Lee Brand, pastor of Faith Baptist, Bartlett, preaches from Psalm 34 during the Summit’s Pastors Conference and urges pastors to, above all, praise the Lord and his majesty, saying worship comes with trusting God’s eternal, unshakable lordship. — Photos by Jim Veneman
JACKSON — Christ-followers will never convince people of the great glory of our God while parading around our own wisdom, explained Mac Brunson at the 2025 Tennessee Baptist Convention Pastors Conference at West Jackson Baptist Church on Nov. 10.
Understanding the tremendous burden pastors carry and the struggle it is for them to rely on God’s wisdom, Matt Brown, pastor of Germantown Baptist Church, and president of this year’s conference, chose the theme, “I Will Boast,” based on Jeremiah 9:23-24. The theme was designed to exhort pastors to labor well in serving God’s kingdom and claim no glory for themselves or their ministries.
“The theme of this year’s conference aims to encourage the weary pastor … to boast in his weaknesses so that Christ is exalted,” Brown said. “To redirect the passions of the ambitious pastor so that his boast is only in the cross of the Lord Jesus, and … to shape the preaching and the daily ministry of the busy pastor so that his boast is in the Lord and not in himself.”
Lee Tankersley, pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Jackson, opened the conference by preaching from Philippians 2:18-20 and urged pastors to labor faithfully so their ministry “may not be in vain” on the day of Christ. As pastors, Tankersley said, their goal should mirror the aim of Paul: the perseverance of those whom they shepherd.
“We are like a general saying to his soldiers, ‘I will get you home,’” Tankersley said. “As pastors to our congregations, what we’re saying to them is … ‘By the grace of God, I will do everything in my power to deliver you home in the arms of Jesus.’”
Such a goal, Tankersley admitted, will require hard work and sacrifice on the part of pastors. “When we signed up for pastoral ministry, we did not sign up for a life of ease,” he said. “We signed up for a life whereby we would take our cues from the Great Shepherd, who laid down his life for us and calls us to lay down our life for our sheep.”
James “Jamie” Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, La., continued the theme of suffering with a sermon about boasting in weakness from II Corinthians 11:16-12:10.
Without recognizing weakness, Dew said, it is impossible for pastors to be sanctified and set apart from the world and its hubris — to identify and walk “sincerely and authentically” with their crucified Lord.
“There are so many people in the kingdom that are paralyzed by what they’re not,” Dew said. “What we have to understand is that God’s interested [in] making us the right kind of people. And in our weakness, God works to protect us from ourselves. God works to grow our character. He brings and allows suffering into our lives so that godliness is forged.”
God never promised to shield his children from all hardship. Rather, Dew explained, God made a covenant to give his people “sufficient grace” and use their weaknesses for His glory.
“Which of us has the power to reach into somebody’s soul and flip a switch and redeem them? I don’t. You don’t,” Dew said. “When we’re up against the wall and we’re in a moment that’s just beyond ourselves, only in that weakness can we ever find the power of God.”
Preaching from Galatians 6:12-18, Chase Sears, pastor of Tulip Grove Baptist Church in Old Hickory, Tenn., described the idea of boasting in the cross — an outwardly offensive, grotesque instrument of capital punishment.
“Why would anyone boast in an executioner’s tool for death?” Sears asked. “Only if the wielding of that tool accomplished something — if it accomplished justice, if it accomplished peace and joy knowing that that instrument of death eliminated our greatest enemy, our greatest problem and our greatest fear.”
Instead of relying on external, symbolic measures such as circumcision as early Christians tended to do, Sears said pastors should guide their congregations to find identity, acceptance and life in the only one who can truly save: Jesus Christ.
“Our public ministry comes down to the private ministry,” Sears said. “We’d better be able to shepherd those sheep who are inwardly looking for some grain of confidence, something to assuage their guilt. And we get to say, ‘Remember Christ crucified on your behalf. He’s declared you a child of God.’”
Greg Belser, pastor of Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton, Miss., turned his attention to II Thessalonians 1, encouraging pastors to boast in their congregations. Like a secular film director showcases the glory of galloping horses, pastors should anticipate and highlight the coming glorification of their churches, Belser explained.
“Your job is to remind them Sunday after Sunday after Sunday that there is a glory that’s coming that exceeds any horse race or any horse movie they’ve ever seen,” Belser said. “There’s going to be a battle royale. It’s not going to last very long, but it’s going to be mighty impressive.”
Before the battle, however, Belser said churches need to be characterized by steadfastness — preaching the gospel as the expectant bride of Christ.
“We should boast in the church because we are not victims,” Belser said. “We are the people of Almighty God.”
Stepping into the Old Testament, Lee Brand, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Bartlett, Tenn., used Psalm 34 to urge pastors to, above all, praise the Lord and his majesty. “What do you give to the God who’s given you everything?” Brand asked. “We give Him the gift of ourselves, and then we give him the offering … We owe God worship.”
This worship, Brand said, comes with trusting God’s eternal, unshakable lordship — knowing that no matter the inner and outer turmoil each pastor faces, God will not fail.
“It’s one thing to celebrate when the fourth quarter has ended,” Brand said.
“It’s a whole other thing to celebrate the kickoff. [David] doesn’t know yet all that God is going to do to give him what God promised him. But he understands that that promise is as sure as the God who gave it.”
To close this year’s conference, Brunson, pastor of Valleydale Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., exhorted pastors to boast in the Lord’s wisdom. Preaching from I Corinthians 1:26-31, Brunson challenged pastors to spurn division.
“I’m afraid in our day, we are far more of a personality cult than we are a people that’s hungry for the will of God,” Brunson said.
Brunson continued by outlining a brief history of Western philosophy, ultimately finding that the human mind leads only to “absolute theater of the absurd.” Therefore, Brunson concluded, human philosophy amounts to nothing in comparison to God, giving pastors no choice but to lean on God’s wisdom in every circumstance.
The truth is, you have nothing to boast about because nothing can boast about nothing,” Brunson said.
To close the conference, Brunson beseeched pastors to continuously hold to the simple gospel truth: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
OFFICERS
Sam Greer, pastor of Red Bank Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn., and the president-elect for this year’s conference, will serve as the president for the 2026 conference held at the Sevierville Convention Center in Sevierville.
Johnny McCartney, pastor of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Bradford, was chosen as the 2026 president-elect, and Richard Rea, pastor of The Point in Chattanooga, was elected as secretary-treasurer. B&R
