn’t want a school or park or another apartment complex to go in. They wanted the gospel preached in that location. They wanted a church,” Visy said, adding that representatives of the closing church found Grace Church Waco through connections with the SBTC. Dick Wooten, pastor of the former church, is the father of Bryan Wooten, teaching pastor of Remedy Church in Waxahachie. Bryan and fellow Remedy teaching pastor Aaron Clayton contacted Grace Waco about the Hewitt opportunity.

“They see me as a person, not a pastor. A friend. And they are great guys to hang out with. They help you press into Christ.”

—Michael Visy Tweet

Dick Wooten has since become a friend and encourager to Visy. In addition to some 30 from Grace Waco who came south to help the new church plant, around eight to nine from the elder Wooten’s former congregation ended up joining Grace Hewitt. Wooten himself stayed. He preaches from time to time at Visy’s invitation.

“He has been really encouraging to me, especially seeing us through a very rough first year,” Visy said of Wooten. “He said, ‘Michael, I’m retired. I just want to love on people, invest in them, care for them.’”

Visy added that “having a seasoned guy in his 70s” to walk alongside him in ministry has been a blessing. Visy asked Wooten to share recollections of the church at Grace Hewitt’s fifth anniversary.

“I wanted the congregation to see that God was faithful to His people and His church long before we were in this building,” Visy said. Now in his 30s, Visy was only 26 when he became pastor at Grace Hewitt.

“I was fresh out of seminary, newly married. Why in the world would you want to follow a 26-year-old?” he recalled mentioning to the congregation back then.

“We’re not following you. We’re following the Lord,” members replied.

Today, Grace Hewitt is thriving, running around 150 with members and regular attenders, children, and visitors, demonstrating steady growth despite population mobility in its “suburban-rural” setting.

“Hewitt is a family-centered community,” said Visy. He and his wife, Michelle, have become parents to Harper, 4, and Gus, 2, during their time at the church.

“There are a lot of kids running around our church,” Visy said. “And there’s only one full-time staff person: me,” he added with a chuckle.

Finding a pastoral community

Visy has likewise found encouragement and friendships through YPN, an organization of pastors 40 years old or younger and mentors. Visy said he has been involved in YPN since its founding by Spencer Plumlee, pastor of First Baptist Mansfield.

Within the YPN, Visy has developed a core group of four fellow pastors in his region with whom he meets regularly. Among these is Drake Osborn, Grace Waco pastor of teaching and liturgy. Bracken Arnhart, pastor of Hope Church in Robinson, is another YPN member with whom Visy is close, as is Matt Byrd, pastor of Wellspring Church in China Spring.

“We’re all kind of young, all in the same theological world,” Visy said. “[We thought], ‘Let’s hang out and encourage one another.’ …We get together once a month.”

Visy also serves on the YPN leadership team. “It consists of a dozen of us from all over the state, representing churches of different sizes and dynamics from West Texas, DFW, Houston, Austin, South Texas,” he said.

He credits YPN connections for assisting him in his role as pastor. “Guys in the state have helped me with logistical pieces of ministry: bylaws, member care things, church discipline matters. … How do we do this? Having other friends in other churches in other parts of the state in other contexts is invaluable,” Visy said, adding, “They help with everything.”

Of YPN support, Visy said, “They see me as a person, not a pastor. A friend. And they are great guys to hang out with. They help you press into Christ. … They are true friends who take you to the feet of Jesus.”

Sometimes, it’s the little things

Each month, we keep our eyes open looking for ways God is moving in our churches across the state. That’s what this Leading Off page is all about—as you read each month’s issue, we want to start you off with something to encourage you.

Though a relatively new feature, we’ve already highlighted churches with members helping their neighbors recover from deadly storms and a dispatch from our ever-busy Southern Baptists of Texas Disaster Relief team.

Jesus is using His people to do big things. Count what follows as a small one—with the potential to have a huge impact.

Parkhills Baptist Church in San Antonio is asking its members to use technology for something good. Each Sunday, on the church’s rotating video announcements that scroll prior to the beginning of the worship service, Parkhills encourages members to pick up their phones and text an encouraging message to someone—anyone—who could use a pick-me-up.

The point, as posted on the church’s Facebook page, is simple: “Let’s share the love of Jesus and make someone’s day a little brighter. It doesn’t take much to make a positive impact on someone’s life, and a simple message of kindness can go a long way.”

We often talk about planting seeds, and SBTC churches all over the state are finding creative and effective ways to do just that. We think this one is worth adding to your toolbelt.

You never know how God is going to use a simple message of love to lift up the spirits of His people—or even draw people to Himself for the first time.

What encouraging thing is happening at your church that you wouldn’t mind sharing with other churches across the state? Email jlarson@sbtexas.com.

In this kingdom, nothing is small

You’ve probably never heard of First Baptist Church of Woodsboro. In fact, you’ve probably never heard of Woodsboro.

Woodsboro is a little pocket of a town hanging off the southeast side of State Highway 77, about 40 miles north of Corpus Christi. There’s no Walmart there, but they do have a 2A high school equipped with a hurricane shelter (standard issue for that part of the state), a Dairy Queen (standard issue in many a small Texas town), and a dollar store.

The town is home to about 1,300 residents, 80 of whom can be found on any given Sunday inside FBC Woodsboro.

“We are just a very normal-sized church,” their pastor, Jordan Newberry, recently told me. “We’re not a megachurch at all. Nothing like that. We’re just your normal, everyday Southern Baptist church—full of good people, though.”

Within this issue, you’ll find a story about FBC Woodsboro that we hope inspires you. To be honest, it’s not so much a story about FBC Woodsboro as it is a story about what God can do when kingdom-minded people say yes to the Lord and then wait to see where He will lead.

FBC Woodsboro recently returned from a mission trip to Nevada, where members worked alongside Pathfinder Church in Reno to connect with the community through a series of public outreach events. As the week wrapped up, Pathfinder’s pastor said having FBC Woodsboro’s assistance paved the way for him to have more meaningful conversations with Reno residents over the course of a week than he’d had in any other week since he planted the church about a year ago.

So how in the world did a rural church in Texas get connected with a church in a hustle-bustle town like Reno?

"When we work together to multiply our resources behind a common gospel goal, there is no small work."

Jayson Larson Tweet

A couple years ago, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention partnered with the Nevada Baptist Convention to do kingdom work together. Through the partnership, the SBTC began offering its resources to help NBC churches become stronger and multiply. Part of that commitment included the SBTC making its churches aware of the opportunity to work side by side with Southern Baptist churches in Nevada.

These aren’t connections churches like FBC Woodsboro would normally expect to have. But by leveraging the SBTC’s network, the church was able to send a group to a western state for a week to help a young church hungry to reach the lost better connect with its community.

“We’re not a huge church,” Newberry said, “but we’re still able to go and have an impact.”

To be clear, there are megachurches among the SBTC’s 2,700-plus churches doing amazing kingdom work. But there are also much smaller SBTC churches like FBC Woodsboro having a massive eternal impact not just in their communities, but around the world.

Having pastored, I know how overwhelming it can feel to just address the needs in your own congregation and community. It can often feel like paddling as hard as you can just to keep your head above water, so reaching outside your local context might feel difficult.

That’s one of the reasons God calls us to something greater. He calls us to be members of a body, one that works together to achieve His purposes. When we work together to multiply our resources behind a common gospel goal, there is no small work. It’s a great work performed by thousands and thousands of faithful hands working together.

Church partners with SBTC DR to be hands and feet of Jesus following storm

Being a light in the community

LEVELLAND

The small Levelland church of about 75 had been praying for a way to serve its Hockley County community, 30 miles west of Lubbock. When a microburst with vicious straight-line winds swept through the city in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 28, they got more of an opportunity than they anticipated.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve been praying for an opportunity to be a beacon of light to the community,” said Tony Ward, pastor of College Avenue Baptist Church since March. “This is probably not how we wanted or expected it.”

Dinnertime on May 27 in Levelland brought more than conversation around the table. A brief storm pelted the community with hail—weather not uncommon in the flat lands of the Llano Estacado. Little did residents know that the small evening storm was a precursor of what was to come.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve been praying for an opportunity to be a beacon of light to the community. This is probably not how we wanted or expected it.”

—Tony Ward Tweet

‘It came out of nowhere’

Ward recalled waking with a start around 2 a.m. the next morning to the sound of hail pounding his property.

“It came out of nowhere,” he said. “No lightning or thunder. It just started immediately. High winds, heavy hail … probably for 20 to 30 minutes. The power went out pretty quickly.”

The Ward home, located on the south side of town, escaped the worst of the damage as the storm struck the north side with unanticipated ferocity. Some thought it was a tornado, Ward said, although the National Weather Service has only confirmed the microburst.

Ward stayed up most of the rest of the night, watching to see if anything else was coming. Dawn revealed downed power lines and trees shorn of their leaves and branches. Ward estimated that he later raked up 15 bags of leaves, as did his neighbors.

A handful of church families were affected by damage at their farms and homes. No members were injured, but some collected buckets full of dead birds, likely victims of large hailstones.

Hailstones also piled up around the church, which suffered broken windows and damage to its roof. A courtyard flooded, causing water to spread inside the foyer and into a section of the sanctuary. Members quickly showed up to help shovel hail away from the doors to prevent further water damage as the hail melted. Cleaners estimated they pumped out 600 gallons of water from the facility.

But with the inconvenience came opportunity.

SBTC DR deploys quickly

Shane Kendrix, SBTC regional catalyst for Northwest Texas, contacted Ward to check on the church and community early on May 28. Could the SBTC help?

“That [phone call] got the ball rolling,” Ward said. “By Wednesday afternoon, we had plans for a team to come.” An SBTC DR QRU quick response mobile kitchen from the Top O’ Texas association in Pampa with four volunteers arrived later that day, setting up feeding operations at the church.

Over the next three days, the SBTC DR QRU cranked out more than 1,000 meals for residents and first responders, Ward said, before power was finally restored to the town.

“All those volunteers were tremendous,” Ward said. “They served and never complained. They’ve been doing this for a while.”

From a pastoral perspective, teaming with SBTC DR was seamless and encouraging, Ward noted. “I didn’t have to do a lot,” he said. “For someone in the SBTC to reach out and tell us what our options were was great. We were all in. It was a joy to have them.”

A light in the community

The experience allowed church members to see the benefits of SBTC affiliation, Ward said, as well as how a DR ministry works in emergencies.

Members helped, too, visiting with and praying for locals who came to the church for encouragement and a hot meal.

“Several church members had meaningful conversations with visitors. We heard lots of people just being appreciative,” Ward said, adding that people were pleasantly surprised to find that the food would cost them nothing.

College Avenue announced the meals on social media. Area banks and small businesses were also organizing food giveaways, Ward said. Word spread and people flocked to the bright yellow and blue SBTC DR QRU in the church parking lot.

“For our little church, we put it on our Facebook page and the post had the most Facebook interactions we’ve ever had in the history of our church, plus 125 shares,” he added, estimating the post reached several thousand people in the Levelland area.

“We wanted to be a light in the community and to share the gospel,” Ward said. “We wanted to love on people here.”

In the wake of a devastating storm, they did just that.

SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice said of the Levelland deployment: “We were grateful for the opportunity to partner with Pastor Ward and College Avenue Baptist as we served Levelland and Hockley County. We appreciate the QRU volunteers who responded very quickly and arrived ready to serve.”

Stice also confirmed that an SBTC DR shower and laundry unit deployed to Roswell, N.M., on June 20 to support a shelter housing evacuees from Ruidoso, where wildfires continue to rage.

First Odessa’s Hispanic ministry is opening doors to reach a rapidly changing community

ODESSA

Erika Meza had been praying for her husband, Luis, to come to faith in Jesus for nine years. But spiritual conversations with Luis could feel tense and he would tell Erika he did not want to feel pressured to walk away from the Catholic religion he had always known.

But something began to change in Luis’ heart one day after he received a personal invitation from Hiram Ramos, the leader of First Baptist Church Odessa’s Hispanic ministry, and his wife, Saraí. Luis was touched by the invitation, but still guarded about the visit.

“Don’t get excited,” he told Erika and their two children that Sunday.

But God began to do a work in Luis’ heart through that first visit.

“The first day I went, I felt I was part of something,” Luis now admits. “God moved something in my heart and in my mind, so I started going regularly.”

Hiram, sensing the Lord at work, began to pull Luis closer. He invited Luis to his home. He was a sounding board to which Luis could voice his questions and doubts. Most importantly, Hiram presented the plan of salvation to Luis.

On April 7, 2023, First Odessa Senior Pastor Byron McWilliams preached his annual cross service—a special message he delivers on Good Friday while simultaneously using an ax to craft a life-sized cross on the church stage. Luis said something “clicked” in his soul as he listened to the message, and he gave his life to Jesus that evening. Luis became the first person Hiram baptized at First Odessa Español—the first of many.

“The first day I went, I felt I was part of something. God moved something in my heart and in my mind.”

—luis meza Tweet

Expanding its reach

Long before that day, First Odessa—with a mission to reach its city and the world with the gospel of Christ—saw an urgent need to connect with the growing number of Hispanic people coming to the community to work in the oil industry. With nearly 60% of the city’s population being Hispanic, church leaders wondered, “How are we going to reach Odessa if we don’t speak Spanish?”

First Odessa already had a Spanish Bible class meeting at the church. It was led by its only Hispanic couple at the time—Roberto Chavez and his wife Aracely, who is Hiram’s sister. As the class began to grow, church leaders began to pray about taking the next steps to broaden its reach. They eventually purchased a building across the street to use for a Hispanic church. All they needed was a pastor.

At the time, Hiram lived in his native Mexico and, other than making an annual visit to Odessa to visit Aracely and her family, had never considered leaving. During one of his visits, in 2019, Aracely told Hiram about First Odessa’s vision of starting a Hispanic work and asked him to join her in praying for the man God would call to serve as its pastor.

“So I crossed the street from the church and started walking around the building [the church had purchased for the Hispanic work],” Hiram said, “praying that God would bring a pastor who would love the work.”

He never imagined he would be the one God would choose to call to lead the Hispanic work.

“How are we going to reach Odessa if we don’t speak Spanish?”

—Byron McWilliams, First Odessa Senior Pastor Tweet

A couple years later, in January 2021, Hiram returned to visit his sister and help preach the funeral of her father-in-law. Hiram preached part of the funeral message in Spanish, while McWilliams preached in English. Afterward, McWilliams said he and some other members of the church staff began texting one another about Hiram, saying, “This is the one we’ve been praying for.”

At McWilliams’ request, he and Hiram met a couple months later to discuss what God was doing to reach the Hispanic population through First Odessa’s ministry. Heading into that meeting, Hiram remembers praying the words of Philippians 2:13: “If it is your will, work in me both to will and to do” so that I may fulfill your purposes.

The conversation ended up with the two men standing in front of the altar facing the pews inside the building where Hiram had prayed for First Odessa’s planned Hispanic ministry a couple years earlier.

“This is the place God wants to fill with Spanish-speaking people,” McWilliams said to Hiram. “When can you start?”

“At that moment,” Hiram recalls, “God produced the ‘will and the doing’ in me.”

Hiram answered the call to lead the Hispanic work and he and Saraí moved to Odessa. They said God affirmed their call to the work by allowing their work visas to be granted rapidly—faster than their attorney said she had ever seen. Hiram and Saraí prepared to launch the Hispanic work by hosting Sunday Bible classes, as well as men’s and women’s Bible studies during the week.

“We are all part of the same vision where the Spanish ministry is being formed with the support of the whole church.”

—Hiram Ramos, First Odessa en Español Tweet

One church, one mission

First Odessa en Español held its first service on Dec. 3, 2023, with 28 people in attendance. Since then, the church has seen more than 50 people come to faith in Christ. The church is working to disciple, shepherd, and meet the unique needs of those families—many of which include older generations that speak mostly Spanish with younger generations that are increasingly more fluent in English. By offering its Spanish ministry, First Odessa provides a place where such families can worship in the same location.

Hiram uses his training in psychology and counseling to minister to the needs of marriages and families. The church recently held a marriage dinner conference with 115 attendees. It also hosted an Easter activity in a local park where about 800 people came to hear the gospel in Spanish and English.

“We are one church and one ministry together, and I love that,” Hiram said, “because we are all part of the same vision where the Spanish ministry is being formed with the support of the whole church.”

On steering, staring, and seeing what really matters

Ihave found the following to be true: We steer where we stare. In other words, we tend to gravitate toward the direction of our focus. I have found this to be true when I’m driving (much to my wife’s dismay) and in my thought life, as well.

Social media has its own iteration of this. It’s called an algorithm, which creates a digital environment based on what your chosen platform perceives your preferences to be. In other words, it tries to give you what it thinks you want.

Algorithms can be disturbingly prescient and annoyingly persistent. A simple search for “auto mechanics near me” can turn into an endless barrage of posts promoting not only local shops, but ads from car dealerships, automotive parts and accessories stores, and reels from internet influencers rating rideshare apps.

Paul told followers of Jesus at Colossae, “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:1-2).

Even 2,000 years ago, Paul knew it to be true: we steer where we stare. The Colossians had plenty of adversity they could have focused on: physical suffering, cultural pressures, and more. To choose to keep their focus on those things was to take their eyes off the prize—Jesus and the glory to come. Getting our focus off Jesus is a strategy Satan loves because it works on the lost and saved alike. For one, it steals the possibility of eternity and for the other, the possibility of peace.

"Pain turns the focus inward, but Jesus continually calls us to a life of faith and hope that is meant to bring peace."

Jayson Larson Tweet

We live in an age of information overload with inputs coming at us from every direction. If you own a smart phone, you’re never more than a few inches away from countless forms of media offering you the latest updates in conflict and chaos around the globe. This is true both in secular and Christian media. With a presidential election just months away, the intensity of this reality will reach a fevered pitch.

This isn’t a call to bury your head in the sand, but rather, to keep your focus on things above. Doing so will take intentionality and discipline. It’s so hard not to get sucked into some of the negative black holes created not only on social media, but as a result of the very difficult things life can sometimes bring. Pain turns the focus inward, but Jesus continually calls us to a life of faith and hope that is meant to bring peace—the kind of peace that doesn’t make sense to the world around us.

I don’t mean for this to sound like a shameless plug, but that’s what we aim to do each month in this magazine: provide you content that will help you keep your focus on the work God is doing around Texas and beyond. You can find more than a handful of media outlets offering the latest controversies in a minute or less, but far fewer telling the stories of what God is doing in some tiny, out-of-the-way church where faithfulness—and not furor—is changing the world.

Paul says it best in Philippians 4:8: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.”

Advice like that is worth taking a second look at.

Annual Equip Conference aims to resource churches with tools, training for leaders of all types

Stronger servants, stronger kingdom

The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s annual Equip Conference will be held July 27 at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. The event will feature more than 200 breakout sessions and 90 speakers. Phil Todd, SBTC spiritual formations team leader, recently spoke with the Texan about the heart of the conference to serve the local church.

The Equip Conference is designed to resource churches by providing tools and training to anyone serving in the local church, including lay people. Why is it so important for the SBTC to offer this kind of training?

Phil Todd: It’s always great to be a learner, to continue to improve, to continue to sharpen your skills. Equip offers that opportunity at an individual level. A study in Georgia showed that churches that were engaged in regular ongoing training of their leaders were growing churches because they’re equipping their leaders to be the best they can be. So Equip is a great opportunity for the SBTC to come alongside churches and provide training that hopefully they’ll be able to continue in their own context.

As you talk with leaders in SBTC churches, what are they communicating to you that they need in terms of training and how is Equip being responsive to that?

PT: We meet with pastors in a lot of different settings and many of our breakout topics are driven by those conversations, such as how to teach a lesson or how to ask the best questions in a small group setting or a Sunday school setting. We’ve crafted several Equip breakouts that address that issue this year. We also have pastors who talk about equipping their people to defend their faith, so we have an apologetics track this year. Security issues always seem to be brought to the forefront due to the relevancy of that topic for our churches, so we always offer church security breakouts to better equip churches to secure their people and their facilities. We also get a lot of requests for training in the areas of children and preschool ministry, and I would say those tracks we offer at Equip are top-notch, as we have some of the top leaders from around the country coming in to lead breakouts.

I also want to mention that we have partnered with our missions department to expand our missions breakout trainings at Equip, and I think that will be instrumental in helping churches launch people out. We want to help churches learn how to partner in missions and send people on short-term and long-term mission trips. We’ve also partnered with our church planting team [Send Network SBTC] to offer training at Equip for churches on how to raise people up to be church planters.

What’s a growing area of interest in terms of training that might surprise some people?

PT: The last two Equips we’ve had, the worship tracks have always drawn full rooms. So, we’ve expanded our worship ministry track this year. I’m excited about that. We have access to several breakout speakers who are really leading well in their areas of worship and allowing us to expand our worship ministry networks. These leaders are very effective at raising up the next generation of worship leaders, starting even at the preschool level, and they are even seeing students and youth equipped to lead in the main worship/praise band. Equipping church worship ministries can be a multi-generational approach, so we’re offering tracks along those lines about how to raise up that next generation.

A little Texas twang in the Big Apple

HARLEM, N.Y.

Long known for its rich culture and diversity showcased in such movements as the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, modern Harlem bustles with newly constructed multistory apartment buildings complementing traditional brownstones and thriving new and old businesses. It’s trendy.

Harlem also offers opportunities for the gospel, as the planters of Cultivate NYC are discovering with a little help from some friends at Texas churches and a series of events that could only have been orchestrated by God.

In 2021, Indiana natives Luke Calvert and his wife, Shelby, felt called to plant a church and were surprised when God led them from the Midwest to the Big Apple—a city they had never even visited before.

“We moved to the city on June 1, 2021, in the middle of COVID with a six-month-old baby,” Calvert said.

During the pandemic, the Calverts saw New York pastors exiting the city at alarming rates. “The Lord was burdening our hearts that the city desperately needed the gospel in a time of strife,” Luke said. In the borough of Manhattan with a population of 1.8 million, only 1.8% believe in Jesus, Calvert said. That percentage of faith is slightly larger—up to 2.4%—over the five boroughs (including Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island) with 7.5 to 8 million inhabitants, he added.

Before heading northeast, the Calverts partnered with CrossCreek Church (formerly First Baptist Colleyville) and its CrossCreek church planting network. Through CrossCreek, which became their sending church, and the North American Mission Board’s Send New York City initiative, they completed NAMB’s church planting assessment and underwent training.

Once in Harlem, they made connections. Co-planting pastor Robin Carabin and his wife, Jessica, with more than a decade of experience serving Harlem, joined the work six months after the Calverts’ arrival. Eventually, small group Bible studies grew to monthly gatherings to twice-a-month meetings until Cultivate NYC officially launched in September 2022.

The church has office space, and on Sundays, the congregation of about 50 meets in a school in northwest Harlem. In neighborhood outreaches, they target West Harlem and the South Washington Heights area, about 30 blocks north of Central Park.

Within the Harlem church, people from all over the world are represented, speaking a variety of languages in addition to English, including French, Creole, Spanish, and German. “We are socioeconomically diverse, ethnically diverse, but united under the gospel,” Calvert said.

Meeting the people where they’re at

Texas churches are among those partnering with Cultivate NYC, especially during community outreaches.

CrossCreek assists with family days in the summer and children’s programs throughout the school year. Using a truck provided by another ministry organization and featuring a fold-down stage, Cultivate NYC members and volunteers take what Calvert called “a Sunday school on wheels” to strategic areas near massive apartment buildings after school 26 Fridays per year.

“We mirror the school semester,” Calvert says, noting that the day before, volunteers make home visits and pass out flyers.

The “Sunday school on wheels” features music and characters relating Bible stories. CrossCreek has even sent its children’s ministry mascots to make appearances. Church members engage parents who bring their kids down from nearby apartments. This past year, 10 moms professed faith in Christ and joined the church, along with their families.

The Family Day summer outreach serves some 800 families over two days. Families enjoy snacks, free haircuts, photo opportunities, and the chance to hear about Jesus.

First Baptist Church of Rowlett has made Cultivate NYC’s Christmas outreach possible, not only providing volunteers but also gifts to distribute, as well as meeting other financial needs.

“FBC Rowlett has sent mission teams twice with funds. They have funded 80 to 90% of what we have been able to do with the Christmas outreach,” Calvert said.

“It was as though God tapped me on the shoulder to notice this was a church."

—Cole Hedgecock Tweet

A divine appointment

The Rowlett connection began as a divine appointment.

When the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention sponsored a pastor prayer trip to New York in 2022, FBC Rowlett Senior Pastor Cole Hedgecock went, in his words, to “simply refresh, rest in God, and refocus.”

One morning during the trip, Hedgecock was strolling outside following a breakfast meeting with Colin Rayburn, SBTC Missions Mobilization associate. The men happened to walk by the Cultivate NYC office in Harlem.

Intrigued by the name on the door, Hedgecock paused.

“It was as though God tapped me on the shoulder to notice this was a church,” he recalled. “An intern opened the door and welcomed us, asking if we had any questions about the church. Then we met Pastor Luke and their team and felt like this was a divine church planting partnership appointment.

“Through the initial conversation, I just really felt like God wanted us to partner with Cultivate,” Hedgecock said. “We connected quickly with their team … and clicked with their heart for Harlem. It really was a God moment where I felt God directing this partnership.”

Since then, FBC Rowlett has taken two groups and nearly 30 people to NYC to help Cultivate with community outreach. FBC Rowlett also financially partners with Cultivate and stays in communication with its leadership team.

Hedgecock said he has been grateful and humbled by the connection, noting FBC Rowlett had been praying for some time about a missions/church planting partnership.

“When you go on a trip to focus on communicating with God, it should not surprise you when He speaks to you, taps you on the shoulder, and reveals directions He wants you to move,” Hedgecock said. “Prayer is not just talking to God … but also God speaks to our spirit in prayer. This was evidence of His greater desires for FBC Rowlett.”

A time to rest, recharge & recalibrate

Summer is here! This is a busy time for my family, but we always try to get away for a week or so. Though I love summer, I also realize these next couple of months will go by quickly. I certainly don’t want to get to the end of the season and wonder what I accomplished.

This is a great time to take a step back and evaluate the first half of the year and set goals for the rest of the year. I try to do this every summer. I want every moment of my life to count for God’s glory. However, if I am not diligent and intentional, time slips away and I find myself wondering why I didn’t do more or why I spent time on insignificant things.

As we arrive at the midpoint of the year, let me encourage you to do three things:

1. Take time to rest

Summer is a good time to be intentional about refreshing your heart and soul through resting. No, I don’t mean stop working, but simply find the times that are less busy and take some time for yourself.

2. Take time to grow

I love the summer schedule because it helps me to stop and redevelop a growth plan for my life. This may include practices such as more time in the Word, praying, or reading books that challenge me to be all I can be for our Lord. Take the time this summer to pause the noise and busyness and make a plan to grow.

3. Take time with your family

The older I get, the more I realize time is one of my greatest assets. I’m also aware more every day that time with my family is one of the greatest needs and investments I have. Summer often allows us to create special family moments and memories. I have heard it said that the older you get, the slower the days go by but the faster the years go by. This is so true. Create some space this summer to invest in your family. You will be grateful you did.

Life moves fast, but these few months give us a chance to be intentional. I pray the Lord gives you a great summer and that you are refreshed and ready to tackle the remainder of the year with energy and passion for Jesus. I love you and am honored to serve you.

Praying that Jesus will set a fire

Jimmy Pritchard served as the pastor of First Baptist Church Forney for 27 years before passing away in 2021. In 2010, he preached the convention sermon for our annual meeting of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. He was a wonderful pastor and leader and served as the chairman of the International Mission Board’s trustees. I served with Jimmy on a mission trip to India. What a great man of God he was!

Pastor Jimmy once told the story of when he served as the pastor of a church in southern Arkansas. The church had recently built a new parsonage for the pastor. He and his sons, who were 5 and 3 at the time, built a fire to burn some of the construction debris around the new house.

His wife, Jeannette, came outside and cautioned Jimmy that he should not do that, as the wind was blowing and could be dangerous. He said he was offended by her suggestion that he could not control the situation, so he made a snide comment about her going back in the house and ironing his shirts. As the wind blew upon the fire, little embers began to burn all around, leading Jimmy to stomp them out.

Then some of the little fires started getting bigger, so he asked his 5-year-old to go get a wet towel. Jimmy used the towel to put out the larger flames and, as he did, he noticed his wife standing at the door watching him. He asked her if she was going to help him, to which she replied, “I have shirts to iron.”

Then a fire lit in the top of the pine tree by his house, so he hollered out for her to call 911. He said everyone in southern Arkansas had a scanner, so when the call went out that the preacher’s house was on fire, everyone came—the rich, the poor, the sick, everyone. He would later make the point that when a church is on fire spiritually, the people will come—the rich, the poor, the sick. They all will come.

"Perhaps your love for Christ has grown cold and you need a fresh touch from the Holy Spirit to reignite your passion for Jesus."

Danny Forshee Tweet

John Wesley said, “When a pastor is on fire for Jesus, people will come and watch him burn!” My prayer for all our churches in the SBTC is that they will be led by hot-hearted pastors preaching the Word of God and sharing the gospel with the lost. I am praying even now for your pastor and your local church. Would it not be awesome if all our 2,700-plus SBTC churches were on fire for Christ!

How zealous are you personally for the things of God? Perhaps your love for Christ has grown cold and you need a fresh touch from the Holy Spirit to reignite your passion for Jesus. The Lord is worthy of our greatest devotion and efforts. Do what Pastor Mark Batterson suggested in his book The Circle Maker—draw a circle around yourself and ask God to move powerfully upon your life and revive your soul.

As the song powerfully states, “You deserve a fiery love that will not deny Your sacrifice.” Let us be on fire for Jesus, living and sharing the gospel until all in our cities and communities have heard the message of salvation. Ask the Lord to set your pastor and all in your church ablaze for the glory of Jesus, and then let us rejoice when people come to watch us burn brightly for our King.