We Will Remember

Remember. It’s a frequent command in the Bible. 

• Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8) 
• Remember how God brought you out of bondage (Deuteronomy 9:7)
• Remember the Lord’s word and covenant for generations (1 Chronicles 16:15)
• Take this bread, Jesus said, “In remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19)

Why are we commanded to “remember” so often? Because God understands our tendency to forget. That is why God instituted rituals, celebrations, and sacrifices for Israel—to remind them of important truths about God—especially the truth of His faithfulness. Some of these rituals were yearly, others were weekly.

Eight years ago, on the 150th anniversary of our church, we took time to look at our spiritual heritage as a church, and today is not too soon to do so again as we celebrate this milestone event—the rebuilding of our historic sanctuary. 158 years ago, 11 people assembled together in the Masonic Lodge in Dallas to do something that would impact the lives of untold millions of people in every country of this planet . . . as well as impact the lives of every one of us today: they established the First Baptist Church of Dallas—a church that continues to illuminate the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As a background passage for this message, read Isaiah 51:1-2: “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; when he was but one, I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him.”  

At milestone moments in Israel’s history, like the dedication of the Temple, or the entrance into the Promised Land, or—as in this case—their captivity in Babylon, it was common for God to encourage His people to pause, look back, and remember their history.  Specifically, to look back at the history of those men and women of faith who preceded them and also look to the God who displayed His faithfulness to them.

You and I didn’t just spring up from nowhere. We are the products of fathers and mothers and grandfathers and grandmothers who went before us. That is not only true of our physical families, but it is true of our church family.  

Although today we certainly welcome our guests who are here, today I am primarily speaking to those of you who are part of this family of faith that began 158 years ago, which we call the First Baptist Church of Dallas. The thriving church we see today didn’t just happen overnight, but it is the result of men and women of faith—some who are well known, others who are little-known who went before us.

When Isaiah says, “Look to the rock,” some believe he is talking about Jesus Christ. After Peter correctly answered Jesus question, “Who do men say I am?” and Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” didn’t Jesus say, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it?” (Matthew 16:18).    

Make no mistake about it, the spiritual foundation of the church—the Cornerstone of the true church of God—is the belief that Jesus Christ is Lord!

But that is not the rock Isaiah is talking about here. He identifies the “Rock” the Israelites were to look to: Abraham and Sarah—an elderly couple who at first doubted they could be of any use to God, but then believed the promise of God and became the nucleus of a great nation.

Isaiah was saying, “In the midst of this Babylonian exile, don’t lose heart. Remember the rock-like faith of Abraham and Sarah. And follow their example.”

Frankly, there are many churches in the world and even here in Dallas that were built on the foundation of Jesus Christ—and they have long since been closed and forgotten. It takes more than a confession of faith to sustain a church.

Let’s look at some of those faithful men and women of First Baptist Church Dallas who have gone before us and made this church what it is today. Specifically, I want us to identify the three foundations that have made this congregation what it is today: the foundations upon which the men and women of yesterday built this great church. And the foundations upon which we are rebuilding our church for the future.

1. First Baptist Dallas Was Built on the Foundation of Commitment

On November 17, 1867, Colonel W.L. Williams and his wife, Lucinda, moved to Dallas, believing it was the best place for Colonel Williams to begin his law practice. He was 32, and she was 23, and they had an eight-month-old daughter, Ada. They were devout Christians and Baptists, but there were no Baptist churches in Dallas. Three attempts to start a Baptist church had all failed.

Months later, in July of 1868, an evangelist named W.W. Harris, known as “Spurgeon Harris,” rode into town on horseback.  

He dismounted the horse near the corner of Main and Jefferson and headed to Colonel Williams’ law office. The two had met at a revival in Belton the year before. The Colonel saw Harris’s arrival as a great opportunity for a revival in Dallas, so he secured the first floor of the Masonic Lodge here in Dallas at the corner of Lamar and Ross for the services. For the next two weeks, they held the services every night. 

At the end of the revival—on July 30, 1868—the assembled group formed the First Baptist Church of Dallas. There were eleven of them—3 men and 8 women.  

On August 22, they called W.W. “Spurgeon” Harris as their first pastor. Spurgeon Harris never resigned; he just traveled to conduct a revival elsewhere and never came back. The second pastor, C.A. Stanton, had the distinction of being the shortest-tenured pastor in FBC History. He lasted seven months.

Colonel Williams’ wife, Lucinda, recalled that before Pastor Stanton left, he said to Mrs. Williams, “If the women of this church do not organize and do something for the church, it will fail.”  Mrs. Williams said that the thought of FBC failing was unacceptable, so she went to the home of three other women, and they agreed to go visit every woman in the church, and they formed a Women’s Organization for the church. They knew the church needed two things to keep from failing.  

They needed a pastor and a location of their own instead of the Masonic lodge. So they went to work, and by the end of the summer of 1872, they had raised $500 to pay for the foundation of the first Baptist church ever built in Dallas.

That fall of 1872, the members of FBC Dallas gathered at the northeast corner of Akard and Patterson and laid the foundation for our first sanctuary. The members built the church themselves for the astronomical sum of $6,000. And from that point on, the church began to grow in numbers and in its influence for God.

The church soon outgrew its building, and in 1890, under the leadership of Pastor A.M. Sims, they built the second sanctuary—we call it now our historic sanctuary—the building that sits at the corner of Ervay and Patterson. 

And that spirit of sacrifice continues to the present day. Eighteen years ago, you were presented with a vision to take these old buildings, demolish them, and build a spiritual oasis in downtown Dallas that would not only serve our community but would be a beacon for the gospel of Christ throughout our nation and world. And in the greatest recession since the Great Depression, the members of First Baptist Dallas gave more than $135 million—the largest amount of money ever raised in one campaign by any church. 

And then, on Friday, July 19, 2024, a four-alarm fire destroyed our historic sanctuary. One hundred and 10 firemen worked to contain the fire and protect our new campus. 

But two days later, on Sunday, July 21, we met together in the Dallas Convention Center and pledged that this fire would not be the end of the story of First Baptist Church, Dallas. That we were going to rebuild that historic sanctuary that represented our commitment to being a lighthouse for Jesus Christ in the center of downtown Dallas. And because of your commitment to Jesus Christ and His church, we are officially beginning the construction of our historic sanctuary.

2. First Baptist Church Was Built on the Foundation of the Gospel

The Greek word translated “gospel” is the word “evangelon.”  It means good news.  We get our term “evangelical” from this word “gospel” or “good news.”  

And that has been the Good News that this church has proclaimed since that first service 158 years ago, when our founders gathered together and committed themselves to being a light for the gospel in a dark world until the Lord returns.   

The next two years, while we are building the historic sanctuary, we are also going to focus on building our individual lives on the truth of God’s Word. For a church to be built on the Bible, the individuals who make up our church must be built on the Bible.

And so, this fall we will be outlining for you the ministry plan to both strengthen our lives, but also to add more lives—or as the Bible says, “living stones” to the church.

Whatever we are going to do for God, we need to do NOW because we have no promise of tomorrow. First Baptist Dallas has been built on the foundation of the Gospel—and the Gospel we must share with as many people as possible, as soon as possible.  

3. First Baptist Dallas Is Built Upon the Foundation of the Bible

For 158 years, First Baptist Church Dallas has preached the Bible, and because of that, when the winds of adversity and criticism have blown against this congregation, it has not fallen because it has been built on the eternal and unchanging truth of God’s Word.