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Messianics to focus on ‘Kingdom Purpose’


BALTIMORE (BP) — Partnering with other groups to evangelize Jewish people, increasing multiethnic church planting and promoting Cooperative Program giving by Jewish congregations will be among the topics discussed at the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship meeting June 6-7 in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Baltimore.

With a theme of “Kingdom Purpose,” SBMF members and guests will meet Friday, June 6, at 7 p.m. in the Latrobe Room of the Hilton Baltimore. They will reconvene Saturday, June 7, at 9:30 a.m.

The theme encourages Messianic Jews (Jews who follow Jesus as Messiah) to work “together with other Jewish evangelism groups to bring the Good News to the Jewish people group,” SBMF President Ric Worshill said. “We are a small group and we need to partner with other sound and grounded associations who do the same work.”

Speakers at the meeting will include Bruce Stokes, SBMF vice president and pastor of the DiscipleCenter in Anaheim Hills, Calif., and Michael Herts, SBMF missions development manager and founding leader of B’nai Avraham Messianic Fellowship in Hampton, Va.

In a business session, attendees will discuss possible increased involvement in the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism. Individual SBMF members have affiliated with the consultation in the past, but now the entire group will consider joint participation, Worshill said.

Messianic congregations also will be encouraged to send additional church planters and learn about an online messianic studies diploma program available through New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Worshill’s appointment to the SBC’s Multi-Ethnic Advisory Council will be discussed as a platform for helping Southern Baptists reach Jews with the message that Jesus is the promised Messiah. The Multi-Ethnic Advisory Council is a ministry initiative to help SBC entity leaders more fully understand and appreciate the perspectives of churches and church leaders from a variety of ethnic groups as they partner to reach America and the nations with the Gospel.

“We will attempt to encourage our members to engage their congregational members to become more involved in ministries outside the walls of their congregations,” Worshill said. “We must be actively involved, understanding the urgency of ministering to the lost and building up missionaries willing to be sent out to minister in the local church in Jewish evangelism and start more Jewish evangelistic congregations.”

There is great need for believers “to actually go out into their community,” Worshill said, “not just to touch people’s hearts and minds but to give part of their life to the people in their community so that those people see that life that comes from Christ and are able to open up and listen to the message.”

For more information about the 2014 SBMF meeting or to find out more about the SBMF, visit www.sbmessianic.net.
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David Roach is Baptist Press’ chief national correspondent. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).