Many years ago, a couple in our church who were simply obeying the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20 had no idea how God would use their service to the Lord in the future. Raymond and Elsie invited the children of their new neighbors to Vacation Bible School at Southside. After VBS, they invited the children to Sunday School. They consistently brought the children to church and they were all saved in due time. After that, the parents started coming and were saved as well.
Time passed on and one of those children, Frank Page surrendered to the call to serve in ministry at Southside during his teenage years. He went to college, seminary, and has pastored numerous churches since. In 2006, he was elected as President of the Southern Baptist Convention. Today, October 1, 2010 he began as the new CEO and President of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. For the past 3 months he has been in training with Dr. Morris Champman whose retirement was official yesterday.
Now that Dr. Frank Page is serving in the lead role for Southern Baptist, we can see how God works to build a legacy of faith. God used Raymond and Elsie, who still are faithful members of Southside today, over 50 years ago to reach this young man for JESUS. Now, that same man is traveling all over the world and has the opportunity to lead the way for salvation to come to so many.
WOW, that is such a powerful reminder of how important it is to reach out to our community. When you get tired, discouraged or weary, just remember that your invitation for someone that is lost might just be an invitation that God uses to change the world. Also, since we live in a day in which so many say that Vacation Bible School and Sunday School are no longer effective, this story just proves that these ministries are very effective so we should continue to make them a priority in our lives and in our churches.
Elsie told one of our members this week about this story that was posted on Baptist Press last week,
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
Let this be a challege for you, who will we seek to bring to JESUS?
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