INDIANAPOLIS — Tennessee Baptists have a strong contingent at the SBC’s 2024 Pastors Conference, both in the audience and in the pulpit.
When Adam Dooley, senior pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, delivered his sermon during the Tuesday afternoon session of the conference, he became the second pastor from a TBC church to preach at this year’s event. Bartholomew Orr, senior pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church (which is located in Southaven, Miss., but is a TBC church) preached the conference’s opening sermon on Monday night.
And there’s still more to come: Steve Gaines, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, will preach the conference’s final sermon on Monday night. Gaines is a former SBC president.
The Pastors Conference, which serves as the lead-in event for the SBC annual meeting, has the theme “Faithful: Pursuing Your Mission” for this year’s two-day event.
Dooley’s message, entitled “Faith Under Pressure” examined ways believers can feel and respond to the manifest presence of God and the Holy Spirit.
Dooley
Yes, God is always present, Dooley noted, but He works differently in different situations. For instance, Dooley said, God is present even in an empty room, but the Holy Spirit is felt when believers are in that room.
Preaching from Exodus 33, Dooley said there are four primary “musts” that believers need to follow in order to feel the manifest presence of God.
First, God’s people must abandon dead religion, Dooley said. Far too often, church-going people “want to be religious, but we don’t want a relationship with God,” he said. “We prefer God’s blessings more than God Himself.”
Dooley reminded the conference’s attendees that “the greatest gift that God gives us is Himself.”
Secondly, Dooley said, believers must lead by the Spirit. Regardless of how entertaining a church service might be, if God isn’t the focal point, then all is lost. “If God doesn’t show up, it is a waste of time,” he said, adding that if God doesn’t lead our churches, they aren’t going anywhere.
Thirdly, Dooley said believers must be distinct from the world, and lastly, he said believers must be driven by God’s glory. He said it doesn’t matter how knowledgeable the pastor is or how much of a “rock star” the music minister might be — if believers don’t seek the Holy Spirit, the worship service is a hollow event.
Dooley concluded by saying that believers should have a “devine encounter” each Sunday and at every event.
“When God shows up, it makes all the difference,” he said. “He is worthy of our praise. … There are none like him!” B&R
