May 14th, 2021 is the fifteen year mark for Fort Lauderdale Baptist Church. Many have been saved, baptized, disciples, and grown during those years - many of whom would never have been reached. We have seen God do so much over the past 15 years. He has been very good to us. Like new years resolutions, we sometimes need to look back on the years and see where we have been to better plan where we want to go. Are we making a difference and making meaningful accomplishments?

In 2006 the first service was held in an unfinished second story 850 square feet store front. You don't start a church just because you have nothing to do. Fort Lauderdale Baptist church was started because there are distinctives, things that we do that are from the Bible. We saw that there was a need in this area. That is what the great commission is, to start churches. Starting churches is what every church should do.

Many times people don't think about what would happen if others weren't faithful. Our plan is to be here whether some drop out or not. Faithfulness matters. What would happen if you dropped out of what God wants you to do? How would that work be accomplished?

Pastor and Mrs. Price saw South Florida as an open mission field with so many un-reached people, people who have never heard who God is and how he can transform their life. Here are some things they learned.

1. Our plans if guided and directed by the Lord will be changed and altered to show us His wisdom and our weakness. - You can make all the plans you want to, but you don't always get to do what you want to. It took five months to find a place for the church to meet. We were in the housing bubble and land values were at a premium. In addition, the authorities at the time didn't want a church to be started. Any school could have rented to us, but the administrators of the schools have a right to say no, and they do. One of the things you find out though is that God has a plan and you end up finding the perfect place. Not perfect in every way, but perfect for us at the time. We were there for seven years after which we were able to move to a paid for building. You may look at this and see nothing, but when you realize it came from nothing, praise be to God.
2. God doesn't need great people, He just needs willing people who give him the glory.
3. What the church is doesn't need to be re-invented. - It is unique in every iteration. There are trends in the church and it seems like they are trying to always re-invent the wheel. Praise music, program centric, etc. The church is a called out group of believers who have been entrusted with the great commission - preaching the gospel to every creature and baptizing them and teaching them to observe all things. You can go to any church and it will be unique - have it's own personality. The church doesn't need to be re-invented, it just needs to do what a church does. If we preach the gospel so that people are saved, baptized, and taught, God will be glorified. It doesn't need to be figured out, it just needs to be practiced.
4. People are the most precious commodity. If you don't have people, you don't have a church. People are the church.
5. Success is knowing and doing God's will. You can compare yourself to someone who God has called to a different task and you won't measure up. You can try to be like someone else and it may not even be right, but if you can stand before God having done what He told you to do, that is success. Some measure the success of a church by the attenders or financial status, but God measures success by doing His will. Be the person God called you to be. There will be many in heaven rewarded greatly because they did the task God gave them whether others saw it or not. Don't quit. The average church plant last six months. More than 90% close in the first two years and the remaining 5% close in five years. You may not be impressed with what is here, but it is here. Don't let others quitting be an excuse for you to quit.
6. There is always work to do, it will never be done. We will never have reached every person in our community. We will never have taught everything that needs to be taught. We will never have served everyone that needs to be served. This is a good problem, but it does mean you need to set a proper pace. Go for the long haul. We are just getting started. Doors close and doors open and we need to be the door openers.