WACO—Albert Reyes, president and CEO of Buckner International, challenged leaders of Hispanic Baptist churches in Texas to look to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry to learn his agenda and adopt it as their own.
Reyes addressed a gathering sponsored by Texas Baptists en Español immediately prior to Texas Baptists’ annual meeting in Waco.
Drawing from the passage in Luke 4:14-30 where Jesus reads from the Prophet Isaiah, Reyes urged Hispanic Baptist church leaders to look at and learn from the words that launched Jesus’ public ministry.
“First, we see that Jesus went to Nazareth to the synagogue to begin his ministry after he had been tempted. Some of your best ministry days will happen after a tough time,” Reyes said.
“Second, he was full of the power of the Spirit. If you don’t have the power of the Spirit upon you, you have nothing to offer.
“Finally, he starts with the word of God. If Jesus starts with the word of God, we need to start with the word of God.”
Meeting needs opens doors to share hope
The passages Jesus chose outlined his agenda clearly, Reyes said.
Jesus was anointed to “bring good news to the poor,” which Reyes said points to providing for physical needs that open doors to share hope.
“When you have redemption, you do have life. [Being in church] puts you in a community where people that see that you don’t have things will see that you do,” he said, sharing some of his father’s story growing up in poverty.
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Reyes also noted Jesus’ agenda included “healing the brokenhearted” and proclaiming “freedom for the captives” by offering hope.
Physical healing also was part of Jesus’ ministry, noted through his reference to “recovery of sight for the blind.”
Next, Reyes said Jesus sought to bring “liberty to the oppressed,” noting, “If you find someone oppressed, you should help them.”
“The people were oppressed by the Romans. … And Jesus said he was coming to help them. They thought they would have an army to conquer them, but that’s not what Jesus was concerned with,” Reyes said,
Instead, Jesus brought spiritual liberty through his death and resurrection, bringing salvation to all who proclaim his name.
Jesus’ agenda included proclaiming “the year of the Lord’s favor.” Reyes said the reference was to the year of jubilee, when all debts were forgiven. He encouraged attendees to count their blessings and the favor the Lord has given.
‘You don’t have to wait’
Reyes noted Jesus brought the kingdom near, saying what he meant to do and then doing all those things.
“This scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus said.
“The kingdom is here now. … He was announcing a new era,” Reyes said. “I think the kingdom was when Jesus said it was. In the kingdom of God, people get healed, have peace, get blessings and when did that happen? Right then.
“The kingdom is already and yet to be. You don’t have to wait. You can have it now. He makes all things new on that day that we see him. That’s the someday. But we get to taste it now. Don’t live your life thinking the kingdom is just someday. It’s today.”
Also at the rally, Armando Virgen, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista Waco for 53 years, received the Gary Cook Leadership Award from Dallas Baptist University for his 61 total years of pastoral ministry.
“We praise God for the countless lives blessed in his ministry,” Gus Reyes of DBU said. Virgen baptized more than 450 believers, helped the church build a sanctuary and started an adopt-a-student ministry with colleges.
Vidal Muniz, Texas Baptists en Español specialist, also spoke briefly about the Pave program of church revitalization, and he recognized pastors who have been participating in that process of helping grow their congregations.
Rene Maciel, missions pastor at First Baptist Church of Woodway, described “Esperanza de Dios,” his church’s three-year effort to reach the community by sharing hope through practical ministry to the area.
“Everything we do, we have a chance to be involved in the community, like our laundry ministry,” Maciel said. “We go into the laundromat and pay for their laundry, and we take drinks and snacks, sit around and just talk to people. It’s not about us, but God opens doors and conversations where they ask what we are doing. We want to love our community.
“Everything we do when we visit is to share the hope of God. It’s about the church of Jesus Christ being present.”
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