First Thoughts | Blog Ministry | First Baptist Church

My Endorsement for SBC President

Written by Heath Lambert on January 10, 2022. Posted in First Thoughts.

The Way Leadership Works When God does a great work, he raises up a great leader. This is an obvious fact of Scripture. When God delivered his people from Egypt, he raised up Moses. When God wanted to rebuild his temple and Jerusalem, he raised up Ezra and Nehemiah. When God wanted to preach salvation to the Gentiles, he raised up Paul. Examples could be multiplied with David, Gideon, Elijah, Peter, John, and Jesus himself. What is true in Scripture is also true in Church history. Whenever God has given revival, he has given an Edwards, a Whitfield, a Wesley, a Spurgeon, or a Graham. A rule of redemptive history is that when God’s people are floundering, they are absent a leader. And Southern Baptists are floundering. A Leadership Problem One of the reasons Southern Baptists have been able...

Three Initiatives from First Baptist in 2022

Written by Sean Perron on December 27, 2021. Posted in First Thoughts.

The mission of First Baptist is to reach all of Jacksonville with all of Jesus for all of life. This vision is big and bold. It is a wide vision that includes everything in life – all of life. Whether it is washing dishes, selling property, sharing the gospel, voting, or approaching death, we want to bring every part of our lives under submission to the Lordship of Jesus. All of life includes doing everything in life to the praise of God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 1:12). Each week at First Baptist, we seek to accomplish this mission through the preaching and singing of God’s word. We teach the Bible every week in our Sunday School Classes and Life Groups. We are delivering biblical content to our church with the goal of transforming lives. Yet there is only so much that we can...