This Far By Faith

Happy Anniversary, Church! Mount Welcome Missionary Baptist Church has been an instrument of the Kingdom of God for 123 years, and that is cause for celebration. The road hasn’t been easy, but God has led the way! There have been detours, exits, construction and delays but God’s has positioned us and guided us through it all.  God has brought us this far by the faith of our forebears and God kept us by our collective and personal faith.  From a living room to 581 Parker Avenue, God has been with this church every step of the Journey.

As I reflect on this 123-year journey, I realize it took a committed and faithful group to bring us thus far.  Our 123 years is possible because of God-led leadership, humble servants, and dedicated disciples.  Those who traveled this road before us believed, trusted, and acted on what God was doing #AtTheMount (Mount Welcome Missionary Baptist Church).

Those who travel with us must understand the importance of believing, trusting, and acting for the Kingdom of God.  If we are to make it to 246 years (and beyond) our mindset must be focused on God's purpose and direction for the church (the ecclesia) in general and Mount Welcome in particular.

We must believe what God is saying to us in this moment. As God casts a vision for us, we must be willing to see it and believe it. As God speaks through leadership, we must take hold of the vision and build on it.  Because of effective leadership we have made it thus far on this journey. With God's help, our leaders have navigated difficult and treacherous terrain.

As we've made this journey, we've had to trust God and what God was doing through the people that God put in place. Trust has been essential on this journey, when we failed to trust there was division and stagnation.  Faith requires us to trust what God is doing and believe what God is saying. We must have faith in God as we travel the road God has placed us on.  We must also trust what God is saying to our leaders.

Mount Welcome is what it is because those before us and even some who walk with us now believed what God was saying, trusted what God was doing and acted on what God desired.  James’ letter said it best, “faith without works is dead”. Our faith requires us to act for the Kingdom of God. If we are not doing for the church, we are failing God.  The church is an instrument of God's Kingdom building.

In the words of what would be a spiritual, “We've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord. Trusting in his holy word. He's never failed us yet. Oh, we can't turn around we've come this far by faith.”  Don't be discouraged with troubles in the church. “He’ll bear your burdens and move all discord and strife.  Just remember the good things he has done things that seemed impossible praise him for the victories he has won.”

We've come this far by faith.  We've come too far to turn around. We've come too far to stop moving. None of us know what tomorrow might bring but we know with God, victory will be ours.  Future generations are depending on us.