9343.jpg)
- Convention retiree Bob Cook dies after extended illness
- Pastors reminded to honor calling at annual conference
- Conference breakout sessions focus on pastors family, Christian life, leadership & transition
- Love: What the world needs now
- Florida Baptists celebrate evangelism, church planting & church strengthening priorities
- Hughes urges pastors: Go for the ‘big ask’ of members, themselves
- State Board of Missions hears report from past presidents on GCR
- FBSC messengers applaud pastors who have served 60-plus years
- Messengers in Pensacola approve nominees for Florida’s SBOM & agencies
- Florida Focus
- Latest Stories...
RSS News Feed
LAUREN URTEL
Florida Baptist Convention
 |
| Intercessory prayer times offered points of praise and preparation during the annual meeting in Lakeland. FBC photo by Ken Touchton |
 |
| Click on image for related coverage |
LAKELAND (FBC)—Hand-in-hand, more than 1,500 Florida Baptists gathered in intercessory prayer to lift up their churches, their state and their nation during the annual Florida Baptist State Convention Nov. 10-11 at the First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland.
Each of the four intercessory prayer times began with Rick Shepherd, director of the Convention’s Prayer and Spiritual Awakening Department, offering prayer points based on the Convention session themes. The times concluded with prayer offered by Florida Baptist Convention staff and leaders.
During the session, “Praise the Lord,” Shepherd called upon Florida Baptists to thank God for the passing of the marriage amendment, plead for Him to work in the transition of the president, and to “ask God to revive the love of church.”
 |
| FBC photo by Ken Touchton |
Trail Martin, pastor of New Beginnings Church in Clearwater, then prayed for unity among Florida Baptists and for God to “continue to direct our path as Southern Baptists.”
Spotlighting diversity in the state during the session, “Prepare the People,” Shepherd was joined by Frank Moreno, director of the Convention’s Language Division, as he called for prayer for diversity of the state’s language population, for the mission of each church and of each individual.
 |
| Maxie Miller, head of the African American division of the Florida Baptist Convention, prays with Robert Smith, professor of Christian preaching at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Ala. Smith later delivered a message. FBC photo by Ken Touchton |
Moreno asked God to “help us to be faithful witnesses, particularly to language people. Give us a sense of urgency to share the Gospel with them.”
Highlighting “Proclaim the Message,” Shepherd directed those in attendance to pray for creativity in sharing their message, to ask God to reveal His message, and for other messengers and lost friends.
“Grant us the passion and zeal to let our blessing flow to the lost world. Help us to see opportunities to be ambassadors,” concluded Maxie Miller, the Convention’s African-American Division Director.
“We need to look at our part in the mission of the world,” said Shepherd as he focused on the “Pray for the Harvest.” He told individuals to pray for their mission field, their church’s mission field and for their cities.
 |
| FBC photo by Ken Touchton |
As she prayed for the harvest, Carol Vandeventer of Ocala, president of Florida Woman’s Missionary Union, petitioned, “Give us eyes in Jesus to see people in need and hurting. Make us a willing vessel to reach those in our communities, in the state of Florida and around the world.”