SPARK closes 2026 season in Valdosta with challenge to sow for the future By HENRY DURAND, The Christian Index Thursday, October 1, 2026 VALDOSTA, Ga. — The SPARK season drew to a close Sunday, Sept. 27, at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta. More than 560 people registered for the final conference, bringing the total for all six 2026 regional training events to 3,833. Mark Marshall, senior lead strategist for church strengthening with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, told those gathered at Crossroads that cooperation is central to SPARK. “One of the unique things about SPARK, the exciting things about SPARK, is that it is a partnership between the local association and local church,” Marshall said. Scott Sullivan, discipleship catalyst for the GBMB, said the success of the SPARK conferences is a testimony to that cooperation. “Churches, associations, and the Georgia Baptist Mission Board are stronger when they serve together,” he said. Sullivan said the purpose of SPARK is to train and encourage lay leaders serving in Georgia Baptist churches and help them become more effective in advancing the gospel. Marshall thanked Crossroads and its volunteers for hosting the conference. Senior Pastor Garrett Grubbs was unable to attend following the sudden death of his mother earlier in the week, and Marshall led those gathered in prayer for Grubbs and his family. Beth Ann Williams, lead strategist for Georgia Baptist Women/Mission Georgia, encouraged churches to see their own communities as mission fields. Williams explained that the work of Mission Georgia, a GBMB initiative designed to unite and mobilize churches for gospel-centered ministry in communities across the state, is supported through the Georgia Baptist State Missions Offering. “When we give, it is more than dollars that we’re giving,” Williams said. “We’re giving opportunities to share the gospel, opportunities for people who desperately need to hear the gospel and a chance to hear it through our churches and associations.” She urged churches to join together in reaching their communities. “Our state is our mission field,” Williams said, “and we want to come together and invest in reaching more people, more families, more communities for Jesus Christ.” In the keynote, Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, challenged participants to look beyond maintaining what they already have and consider what their churches are sowing for generations to come. Preaching from Ecclesiastes 11:4 — “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap” — Scroggins said churches can always find reasons to delay what God has called them to do. “There’s always a reason for us not to do the things that need to be done,” he said. “There’s always a reason to be a little bit more cautious, to go a little bit slower, to back off a little bit, to throttle back, and to protect the things that we already have.” Scroggins said churches should pray and seek wisdom, but eventually they must act. "There’s a time to pray, and there’s a time to gather information, and there’s a time to talk and put the best wisdom we can on these decisions,” he said. “But at some point, you’ve got to do it.” Scroggins pointed to churches founded generations ago by believers who could not have imagined all that God would do through their faithfulness. Christians today, he said, routinely worship in buildings they did not pay for, on property they did not purchase, while benefiting from sacrifices made before they were born. He asked participants to think in the same way about those who will follow them. “What are you sowing so that 100 years from now or 125 years from now, somebody’s going to raise their children in the town where you live?” he asked. “They’re going to need places to go to church. What are you doing to sow so that someone can reap?” Scroggins used America’s effort to land astronauts on the moon as an illustration of people contributing to a mission none could accomplish alone. More than 400,000 people played a role in the Apollo program, he said. “Nobody puts a man on the moon alone,” Scroggins said. He brought the point back to the church, telling Georgia Baptists that millions of people in the state still need to hear the gospel and that every congregation has a role in reaching them. “Every one of us is here to be a gospel outpost where we live and where we work,” Scroggins said. “Our churches are gospel outposts, and you’re a gospel outpost too.” He also challenged churches to raise up more leaders than they need and give more than they need simply to operate, making it possible to send missionaries, plant churches, and strengthen other ministries. Chris Allen, pastor of First Baptist Church in Cairo, brought about 14 people from his congregation to SPARK. He said the church continues to prioritize the conference because leaders can return home ready to put what they have learned into practice. “Every single year, our people get good stuff,” Allen said. “It’s important for us to learn together and to see how we can be more effective in whatever God’s called us to do.” Allen said Scroggins’ message connected with several matters he had already been considering at First Baptist. “There are things that I’ve been thinking about and writing down, and it’s time to do it,” he said. “It’s time to pursue those things.” Scroggins closed his message by returning to the image of sowing for a harvest that may come long after those doing the work are gone. “What does God want you and your church to get busy doing right now?” he asked. “Because you better get busy. The time is short, and the future is coming.” --- PHOTOS --- File: 20261001-125640-f2f-Jimmy 2.jpg Caption: Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, delivers the keynote message at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125646-6d1-Jimmy 13.jpg Caption: Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, delivers the keynote message at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125654-f15-Worship 14.jpg Caption: Attendees worship at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125700-434-Arrival 7.jpg Caption: Attendees arrive for the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125702-d90-Prayer 1.jpg Caption: Attendees pray at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125722-602-Deaf worship 5a.jpg Caption: Attendees worship in sign language at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125711-ae3-Panel 6.jpg Caption: David Rogers, right, lead pastor of CrossPointe Church in Valdosta, speaks with Jimmy Scroggins, left, and Mark Marshall, center, during a panel discussion at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125713-412-Jimmy sign 2.jpg Caption: Karen Green interprets for Deaf attendees as Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, delivers the keynote message at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125715-c96-Tim 2.jpg Caption: Tim Hadley, Deaf interpreter at First Baptist Albany, signs during a breakout session at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125717-d8e-Jimmy 10.jpg Caption: Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, delivers the keynote message at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125718-4c0-Mark 3.jpg Caption: Mark Marshall, senior lead strategist for church strengthening with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, speaks at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125720-3d1-Jimmy 4.jpg Caption: Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, delivers the keynote message at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125703-55a-Worship 5.jpg Caption: The worship team sings at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20261001-125724-01c-Jason 3.jpg Caption: Jason Jones, Pastor Wellness catalyst for the Southwest Region, speaks during a breakout at the SPARK conference at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Index/Henry Durand)