Springfield | When messengers to the 2023 IBSA Annual Meeting meet in Marion November 8-9, they will be asked to vote on a resolution calling for prayer to end the conflict in Israel. The Committee on Resolutions and the Christian Life will bring the motion along with three others.
“Illinois Baptists are urged to honor, support, and uphold in prayer the work of Christians in Israel and the Middle East,” the resolution says, “both Messianic Jews and Palestinian believers, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with their unbelieving relatives, neighbors on all sides of the conflict…” The resolution appears in its entirety below the article.
The document traces God’s covenant relationship with Israel and the admonition for his people to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Other Southern Baptist entities and their leaders made statements quickly about the deadly conflict after Hamas terrorists attacked Israelis. One news analyst said last week that Southern Baptists, with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in the lead, were heading the evangelical response. The International Mission Board and the SBC Executive Committee both posted prayer guides.
While supporting the calls for prayer, IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams preferred to give Illinois Baptists themselves opportunity for response through a broader, more official mechanism.
“I try to exercise restraint in making personal statements or even signing others’ statements, especially on political or even legislative matters,” Adams said. “I feel most confident speaking for Illinois Baptists when messengers to our Annual Meeting first speak through a carefully considered resolution.”
Adams has used this approach when responding to pending legislation or pro-life issues, drawing on previous resolutions by messengers at the state and national convention levels.
The Committee on Resolutions met online and chose to bring the resolution to the messengers so it carries the weight of some 900 IBSA churches.
The statement concludes, “Be it resolved that Illinois Baptists, through their State Association, join together with the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention in urging national lawmakers and policy makers to sustain support for modern day Israel, even as the Church upholds spiritual Israel before God Almighty.”
In the meantime, Illinois Baptists have responded to calls for prayer, including one from Ric Worshill, the executive director of the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship. “It’s just heartbreaking because this year has been the highest in anti-Semitism throughout the world since the Holocaust, and it’s really sad that they would pick the last day of a Jewish holiday to do all this barbaric stuff.”
Worshill, who lives in metro Chicago, called for unity among Southern Baptists. “We need to be one,” he told Baptist Press. “We need to be one about everything. We need to be one about the Lord. We need to be one about politics. And we need to be one about being against the attacks of Satan in prayer. That’s the biggest thing I can say. There should be no division in the body of Christ. We, Southern Baptists, need to stick together.”
The IBSA Annual Meeting with be held at Cornerstone Church in Marion November 8-9. It will be preceded by the IBSA Pastors Conference, starting at 1 p.m. on November 7.
Resolution on Peace in the Middle East and Support for Israel
WHEREAS, God initiated a covenant relationship with Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:7-8; Genesis 15), established his Godhead over his people in the covenant with Moses (Exodus 19:3-6; 20:1-3), and in covenant promised David that his progeny would reign over Israel forever (Jeremiah 33:14-17); and
WHEREAS, God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of that promise, grafted the Church, His Body on earth, into that divine relationship and has expressed the desire to bring all Israel unto Himself (Romans 11:22-27); and
WHEREAS, God has throughout history demonstrated his concern for his people, Israel, across more than three millennia, with the distinct admonition that all his people are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6-9); and
WHEREAS, Southern Baptists, as a people of the Book, united in prayer, take God’s directions seriously and responsibly, as evidenced by the response from Southern Baptist Convention entities, including the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, to the recent and ongoing terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas and other militants, prompting military response from the Israeli government, and resulting in civilian deaths in the thousands on both sides of the armed conflict; and
WHEREAS, the Southern Baptist Convention has historically stood in support of the modern-day nation of Israel, both in their right to exist and in their response to previous attacks from neighboring states and militant groups; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the messengers to the Illinois Baptist State Association Annual Meeting, November 8-9 at Cornerstone Church in Marion, Illinois, urge all Illinois Baptists to make peace in the Middle East an urgent matter of prayer and a regular part of their private intercession, including the cessation of armed conflict with its mutually destructive devastations, and with the goal of long-term resolution of geopolitical issues unresolved since the advent of Isaac and Ishmael and the Hebrews’ entry into the Holy Land; and be it further
RESOLVED, that Illinois Baptists are urged to honor, support, and uphold in prayer the work of Christians in Israel and the Middle East, both Messianic Jews and Palestinian believers, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with their unbelieving relatives, neighbors on all sides of the conflict, and those who would consider themselves adversaries to the Gospel, that by conversion to the Christian faith and a personal, living relationship with God through Jesus Christ, Himself the Prince of Peace, that true peace may be achieved in that region, first in the hearts of humanity, then among the nations; and be it further
RESOLVED, that Illinois Baptists, through their State Association, join together with the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention in urging national lawmakers and policy makers to sustain support for modern day Israel, even as the Church upholds spiritual Israel before God Almighty.