Living the Great Commission

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

 

Introduction

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 Peter 3:8

• When I first walked in the door, we were just months away from our 90^th anniversary,
• And now, here we are 5 years later celebrating our 95^th
• If you blink your eyes, we’ll be celebrating our 100^th
• That’s the way it is with God – time is irrelevant – it’s only about the mission.
• Or shall I say the great co-mmission because it was only 2000 years ago that Jesus gave it
• It was only 95 years ago that He gave it again to a little church nearby named North Run.
• You see God put it on their heart to plant a brand-new church in a brand-new neighborhood.
• On February 8, 1929, a group of 74 members of North Run Baptist Church met at Longdale School for the purpose of organizing a church in the Biltmore neighborhood.
• What was it like in 1929? The last year of the Roaring 20’s.  According to History.com:

The Roaring Twenties was a period in American history of dramatic social, economic and political change. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and gross national product (GNP) expanded by 40 percent from 1922 to 1929. This economic engine swept many Americans into an affluent “consumer culture” in which people nationwide saw the same advertisements, bought the same goods, listened to the same music and did the same dances. The Jazz Age of the 1920s roared loud and long, until the excesses of the Roaring Twenties came crashing down as the economy tanked at the decade’s end.

• The 1929 stock market crash in New York was a turning point in US history. It marked the beginning of the Great Depression, a period of economic hardship that would last for many years.
• But that didn’t happen until October – It’s only February and there is still optimism.
• The Richmond-Ashland Trolley line passing within blocks of Biltmore church gave rise to the new Biltmore community as one of the earliest Richmond suburban developments.
• God saw the future of this little neighborhood and claimed it for Himself and here’s what happened:

1. There was a need.
2. There was a call.
3. There was an answer.

1. There was a need

• It was the roaring 20’s. World War 1 was over, and it was time to party.
• Nothing to worry about: Speculators had driven the stock market to record highs.
• God knew all that was going to happen in this world in just a few months.
• God knew that, although things looked bright and promising, it would get bad. Really bad
• The people moving to Biltmore were unaware of what lay ahead.
• We, of course, know what happened because it was in our past, but for God it is all the same: past, present, and future.
• Think about what Jesus told the disciples about His second coming in Luke 17:26-35:

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

 

“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.  But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

 

“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.  On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.  Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.  I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

• Think back to February 1929 and all the events of the day and does it sound familiar?
• God knew that this sweet little neighborhood needed Jesus to come and save it.
• Now, fast forward to now and think about what is going on in our world.
• God sees that they need Jesus now just like they did in 1929 and that’s why we are here.

2. There was a call

• God knew that a new church needed to be planted in the Biltmore community.
• So, He reached out to a tiny country church that was within a few miles of Biltmore.
• North Run Baptist church was established in 1832 and was one of the oldest in the area.
• North Run heard the call and sent 74 people to start up this new church that we celebrate today.
• Isn’t this how God does everything? He taps people on the shoulder and says: “I need your help.”
• It’s how I got here: God tapped me on the shoulder and said “get over there!”
• And it isn’t just me by the way; every one of you here and on the ZOOM call are here for a reason.
• As we celebrate our 95^th anniversary, we celebrate God’s call to serve His will.
• What does it mean to be called by God? Live, Hope, and Truth.com says:

A calling from God is the process by which the Father draws (or calls) a person to Himself. It includes God’s opening a person’s mind to understand spiritual truth, and it is literally an invitation to salvation for that individual.

• God drew the folks from North Run in close and opened their minds to the need to plant a church for the people of the Biltmore community.
• And here, 95 years later, God is calling you and me in close to Him and opening our minds to the needs of a community far beyond the Biltmore neighborhood.
• For us living in the world, 95 years have passed, but for God, NO time has passed.
• The need hasn’t changed; God never changes; and He never stops calling.

 

3. There was an answer

• The people of North Run Baptist church answered God’s call.
• They built the first floor of this building…. and then October happened.
• The bottom dropped out of the economy and there was poverty suddenly everywhere.
• It would be another 5-6 years before the sanctuary layer was put on the cake.
• There were homeless people who couldn’t afford food or clothing all around them.
• Doesn’t it kind of remind you of the way things are today?
• In the years to come, things got better and better and Biltmore Baptist church grew and thrived.
• The church was large and powerful, full of children and youth and young families.
• The softball team was the pride of the church league.
• I’m actually not the first bi-vocational pastor; for the first 10 years Biltmore shared a pastor with Glen Allen Baptist.
• Although Biltmore is not the oldest Baptist church in the area, it was once the largest.
• Most of all, Biltmore has a long history of answering the call.
• 95 years have passed, but the need hasn’t changed.
• 95 years have passed, but the call hasn’t changed.
• How we answer the call has had to change to match the reality of the times we live in.
• The fact is: we are an outpost of God’s plan to reach people to save them.
• This world can be a very cruel place and people are in trouble.
• People are in more trouble because they don’t trust God and especially don’t trust church.
• Answering God’s call hasn’t gotten any easier – that’s for sure.
• I don’t suppose it was any easier for our predecessors when the stock market crashed.
• Technology was much different back then.
• The first telephone was installed in the White House in 1929.
• Technology has made the bad things not only happen faster, but our awareness of bad things comes much faster.
• Yes, it’s a very different world today than it was 95 years ago; and it will be a very different world when we blink our eyes and stand here celebrating 100 years.
• In 1929, answering the call meant organizing a new church fellowship and building a new building.
• In 2024, answering the call means organizing a missions program that moves at light speed.
• We reached 9427 people instantly through Facebook in the last 28 days.
• We gained 39 new followers, adding a new person every day.
• Barbara Jean is constantly pushing our missions activities to Facebook and people respond instantly.
• We can’t afford a church office or a church secretary, but we have a virtual office.
• Calls and emails are handled instantaneously by me from wherever I am.
• People attend church virtually and donate virtually all at the speed of light.
• The need is still here 95 years later.
• God’s call is still here 95 years later.
• And the methods of answering the call may have changed, but one thing hasn’t changed:
• Biltmore Baptist Church is here and alive and strong as we answer God’s call to serve.