Stephen Cox

Pastor @ Bible Baptist Church, Lover of Jesus, Family and Notre Dame Football! Go Irish!☘️

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Advice for Young Ministry Leaders 👇🏻

• Understand your calling

• Get some good training

• Have a prayer life

• Marry right

• Be teachable

• Lose the entitlement attitude

• Learn to read good, theological books early

• Find and follow seasoned preachers for their depth of ministry, not their flamboyance

• Learn to serve right away. (In the shadows before the spotlight)

• Pray for doors to be open and closed

• Just be who God made you to be

It may take a while to figure it all out but just be you.

Nobody has it all together.

These are just a few thoughts I have had recently about young ministry leaders.

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Last September, my wife and I, was privileged to visit Normandy, France and start the Band of Brothers tour through the European theatre of the 2nd World War.

I left more grateful than ever for my American freedoms and heritage.

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” — Winston Churchill

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Gentlemen,

Preach the Word today! It’s the Lord’s Day!

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Being a pastor is hard to explain unless you’ve stood in the pulpit yourself.

One week you’re walking with a family through their darkest valley.

The next, they’re gone without a word.

You’ll be praised and misunderstood, often by the same people in the same month.

Some days you see God move and go home full. Other days you lie awake rehearsing every word, wondering what you missed.

Everyone has an opinion of how you should pastor. You quickly learn you cannot preach with one eye on the crowd.

But then..a soul saved, a marriage mended, a grieving heart given comfort.

And suddenly you remember why you answered the call.

Ministry is heavy. But it’s a high calling.

And it’s worth it all.

[FOX: NASCAR @NASCARONFOX]

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has passed away at age 41.

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

So very sad.

[NASCAR @NASCAR]

A joint statement on behalf of the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR.

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

@drronlynch Congrats, my friend. Love you

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

The Two Camps of Preachers

“Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel” ~ Philippians 1:15-17

Paul identifies two groups preaching Christ in Rome:

Group One: Those preaching from love…supporting Paul, sharing his burden, contending earnestly for the gospel.

Group Two: Those preaching from envy and strife…hoping to advance their own ministry while Paul was sidelined, even hoping to “add affliction to his bonds.”

Some men were preaching Christ while trying to make Paul’s prison harder. They saw his absence as their opportunity.

They thought, “If we can build our platform while he is silenced, perhaps our name will rise as his sinks.”

Selfish ambition, party spirit, electioneering for office, the working of a hireling for personal gain.

This is the spirit that preaches truth but pursues self.

It uses the gospel as a ladder rather than the for the Lord.

Did you know that there are men who preach truth but have another motive?

A.W. Tozer once said the meek man “has accepted God’s estimate of his own life.”

The meek man has stopped defending himself, stopped promoting himself, stopped competing with other servants of God. He has died to the tyranny of comparison. He can rejoice when others succeed because he has been set free from needing his own success.

That is what Philippians 1:18 looks like.

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

@Tim_Delello God is good and faithful. Thank you!

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Ten years ago, I stood before a congregation for the first time with a mixture of joy and trembling. I knew the weight of the calling. I did not fully know the blessing that awaited me.
But God did.

"Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee." - Psalm 116:7

That is my testimony today. The LORD hath dealt bountifully with us.

I did not come to build my own kingdom, I came to serve His. And what this church has taught me is that faithfulness is not glamorous. It is not always celebrated. But it is always fruitful in the hands of God.

To my Congregation:
You have been my greatest joy in ministry. You have prayed for me when I didn't know I needed it. You have forgiven me when I fell short. You have followed the Word of God with open Bibles and willing hearts. Pastors do not succeed apart from people like you.

To my Rebecca:
Twenty-one years of marriage, and every one of them she has stood beside this calling with grace and sacrifice that I will never be able to fully repay. She is a gift from God..not just to me, but to this church.

We didn't do this..God did.
The growth, the unity, the changed lives, the souls saved..that is the sovereign mercy of Jesus Christ working through ordinary, willing people. I am the least of them.

Ten years in, I am not tired of this church. I am not tired of this calling. If anything, I am more convinced than ever that the local church is the hope of the world, because Christ is her head, and He has never abandoned His bride.

So today I don't want your applause. I want your continued prayers. And I want to give God all the glory..for ten years of His faithfulness that far outpaced any faithfulness of mine.

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." — Ephesians 3:20–21

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Gentlemen,

Preach the Word today! It’s the Lord’s Day! 💪🏻

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Gentlemen,

Preach the Word today! It’s the Lord’s Day! 💪🏻

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Hit hard today. 😥

[Atlanta Braves @Braves]

Thank you, Bobby. We love you. ❤️

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Best mom in the world.

Happy Mother’s Day!

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Aliens don't exist outside of Hollywood, but false teachers sure do.

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

The people in your life who are going to be most shaped by you aren’t going to be shaped by your highlight reels and edited social media post.

They will be shaped by what
you do when you have just been knocked down.

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

Gentlemen,

Preach the Word today! It’s the Lord’s Day! 💪🏻

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

What is wrong with my @celtics? 😬 #celtics #nbaplayoffs

[Stephen Cox @StephenCox_SC]

I was privileged to preach a men’s meeting in Beckley, WV, tonight.

Several men called on Christ to save them!

Pray for Pastor Sam Green and and his wife, Summer, as they drive to Duke University Hospital in the morning for serious testing for Summer.