David Platt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, will deliver this year’s convention sermon as part of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s (BSC) annual meeting, scheduled Nov. 14-15 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro.
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David Platt |
The theme of this year’s meeting is “Impact: Compelling the Lost to Come to Life” based on Luke 14:23, which reads “Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled’” (NKJV).
Platt will preach during a special “Impact” worship service, which begins at 6:30 p.m. on Tues., Nov. 15. The service will also include musicians from The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, who will lead attendees in worship.
“I’m looking forward to gathering together with you, worshipping that night, diving into the word and encouraging one another as we work [and] partner together for the spread of the gospel from North Carolina to the nations,” Platt said.
The “Impact” worship service will mark the culmination of the two-day annual meeting in which messengers will be challenged to impact their world for Christ. Throughout the meeting, messengers and attendees will hear ministry reports and testimonies about how the lost are coming to faith in Christ and reaching others with the gospel, here in North Carolina, across the country and around the world.
The “Impact” worship service and all of the sessions of annual meeting are free and open to the public.
BSC President Timmy Blair Sr., pastor of Piney Grove Chapel Baptist Church in Angier, will deliver the annual president’s address on Monday night (Nov. 14), and Milton A. Hollifield Jr., BSC executive director-treasurer, will share an update on the convention’s strategy of “impacting lostness through disciple-making” on Tuesday morning.
Messengers will also elect new convention officers, adopt a Cooperative Program budget and conduct other convention business during the annual meeting. Messengers and attendees can also learn practical ways they can have an impact for Christ through a number of breakout sessions scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Other events scheduled in conjunction with annual meeting – such as the Heavenly Banquet, Great Commission Partnerships breakfast and sessions on partnerships with Boston, New York and Toronto – will spotlight how N.C. Baptists can be involved in missions on the local, state, national and international levels.
Through the various ministry reports, testimonies, breakout sessions and related events, messengers will learn about the changing landscape of North Carolina and how to minister and reach others in communities that are becoming increasingly diverse. Individuals from parts of the world that have little or no access to the gospel are now calling North Carolina home, which has created a tremendous opportunity for a global gospel impact.
“Acts. 17:25-27 makes clear that God is orchestrating the movement of peoples that they might seek Him and be found by Him,” Platt said. “God is doing that in North Carolina. He’s bringing the nations to you in all sorts of specific ways, in specific communities and in specific cities.
“I just want to encourage you to continue to open your eyes to the opportunities that are right around you for the spread of the gospel to the nations right there in North Carolina, and then to connect that work in North Carolina with what God is doing in those actual nations far from North Carolina.”
Visit the annual meeting website – ncannualmeeting.org – to make room reservations, register for other related events and check out the complete program schedule.