Without Paul there would be no church expansion across the Roman Empire, and half of the New Testament. Without John Mark there would be no Gospel of Mark. But without Barnabas their mentor, there would be neither. Affirm the ministry of mentoring.

Without Billy Graham millions of people might not have heard the gospel. Without Bill Bright the Campus Crusade for Christ would not exist, much less have led to Christ and discipled hundreds of thousands of college students and other Christians. Without Gospel Light Publications, most of the Sunday school literature used today would not have come to be.

But without the Bible teaching and discipling ministry of Henrietta Mears, director of Christian education at First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood, California, we would know of none of them. Affirm the ministry of mentoring.

Without Dr. Herbert Howard, the present campus of Park Cities Baptist Church, including our magnificent Sanctuary, might not have come to be. The global outreach of this church might not have touched so many thousands of churches and multiplied believers around the world. Many of you might not have ever come into this church. But without J. B. Weatherspoon, homiletics professor at Southern Seminary and mentor to the young Herbert Howard, we might not know of him today. Affirm the ministry of mentoring.

Where will the next Paul and John Mark come from? The next Billy Graham, Bill Bright, Herbert Howard? That's up to us. Isn't it?