Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

Does You've Got The Time

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), a fellowship of more than 1,800 Baptist churches across the country, will be kicking off You've Got The Time in January 2010.

They share, "We are partnering with Faith Comes By Hearing because we have a shared calling to reach the world."

Daniel Vestal, executive coordinator for CBF, has been instrumental in this initiative, encouraging all churches in the fellowship to participate, and endorsing the 40 days of Bible listening with a video and letters to the pastors and congregations.

He says, "As Baptist Christians, we place a high value on Scripture. One of our core values at Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is Bible Freedom. We believe in the authority of Scripture. We believe the Bible, under the Lordship of Christ, is central to the life of the individual and to the church. But if we're honest about it, all too often we spend little or no time with God's Word in our daily lives. To be the presence of Christ in the world, we must be formed spiritually into Christ-likeness. That missional journey includes spending time with Scriptures. That's why CBF is embarking on this new initiative unlike any we have ever attempted before . . . You've Got The Time – A Journey of Biblical Faithfulness."

Participating churches will listen 28 minutes a day for 40 days. This will take them through the entire New Testament, and offerings received will be used to record God's Word in audio to reach the most neglected people groups around the world where Cooperative Baptist Fellowship personnel work.

Bo Prosser, coordinator of congregational formation, has held luncheons across the country to share about You've Got The Time with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches. Though the initiative is officially slated to begin in 2010, more than 200 churches in the fellowship have already signed up and half of these are going to finish listening before the end of this year!

Dr. Vestal says, "I believe we will all be transformed by listening to God's Word, reflecting on it, discussing it, and sharing it with others. I believe that it will create greater desire to study Scripture and to share Scripture, and as we open ourselves to the Spirit, by hearing the written Word of God, the Living Word of God will come to us in fresh new ways, changing us, comforting us, challenging us, and making us more like Christ."

To learn more about CBF's involvement with You've Got The Time, visit http://www.thefellowship.info/ygtt

If your church would like to learn more about You've Got The Time, call Faith Comes By Hearing 1-800-545-6552 or email info@fcbhmail.org