Edmund Burke one time noted, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” We are here this morning reminding ourselves of history. Not just any general history, but the 222-year history of Boone’s Creek Baptist Church. When you become as old as our church is, every year is an absolute blessing and every year is always a time to remember and to celebrate.
History teaches us many things for sure — the lessons we learn from them would most certainly suit us quite well. Churches — even old, or should I say “historic,” churches such as ours — will not make a lasting impact for eternity unless we are guided by our Good Shepherd. Our history has raised up some incredible men and women from this church. If I were to give all of you who have spent any time at all here in this church a piece of paper and were to ask you this question, “Name three people that God has used in your life here to help you grow in the faith,” we would have dozens of names. Many would be pastors, wouldn’t they? Absolutely — and that would be expected. Others would be deacons, Sunday School teachers, WMU and Baptist Men leaders. Some didn’t have a “title” or “office,” per se. They may have been just a dear saint how shared and told the love of Christ to you.
I recall a time shortly after I came that a longtime member felt he needed to move on to another church. He was a very faithful member of our church whom I had grown to love and respect greatly. Yet, a couple weeks after he left and word had finally gotten around that he was gone to another church in the area, I overheard one member say, “Did you hear he left? He was the cornerstone of this church!” You see, many times we truly believe, no matter how solid and doctrinally sound the church is, that its success or failure lies ultimately with men. Is that to say that men have no say in the matter? No, because God placed his church where he did in order to have obedient men and women serving as a living witness of God’s grace here and now. But what fuels these faithful men and women? Who would these faithful men and women point to?
The fact is, there is only one Cornerstone to our church — the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Yet, will we simply look at our glorious past and take comfort in how well we have served? The truth is, we must learn from the past but not live in it. What are some lessons we can take from the past that we can apply to the future? Let’s look.
(Tomorrow: We Are Who We Are Because He Is Who He Is)
To listen to this sermon in its entirety, click here.
Bro. Matt's Blog 