BRASELTON, Ga. — James Oney, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Fayetteville, challenged members of the Georgia Baptist Convention Executive Committee on Monday to remain faithful to God’s call by presenting themselves daily as living sacrifices.
Oney, who is also GBC second vice president, spoke during the committee’s meeting at North Metro Baptist Church, delivering a devotional message from Romans 12:1, where Paul appeals to believers “by the mercies of God” to present their bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”
Oney told committee members about his love for football and his experience watching his sons play for a school that, he said, placed a stronger emphasis on academics than winning games. Though the team had won very few games in recent seasons, Oney said he kept showing up through rain, heat, cold, and repeated losses because he knew the season would eventually end.
“You know, things become easier when you know there’s an end,” Oney said.
That truth, he said, gives weight to Paul’s command in Romans 12:1. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, a sacrifice died once. There was an end. But Paul calls believers to be living sacrifices.
“That phrase alone carries tension in it,” Oney said. “In Leviticus, a sacrifice dies once. It dies once. There’s an end.”
A living sacrifice, however, keeps breathing, he said, which means it can also crawl off the altar.
“The obedience is never finished,” Oney said. “It has to be reconsented to every single morning.”
That daily surrender, he said, is especially necessary for pastors and ministry leaders who face real pressures, difficult people, and the temptation to respond in the flesh rather than in obedience to Christ.
“Dying once is easier than dying daily because it has an end,” Oney said.
Oney said he prays each morning for the Lord to guard his heart and mind because he knows how easily he can react in the flesh. He said he asks God to keep him from drifting “into a life that never gets around to sacrificing anything.”
He challenged those gathered to examine where they may have quietly stepped away from obedience.
“Where have you quietly climbed down off the altar this week?” Oney asked. “Where have you compromised because you didn’t want to walk in obedience?”
Oney encouraged pastors and leaders to remain rooted in the Lord and faithful to the churches and ministries God has entrusted to them.
“We know that we have churches that we shepherd, and we know folks can be difficult,” he said. “But stay rooted. Stay grounded. Stay with the Lord.”
Oney closed by praying that God would continue to use Georgia Baptist leaders for His glory alone.
“We’re not building kingdoms for ourselves,” he prayed. “We’re building Your kingdom.”
Members of the Executive Committee also heard ministry updates from Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, and other leaders, including a report from GBC President Steve Browning on the upcoming annual meeting in November.
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