4 | March 2026
No time is wasted in showing us what Jesus’ mission is in the Gospel of Mark. He writes, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” - Mark 1:14-15 Jesus preaches with great urgency, showing us that the time to believe in the gospel is now! This means followers of Jesus should have the same urgency. Jesus also shows us what our task is, how the kingdom of God grows. It does so through the preaching of the gospel. There are over 700 SCBO churches in Ohio, and every single one of them exists to advance the kingdom through the preaching of the gospel. All of our churches may look different, have different contexts, and have unique histories and stories, but we all have the same mission. If we are committed to preaching the gospel, it means we cannot allow distractions to take our focus off our mission. There are good things that a church can do, but for every one of them, we should ask, “Is this helping us accomplish our mission of preaching the gospel, or is this distracting us from the mission?” Our primary allegiance must always be to the kingdom of God. We live in a culture of tribalism today, and we must reject the temptation to give our allegiance to the tribes of our culture, whether they be political, societal, or agenda-driven, and instead maintain our primary allegiance to Jesus and Jesus alone. We best accomplish the mission together. We must avoid the temptation to constantly divide and tear each other apart (Gal. 5:15) and instead seek to work together for the gospel. As pastors, we often imagine what could be accomplished for the kingdom of God if every member of our church faithfully tithed. Imagine what could be done for the kingdom of God if every SCBO church gave generously to the Cooperative Program and worked together for the gospel. We truly are better together. President’s Pen Our Mission Requires Urgency, Commitment and Togetherness
In Christ, Dave Welsch SCBO President president@scbo.org
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