Baptist General Association of Virginia kicked off the first main (or general) session of its 2024 annual meeting Nov. 11 with an evening worship service at First Baptist Church Alexandria. This year’s annual meeting is centered around the theme “Free Indeed” based in John 8:36.

Wayne Faison, BGAV executive director, welcomed those gathered, and a combined choir of children and adults from the host church sang.

Robert Stephens, senior pastor of FBC of Alexandria, spoke on the session’s topic, “Freedom in Church,” using Matthew 16:13–19 as his text.

‘Freedom in Church’

True freedom within the church and in life comes from having a bold and confident belief in Jesus as the Messiah, Stephens said. However, too many believers live with an attitude of uncertainty, just as Jesus’ disciples displayed in Matthew 16.

In response to Jesus’ question in verse 13 — “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” — the disciples give a “myriad of replies,” Stephens said: “John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah and others.”

But even after spending time with Jesus and seeing Him perform miracles of healing and feeding, their responses show a failure to fully understand who they are with. They clearly think highly of Jesus, but “have entirely no clue who Jesus is,” Stephens said.

The question Jesus presses then is the same one believers today must answer, Stephens said. “Who do you say Jesus is? Because how you answer that question is the difference between salvation and judgment … eternity in heaven or in hell … a matter of life or death.”

Peter answers correctly when He proclaims Jesus “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (v. 16).

“True disciples will all come to a place of making that confession, and you will find freedom, both individually and as a church, when you are able to boldly and without shame proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah,” Stephens said.

Community prayer roaming

He spoke of FBC Alexandria’s commitment to pray for all the 71,000 households and families in its community to open their hearts and minds to receiving the good news of Jesus. Some 30,000 families have been prayed for so far, he said, and only four people have said, “Don’t pray for me.”

“They have welcomed us to roam through our community and pray for them,” he said. “What the church does not need is another growth strategy. What the church does not need is better marketing or a new paradigm in leadership. … What the world needs is for the Father to reach down into the heart of the minds of the lost and bring about the heart change and the transformation that only He is capable of doing.”

“Friends, don’t just hang on. Don’t just try to keep up. Recognize that you carry a promise from almighty God. You carry a message that will change someone’s life for all eternity. … If we want freedom, it is found only in Christ.”

Carter Tan, lead pastor of Grace Chinese Baptist Church of Richmond, gave the closing prayer.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was compiled by The Baptist Paper, with reporting by the Baptist General Association of Virginia.