By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
Tennessee Baptist Convention President Steve Freeman, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Springfield, delivers the annual president’s address during the Tuesday (Nov. 14) session of Summit.
— Photo by Corinne Rochotte
HENDERSONVILLE — On his final day as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, Steve Freemen joked that he was never able to completely define his role.
“I don’t know what it means to be president, but I’ve had a great time trying to figure it out,” Freeman said on Nov. 14 while delivering the annual president’s message at Summit. “It has been an awesome journey.”
Freeman, who introduced new president David Leavell to the convention attendees earlier that day, is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Springfield. He said one of his favorite parts of serving as the president of the convention was being able to forge new friendships and fellowship with old ones.
“I have traveled the state from border to border, corner to corner, to meet with just about anybody who would meet with me, especially pastors,” said Freeman.
“I have a heart for pastors, and I tried to do what I could to encourage them,” he said. “It has been a privilege to meet so many mighty men of God, who are serving some wonderful churches in Tennessee.”
Freeman saw some great triumphs during his tenure, but also dealt with many heartbreaking developments.
“The positives have outweighed negatives, but yes, there have been a few negatives,” he said.
“This has been a trying year in the state of Tennessee, and really, all across the nation.”
Just a few days after being elected, Freeman traveled to Chattanooga to counsel with those who lost family members and friends in a tragic bus crash. Other difficult days during Freeman’s term included multiple church shootings, the riots created by racism and the natural disasters that claimed many lives and caused millions of dollars in damages.
“Through the positives and negatives, the opportunity is great for the Kingdom of God,” he said.
After reflecting on the past year, Freeman then turned to the future, challenging the pastors in attendance to “rescue the perished.” He noted that those who are lost are not “perishing.” They are actually already gone.
Freeman spoke about the four components of pastoring and preaching that God uses to rescue the perished:
God positions His preachers. Freeman reminded pastors that they have been selected by the Lord. “God has handpicked you, out of seven billion people,” he said. “Let that be encouraging to you. He’s got a particular place for you, right where He needs you to be.” Freeman noted the average tenure of a senior pastor is only three-and-a-half to five years. “I believe we might be dabbling a little bit in God’s business. I believe sometimes in our minds, or in our hearts, we experience ‘the big eyes,’ ” he said, referring to the desire to move to a bigger church.
God reveals the reality. Freeman said the Lord will show pastors both the good and bad in their harvest field. “God is going to take you out and give you a viewpoint of your ministry,” he said.
God examines your expectations. Freeman said the Lord is always wanting to do something big in the church. But the pastor’s heart needs to be open to it. “He’s getting you in place to do something incredible,” said Freeman. “He is going to see if you are ready to handle what He is going to do. He wants to see if your expectations are the same as His desire. If you don’t believe it, how are you going to receive it?”
God parades His power. Freeman said the Lord loves to remind us that He can do all things. “We serve a powerful and mighty God,” said Freeman. “He loves to put His power on display. When there’s power in the pulpit, there’s rattling in the pews. When we get to preaching, God gets to fixing.”
