September 13, 2026 - Mark 14-16

I suppose it is proper that, on this morning of Baxter’s missions weekend in which we are beginning more directly to point toward December and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for Foreign Missions, that our Bible reading is found at the end of the Gospel of Mark, which includes this:  “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (16:15).  The people of Baxter will gather, this morning, for fellowship and worship with a particular focus on the Great Commission and missions.  It is interesting, isn’t it, that the last recorded words of Jesus to his disciples – here, also, Luke 24:46-47, John 20:21, Acts 1:8 – instructed regarding the one thing they were to do.  They were to preach the gospel and call people to lives lived for the Savior.  The singular purpose for the founding of our own Southern Baptist Convention is consistent with these words of Jesus.  Consider The Preamble, which calls for a plan for “eliciting, combining and directing the energies of the whole denomination in one sacred effort, for the propagation of the Gospel.”  And Article II, which stated the goal to promote foreign and domestic missions and other Christian benevolent objects.  Here is our work to preach the gospel to all!

We’ve a story to tell to the nations

that shall turn their hearts to the right,

a story of truth and mercy,

a story of peace and light,

a story of peace and light.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

and the dawning to noonday bright,

and Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth—

the kingdom of love and light.   -- H. Ernest Nichol (1896)