“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is a popular Christmas song written in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album, The Andy Williams Christmas Album. Most Christmas specials, musicals and plays will have this wonderful song on the playlist.
For us as believers in Jesus who have chosen to work together through the Southern Baptist Convention of churches in Indiana, it is a “wonderful time” because we celebrate Jesus together. Whether you do that through Advent, or feeding the hungry or musical expressions or special worship services or meals as a church family, we all choose to be together in December every year to celebrate the birth of a baby. Not just any baby, but our savior and king, Jesus!!
For us as believers in Jesus who have chosen to work together through the Southern Baptist Convention of churches in Indiana, we also choose to carry out Jesus’ mission to take the gospel to the world. We take up a special offering every December to support our worldwide, global, mission by giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.
You can learn more about Lottie Moon here: https://youtu.be/SePBGev7BXs
Your gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) go 100% to the missionaries. What you give each week through the Cooperative Program helps to pay for administrative costs of the International Mission Board, but what you give through the LMCO goes directly to the over 3000 missionaries all over the world.
The State Convention of Baptists in Indiana is encouraged that we have over a dozen missionaries in the field today telling their world about Jesus. They each have connections with SCBI churches. We can’t list their names here because of security issues, but we ask that you pray for the SCBI and IMB missionaries and that you promote this offering in your church during December and that you give to the Lottie Moon Offering.
It is my prayer that this Christmas season would be a great time of spiritual renewal, of relational harmony and gospel advance. I pray that the Lord would bring lost people into our churches and into relationships with His people so that ultimately, people would discover the Jesus of Christmas and the salvation that can only come through a personal relationship with Him.
From all of us here at the State Convention of Baptist in Indiana office, we want to wish all of our 445 churches a Very Merry Christmas!
Until Next Time,
Steve McNeil
A thank you video from the IMB – https://vimeo.com/181350693