First Baptist is a “big tent” kind of church. If you could put us all on one pew you would have the full spectrum of theological and political diversity. But the center pole of the big tent, the thing that holds us together in spite of our differences, is our shared belief that Jesus is Lord.
It’s a confession that goes back to the first century, back to that time when Jesus was inviting ordinary people—fishermen and tax collectors—to follow him.
Notice that he didn’t ask them if they believed that he had been born of a virgin or that he would rise bodily from the dead. He simply said, “Follow me.” I think he knew that if they spent enough time with him they would figure out who he was.
We think that’s still true, and that’s what we’re trying to do at First Baptist Church: we’re trying to spend enough time with Jesus to figure out who he is and what he wants.
When those first disciples asked, “Lord, teach us to pray,” Jesus taught them to pray that God’s kingdom would come and God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. The kingdom was his passion. His “good news” was that it was coming (Mk. 1:15). He mentioned it 120 times in the Gospels, more than anything else, and certainly more than heaven and hell, because he wasn’t just trying to get people to heaven:
He was trying to bring heaven to earth.
As his modern-day disciples that’s what we’re trying to do: we’re trying to be an answer to the Lord’s prayer, a living, breathing embodiment of the gospel. Our mission is small enough to fit on a license plate but big enough to change the world. It’s KOH2RVA—bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Richmond, Virginia—and beyond! How do we do that? We simply look around for anything that doesn’t look like heaven, and then roll up our sleeves and get to work.
Will you join us?
