Delivered in Worship on August 16, 2026
I come before you in this historic pulpit to ask you to join me on a journey of stewardship. We assemble here this morning at the top of Poplar, the highest point in our downtown, and we have been doing it for 200 years. It is not self-evident that this patch of land would be a church. It could have been a hardware store. It could have been a bank. It could have been a Motel 6 with Tom Bodett saying he would leave the light on for us. Instead, our forbearers built this church which today offers more treasures than a bank could ever contain, which offers greater light than Motel 6 ever conceived and instead of hardware, this church offers the software of love and hope and forgiveness.
Our church stands on this hill to as a remind us that our City cannot be defined by commerce alone. It cannot be defined by the halls of government alone. It cannot be defined by the work of our justice system alone. The soul of our City belongs to our capacity to care for each other and to proclaim without condition that every person matters. Our calling is to live out our conviction that love has no boundaries, We conceive no artificial sorting of people into categories of people who are acceptable and unacceptable. It often serves as our anchor as we face into the raging winds of chaos and fear that sometimes overtake us. This church proclaims a clear and echoing word that God will never abandon us. Our fears and our hurts will never be the final word. Amidst our struggles and uncertainties, First Baptist Church reminds us week after week, month after month, year after year that the Jesus way is a better way.
In 1883, our forbearers gave us a gift. Through a profound faith and a driving vision, through their determination, through their hard work and discipline they built a sanctuary which they called the First Baptist Church of Christ. Soon after they completed their historic work, it all burned to the ground. All that hard work, all that envisioning of the future was turned to ashes, leaving them immersed in sadness and mourning. But grief is a place to go; it is never a place to stay. And stay there they did not. Against all odds, they picked up their hammers and their nails and started all over again. They would not put those hammers down until this sanctuary in which we worship today would be here for us. The tenacity and determination at the top of Poplar was joined in 1889 by Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church who stands next to us. I can assure you this morning that we share far more in common with St. Joseph’s than all the differences we might identify. Together, we stand side by side to proclaim to our City that people cannot live by bread alone, that commerce cannot be sustained, that justice cannot be achieved, that the governance of our community will not be wise unless they are undergirded by hope and compassion, by mercy and kindness. All the commerce and laws and governing will be for naught unless we learn to listen for the presence of God calling upon us Sunday after Sunday in this holy place to reach for a better way.
This church was built with human hands with all the frailties that beset us. As I look out and see this beautiful sanctuary, the pews in which we gather shoulder to shoulder. I see the stained-glass windows which inspire us. As we look about, we discover that this sanctuary and these pews and this inspiring stained glass cost us nothing. I am saying to us this morning that now it is our turn. Once every generation or two we must be willing to step forward to assure that the legacy that was given to us is a legacy we will pass on to those after us. We cannot allow decay and disrepair to go unchecked. It is called stewardship. If this place is to be sustained, if this place is to be preserved, if this place is to be renewed, we must now take responsibility.
We have launched a bold campaign of $2,000,000 to put our house in order. We cannot worship in this place and not take responsibility for giving to our children and our grandchildren a physical space that will become holy ground for them.
So this morning I am asking, I am even urging every one of us join hands and participate in this campaign. None of us could imagine allowing this light over our City to go out, to disintegrate, to wither away.
If we are to achieve the promise of the First Baptist Church of Christ, we must be willing to act with the courage oif our forbearers. For all of us, this is a sacred place in our lives. We gather here this morning inspired by the music, listening as the gospel is proclaimed, meeting at the communion table saying “in Christ we are one”, gathering in in f Fellowship Hall for food and fun and charting our course together. But as we sing and pray and are inspired, as we embrace one another in the holiness of this moment, we must not, we should not allow the foundations of this place to crumble beneath our feet. This is our holy ground and it is our turn to pick up our hammers with the conviction that it will be preserved and sustained and renewed for a new generation.
My goal is for nothing less than to ask every person to participate in renewing the physical structures that have become sacred structures for us. This week you may have received in the mail a letter and a pledge card. You should not lay it aside. Every person can do something. It is once in a generation that we are asking ourselves, each one of us, to assume responsibility for the future of this structure in which we celebrate being church for one another. I ask you person to person to contemplate earnestly what can I do over the next five years to assure that First Baptist Church of Christ remains a beacon of light overseeing our City. It is my turn. It is our turn. I am asking you to join me in making a commitment to finish this work which, in faith, has already begun. In our campaign, we are already half-way there, but we cannot complete our work without every one of you. Make a pledge. Do not miss this moment of securing the foundations of our church. Make a commitment. Let each of us do our part and this beacon light called the First Baptist of Christ will continue to be the light of faith and grace and unfettered compassion for generations to come. Together we can do this. We can do for future generations what was done for us. Join me in saying Yes, we will.