At the most recent meeting of the Board of Trustees of Bethlehem College & Seminary, I presented a paper outlining a vision for the spreading of the mission of our school. As you may know, our mission statement is built around the mission statement of Bethlehem Baptist Church: “We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.” The most important verb in that statement is “spread.” That’s what we exist to do.
The implications of the word “spreading” are significant. At the very least, it means that we are not to be content with focusing just on the immediate work or task before us—even if we’re doing that work with excellence. It means that we should always be thinking of ways to maximize the impact of whatever it is we’re doing for the sake of advancing the Kingdom of God in as many ways and places as possible.
For us, the primary means of spreading a passion for God’s supremacy will always be the spreading of our graduates throughout the world as they serve in churches and mission organizations and through their very lives as they live out the Gospel wherever God plants them. But we can do more. And we should do more.
Over the last several months as I’ve thought more intentionally about the spreading impact of Bethlehem College & Seminary, it has begun to sink in to me that this mindset—that we can do more—is one that should be prevalent in all areas of life. We should always be thinking “we can do more”—both collectively and individually—for the cause of Jesus. Our churches could be doing more to reach the lost for Christ. I could be doing more to serve my family. I could be doing more in my neighborhood to let my neighbors know about Jesus. At Bethlehem College and Seminary we could be doing more to reach an increasing number of men and women for the sake of equipping the next generation of believers for radical, effective ministry in the years to come.
So that’s why I’m excited about the next phase of development here at our school. We want to take the spreading aspect of our mission to a new level. We want to now begin to focus on encouraging and equipping others to launch church-based theological training initiatives all across the country and throughout the world. Would you please pray with us toward that end? The need is greater and becoming greater with each passing year. We can do more.
Trusting the Lord for His strength to do more,
Tim Tomlinson
President
Bethlehem College & Seminary
Nick Roen’s Message at Chapel,
October 1, 2015: “Clarity and Compassion”
Join us for our weekly Chapel Service on Thursday, October 22nd, 12:45-1:45pm, featuring Todd Rasmuson for our Global Focus (Business as Mission).
Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray as we seek to look more and more outward in the fulfillment of the spreading imperative of our mission.
2. Please pray for our faculty and students as we approach the midterm portion of the semester. The major papers and exams that come due in the next week or so can be demanding and taxing. May they instead be a blessing to all.
3. We’ve just launched the Serious Joy Scholarship campaign. Please pray that there would be a generous, significant response to this initiative. This is the fuel that keeps Bethlehem College & Seminary fulfilling its mission.
