First Baptist Church of Madison, North Carolina

Vol.9, Issue 8 Nuthin’ But Grace August2015

I think we have a great church. I’m always proud to share with other ministers the kind of fellowship we are and how we minister to our community the message of God’s grace for all people. But specifically why do I believe ours is a great church? After all in a culture where size matters, how is it that a small group of Christ’s disciples gathered in an aging facility in a rural small town could ever make that claim? Doesn’t common wisdom decree that a genuinely great church is overflowing with people, have enormous monetary assets, a charismatic and well-known pastor famous for his many books and a television star to boot? Well let me challenge those ideas as I describe what I think makes a church authentically healthy and remarkable:

A great church cares for every member, welcomes every guest, and reaches out to all her neighbors.In the nine years I’ve served as your pastor, I’ve never, not once, had anyone suggest to me that we ought to exclude anyone from the ministry of this church. There is no asterisks on our welcome mat (“All Welcome – except…”). We know that the teaching of Jesus and the example of the early church was an unqualified welcome to all. And we choose to be the kind of church that cares for all and turns no one away.
A great church not only allows diversity it embraces all God’s children. We are a people of many opinions and not all of them agree. What we do agree on is the essential value of each person and their sincerity in following Christ as best as they can. Because we are diverse in many ways we are strong in grace.
A great church welcomes new ways of ministering while remembering her theology and traditions.Honoring our Christian traditions and theology does not mean there can be no creativity, no change. The way we express ministry in the 21st century should help bring people into our tradition and theology, not distract them into thinking we are a modern invention disconnected from our past.
A great church is positive about the future because it knows the Kingdom of God is on its way. It never ceases to amaze me (and sadden me) at how negative many Christians are these days. I believe, on the contrary, that we are a positive people who view the Gospel (good news) of Jesus as the greatest reason to be hopeful and optimistic about the future. Remember what we pray together every Sunday, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We try to follow Jesus in this positive perspective.
A great church endures.Do you realize that next year we will celebrate our 175th anniversary? I’m not entirely sure, but I think that might make us the oldest continually operating organization in Madison (Even the town government shut down for a few years following the Civil War). Just think about that. We have endured through war, the boom and decline of tobacco economy, the boom and decline of the mill economy, segregation, Jim Crow, and civil rights. Through all of these and more this church has been a witness of God’s grace. We endure by God’s grace.
A great church has a legacy of great and enduring leaders. One of the factors I considered before I accepted a call as your pastor was the record of previous pastors. I was impressed then and still am at the wise and steady leadership of all the men who came before me. Specifically, Dr. Larry Bennett led this church with wisdom and love for over three decades before I arrived. In that pivotal time in the Baptist experience Larry kept us focused on our “free and faithful” Baptist heritage. I’m proud to say Larry is my friend and I owe him a debt of gratitude I can best repay by ensuring our course into the future is likewise guided wisely.
A great church resists doing the popular thing in order to do the right thing.Those who are looking for church that reinforces their bigotries and isolates on their particular cultural issues will not break down the doors to get into our church. From our inception First Baptist (originally Madison Missionary Baptist Church) we have resisted the tide. When we began most Baptists in this area believed that God elected some to be saved and some to be damned and there was nothing we could or should do about it. The ones who founded this church read the Bible differently. They believed that “God is not willing that any should perish” and that the great commission of our Lord is to “Go into all the world and share the good news and baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”What was a minority opinion then is the prevailing opinion today.

We still care about telling the truth and doing the right thing! And that is why you can with confidence and pride invite others to fellowship with us. Call someone you know today and tell them about our great church and then invite them along next time we meet.

Grace,

Chuck

Ththe mountaintops and ignore the trained guides and their work on getting us there and the personal discipline necessary to make the journeys.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH NON PROFIT ORG.

P.O. Box 209 PERMIT # 45

MADISON, NC 27025 MADISON, NC 27025

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