Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-3)
This Pastor can certainly relate to the call of Abram and on many levels. The year is 1973, Richard M. Nixon has been re-elected to a second term as a president of the United States, unemployment is 5.5%, and I am an Associate Minister (we were called “local preachers” then) at Riceville Mount Olive Baptist Church. I might add, Odessa and I were quite content with the status quo. (Is it not just like God to disrupt the status quo and to move us out of our place of comfort and away from the familiar?).
Rev. C.L. Miller was the Pastor here at Friendship, and he asked this “local preacher” to take care of the services for him. When this Pastor and family came to the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on the second Sunday of May, 1973, we found warm, caring, loving people who loved the Lord. There were not many members (enough for a Pastor in the making) and the building was in need of repair, but this was (and still is) a “good church.” It was not about numbers or physical plant (not then, not now), but it has always been about the Lord Jesus Christ. As with Abraham, God has been faithful to this Pastor and to the Friendship family.
For the past forty-three years, corporately, we have been on a journey. During this journey, we have at some time or another, witnessed all of life’s experiences. In every circumstance and in every experience of life, God has been faithful! He has truly blessed this Pastor. I share the sentiments of the sweet Psalmist of Israel, David: “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?” (1st Chronicles 17:16 [b]).
In Genesis 12:2, the word “Nation” comes from the Greek word “ethnos,” meaning the characteristic and distinguishing attitudes of a group. That attitude at Friendship is friendship. You are a friendly people! God has birthed a friendly “Nation,” the Friendship Baptist Church. You have been a blessing to this Pastor and family. And we truly thank you, dear members of Friendship, for all that you do to advance the Kingdom of our dear Savior.
Be blessed as we continue together. The Best is yet to come.
Pastor J. Amos Jones
