I am going: Missions Chapel at Southeastern

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) hosted the fall missions chapel including prayer, worship and teaching to encourage students to be on mission.

Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern, delivered a call to action to the audience from the Apostle Paul’s writings in Romans 15:18-24.

After traveling extensively internationally, Akin said, “I was overwhelmed at the massive lostness of the world.”

He believes that God cares for the nations and that as Christians we should be compelled to pray and go share the Gospel.

“One of the reasons we say that Southeastern is a dangerous place to attend is because we are going to challenge you to pray the prayer, ‘Not why Lord should I go? But Lord why should I stay?’” Akin said.

“I want you to go to the places where the name of Jesus is yet to be named,” Akin emphasized. “For some of us that may mean a short term trip, it may mean being there for several years or for some of us it may be like Bertha Smith, Lottie Moon, William Carey and the Judsons where you go and spend your life and you are actually buried there among the nations.”

Akin quoted John Falconer who stated, “I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than a land flooded with light.”

“My prayer is that God indeed will take your one candle of life and allow you to go to a land filled with darkness and by the time you finish it will be a land flooded with light,” Akin added.

Students were challenged to be to be involved “vibrantly and intentionally” in a local church that is mission minded.

Akin reminded students they can start reaching out now to their neighbors and the local community, which has thousands of international students.

“All of us should be going right now,” Akin said. “There is a way to go if you want to go.”

He prayed that God would show the Southeastern family where to go and look to the greatest missionary that ever lived, Jesus Christ as the heart of missions (Matthew 28:18-20).

During the service, Southeastern students also heard from frontline international and North American missionaries through live video interviews.

John Ewart, associate vice president for global theological initiatives, moderated a discussion panel on missions, featuring Mike Dodson, associate director of North American Missions, Scott Hildreth, director for the Center for Great Commission Studies (CGCS), and Greg Mathias, associate director of international missions.

The CGCS hosts seminars and events throughout to the year, provides counsel to students and organizes short-term mission trips. The Center also assists participants in the college Global Studies programs as well as the 2+2/3 international church planting degree, where students study for two years on campus and then complete their degree on the mission field.

The event was held on August 20 in Binkley Chapel. The first 250 attendees received an “I AM GOING” t-shirt.

To watch this chapel online, please click here.

To view photos from chapel, please click here.