Page 13 - Western Recorder October Issue

Catt has served as senior pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., since 1989. The church has 3,000 members and has averaged 100 baptisms each year. The church has changed from a neighborhood church to a regional, multi-ethnic congregation with members from 11 nations. Sherwood has two campuses covering 100-plus
acres — the main church campus and the upper school campus and sports park.
Catt was executive producer of Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof and Courageous. He has authored numerous books, including the best-selling Fireproof Your Life and Prepare for Rain. He served as president of the Large Church Roundtable for 2018-19. He was president of the 2008 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference, representing over 42,000 churches.
He has served the Southern Baptist Convention as an IMB trustee, president of the Georgia Baptist Convention’s Preaching Conference and vice president of the Georgia Baptist Convention. He is recipient of the Martin Luther King Award and MLK Unity Award.
York has served as pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort since 2003. He led the 200-year-old church in growth that necessitated relocation to a 100-acre campus and new facilities. York frequently ministers internationally, especially in Brazil, where his father was a missionary.
York has served as the 11th dean of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s School of Theology since 2018, and as the Victor and Louise Lester Professor of Christian Preaching since 1999.
Since coming to Southern in 1997, York has authored two books on speaking and preaching and written dozens of articles in journals and online publications. His preaching has been featured in Preaching Today as among the best in North America, and he has twice preached at the International Congress on preaching in Cambridge, England. He served as president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention in 2005, and has served as a trustee on the International Mission Board.
His wife, Tanya, currently serves as a trustee on the North American Mission Board. She has spoken at numerous women’s conferences.
CATT
YORK
October 2020 ǀ Western Recorder 13
Better Together:
AUTEN
It’s a part of our calling
By JON AUTEN
Better Together. This sounds good and
true. In fact, this phrase agrees with what I learned as an RA from the Royal Ambassador pledge which leads us to declare that we will “work together in sharing Christ.” And yet, many of us have heard someone say, “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” So, which
is truly better? Solo heroics or faithful teamwork? What does God’s Word teach us?
In 1 Corinthians 3:6-9a, we read, “I planted, Apollos wa- tered, but God gave the growth. So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s coworkers.”
From these verses, I see three very clear truths.
First, we are co-workers with other kingdom workers. Paul did not elevate himself over Apollos. Instead he made it clear, “He who plants and he who waters are one.”
Second, we are working with God in His mission. We plant, labor and work, but God “gives the growth.”
Last, all the workers — Paul, Apollos, KBC church leaders and members, you and me — belong to God. When Paul says, “We are God’s co-workers,” he is not only showing we are positioned alongside God in the work, but we are also His possession deployed to do the work. The call from God to work together with other believers comes as a part of His call to the redeemed to work with Him in His kingdom.
This truth is echoed in our Royal Ambassador motto (We are ambassadors for Christ) and the verses that our motto is taken from, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God.’ He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working to- gether with him, we also appeal to you, ‘Don’t receive the grace of God in vain’” (2 Cor. 5:20-6:1).
Is working together better? Kentucky RAs believe so and stand ready to serve alongside all Kentucky Baptists who believe we are Better Together.
Jon Auten is missions consultant for boys and Kentucky Changers for Kentucky WMU.