Samford students were encouraged to take their “most important work” to the global level during a special community worship service this past October.
Bryant Wright, president of the Georgia-based Send Relief ministry, was the featured speaker at Beeson Divinity School’s annual Go Global Missions Emphasis Week, held Oct. 4-6 and sponsored by the school’s Global Center.
Go Global offers students an opportunity to engage with missions representatives from around the world and hear from nationally renowned global missions speakers.
Focusing on the Great Commission in Matthew 28, Wright preached on “Your Most Important Work” during Oct. 4’s community worship service.
“Those of you who are in full-time vocational ministry and those of you who are training for full-time vocational ministry, there’s a special urgency that we all have in remembering what is most important in the mission that Jesus has given us,” Wright said.
Before starting at Send Relief, a compassion-based ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention, Wright was the founding pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia. During his sermon, Wright shared the personal story of how Johnson Ferry Baptist Church began with a small group of committed families meeting in a home.
“We came up with a budget of $88,000,” he said. “That included everything—the leasing, operating cost, the pastor’s salary. We (also) wanted to give at least a tithe to global missions, so we made the decision to give 11% of that $88,000 budget to global missions.”
This sacrificial commitment from a newly birthed congregation was more than a gift of financial resources. It was an expression of their hearts and their earnest desire to be actively involved in Christ’s Great Commission work around the world, he said.
“These guys had not been to Bible college, much less a divinity school or seminary,” Wright said, referring to the disciples in Matthew 28. “They hadn’t been outside of Israel. And they would go to the whole world to take this good news of Jesus! Wouldn’t you have some doubts?
“None of us will really grow in our ministry callings until we are in a situation that is so overwhelming to us in its challenge that it is a doubt-sized challenge—that from a human perspective we know we cannot do.”
David Parks, director of the Global Center and Contextual Learning at Beeson, said, “Bryant Wright’s experience and example of serving physical needs and sharing the gospel around the world was an encouragement to our students.”
The Global Center also hosted a Missions Agency Fair during Go Global, wherein agency representatives were available to discuss an array of missions opportunities, including domestic, international, long-term, short-term, internships, medical, education, business as mission, justice and law, media and the arts, and sports evangelism and fitness.
An M.Div. and missions certificate student, who plans to serve in a secure location upon graduation in December and wished to remain anonymous, said that Go Global has “been a blessing to me during my time as a student.”
“It’s so encouraging to hear about the diverse work that is going on in God’s world to reach the nations,” she said.
Learn more about the Global Center.
Watch Bryant Wright’s chapel sermon.
Prepare for missions. Earn an M.Div. + missions certificate.