Sunday BMD Gathering
A men’s gathering is an excellent way to start your Baptist Men’s Day. It allows men to gather for fellowship, a spiritual challenge, and prayer before the activities of the day.This gathering can serve three purposes:
- It calls men together to discover what God is doing in their lives and the life of the church;
- It is a good way to encourage ongoing relationship-building among men;
- It can be used as a challenge to begin small groups (prayer or book study) if they do not already exist in your church.
Some churches ask the church hostess to prepare a breakfast for this. In others, men prepare the food themselves or meet in a local restaurant. When praying men come together, it makes a difference!
If your church does not currently have a Baptist Men’s Ministry, perhaps this would be a good time to discuss beginning one. Utilize the information and resources on the Men's Ministry Website to help you with this..
A Suggested Schedule for Baptist Men's Day Gathering
Also Promote:
Special Baptist Men’s Day Offering. Consider taking up a special offering to help in one of several on-going ministry needs. Refer to our
“Donate” page to see a list and description of possibilities. You can give online or make checks payable to NCBM, PO Box 1107, Cary, NC 27512. Put the name of the particular ministry you wish to give to in the memo of the check.
North Carolina Missions Conference. Plan to attend the
NC Baptist Missions Conference, which will be held March 14-15, 2025 at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem.
Men's Outdoor Weekend. Come join us for an inspiring weekend of outdoor fun and fellowship for men on May 2-3, 2025 at Camp Caraway in Asheboro. Skeet, rifles, pistol shoot, tomahawk throw, archery, fishing, and more!
Click here for more information.
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10 minutes: Explanation of the Men’s Ministries program in your church or a challenge to begin one. Go to our Men's Ministry webpage to view information about how to have a well-rounded ministry to men in your church on a consistent basis. Cast a vision for your men of how this might look in your church. Download any number of Men’s Ministry handouts, including the manual “Men’s Ministries: A Resource for Starting and Strengthening Men’s Ministries In Your Church” or show a Men’s Ministry PowerPoint presentation, also found on our Men's Ministry Resources and Events Page.
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5 minutes: Show a missions video segment from the BOM Vimeo Channel. Mission videos, depicting a variety of opportunities - such as Hurricanes Dorian and Florence Recovery, International and National Partnerships, Mission Camps, Handyman, and much more - can be shown or downloaded from this channel.
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7 minutes: Singing of two praise choruses
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10 minutes: Scripture & Theme Interpretation
Theme: Living Sent
Scripture: Luke 9: 57-62
Three men encounter Jesus while he is walking on the road. By this time he was well-known and his actions were reported. For many, he and his disciples were a curiosity. So it is no surprise that people might come up to him desiring to be a part of what he was all about. We think of Jesus as being inviting to any and all who might want to join. After all, we who work with volunteers in the church are usually eager to put anyone to work in the service of the Kingdom. But in this case, Jesus seems to want these three men to stop and think about what they were asking. Each of them either asked—or were asked by Jesus—to “follow” him. They each got—let’s just say—unusual answers!
To the first man, who initiated, Jesus replied “Foxes have holes and the bird have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head”. In other words, “following me is not going to be easy. You may very well have to give up the comforts that you are accustomed to. Are you ready for that?”
Jesus asked the second man to follow him, and he agreed that he would. However, he asked that he first be allowed to go and bury his father. I think we would understand that. But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” In other words—”Life will always provide excuses for you to put off following and serving me. I need you now."
The third man said to Jesus, “I will follow you, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” And we think, good grief, surely Jesus will let this man go tell his loved ones goodbye. But he says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.” In other words, family is important, but in the scheme of things, nothing is more important than giving your life to me. Once you have decided to follow me, there’s no reason to look back!
In the verses that follow this passage, Jesus sends out the seventy-two. We do not know if these three men were part of that or not. Its very possible that they were. Or, they may have decided that what Jesus was asking of them was too hard—too much!. If we were there that day, how would we have responded? In reality, Jesus is saying the same three things to each of us today. He wants us to “Live Sent” - and the requirements have not changed!
- Mark Abernathy, Baptists on Mission
Ask men to gather in small groups of three to discuss the following questions:
1. What kind of "sacrifices" might we expect to make in order to fully serve Christ?
2. What are some common life circumstances that we might use as "excuses" for not fully following and serving Christ at
different stages in our life?
3. What are some things that we might get caught "looking ack" at in our lives? Things that might distract us from folloing
Christ?
Divide into groups of three. Encourage men to pray for clear direction of what God may be leading them to do in their lives. Ask that we be shown what our hindrances may be—reluctance to give up something we enjoy, life circumstances we want to be clear of, things from our past that we can’t seem to let go of. The leader will close the session with prayer.