The stewardship to missions giving that Southern Baptists exhibit will determine our impact upon the world. If churches do not believe that we can change the world from where we are, then we will not change the world that surrounds us. The challenge for the local church to capture a global vision is crucial for evangelizing contemporary culture.

The foundation of the blessing and benefit of Cooperative Program giving rests in the partnership of local churches for world evangelization. Mission contributions through the Cooperative Program provide resources for over 10,500 missionaries reaching out to more than 1,400 people groups around the world. The efforts of Southern Baptist missionaries supported through the Cooperative Program led to over 816,000 people being baptized in 2002. I am not aware of a single local church that yielded those exciting results independently. Yet, every Southern Baptist church that contributed to the Cooperative Program shared in each victory for the Lord.

Your church participates in a global vision through the Cooperative Program. Our Southern Baptist missionaries are called by God from our churches, trained in our seminaries, commissioned by our mission agencies, and supported by faith through our local churches. Southern Baptists can wholeheartedly support our missionaries because we know that they teach what we teach, preach what we preach, and serve with integrity and accountability to every Southern Baptist congregation. These men, women, and families are the heroes of our faith.

The need for sacrificial giving to the Cooperative Program in our local churches is immense. Because we have not kept pace in increasing the Cooperative Program giving our mission efforts have been impacted. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering provides 50% of the overall budget for the International Mission Board. The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering supplies 44% of the total budget of the North American Mission Board. Our six Southern Baptist Seminaries do not receive a special offering beyond the Cooperative Program.

Because the increased need was not coupled with increased giving, we are creating an independent mindset with our mission agencies. Individual agencies must present passionate pleas in order to receive resources to accomplish their task. The fact that missionaries are not being sent and work is not being accomplished becomes the rally point for our offering emphases. I fully support the special mission offerings of our agencies. First Baptist Church of Brandon will give approximately $100,000 to the 2003 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. I am not diminishing the opportunities presented with our special offerings.

I am challenging our churches to examine the percentage or the amount that you contribute through the Cooperative Program. The resources to fund all of our Southern Baptist work is already present in our churches. It is not a matter of the money but the heart. The average percentage that our Southern Baptist churches give to the Cooperative Program from their undesignated offerings is 7.35% (2002 Annual Church Profile Report). This statistic immediately reveals the opportunity to meet the overwhelming need through increasing Cooperative Program giving in our local churches.

My prayer is that the 2,500 plus Southern Baptist churches in the state of Florida will rise to the occasion and set the tone for the entire Southern Baptist Convention. Jesus taught ". . . unto whom much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." (Luke 12:48). I encourage the churches of Florida to give more to the glory of the Lord.