Today marks one of the most significant events in Baptist history and ought to be marked every year, at least – realistically – when it falls on a Sunday.

The date was May 31, 1792, and it was the occasion of a sermon preached by a poor cobbler named William Carey. It became known as the 'Deathless Sermon' and it contained one ringing sentence that helped change the world: 'Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God!'

Carey was a Particular Baptist, one of the majority who held Calvinistic beliefs about predestination. For many this meant that evangelistic efforts were futile, because God had already decided who was to be saved. Carey and his friend Andrew Fuller argued against this against a largely indifferent denomination. On one occasion Carey spoke at a ministers' meeting in favour of foreign missions; a senior minister there, John Ryland, is said to have rebuked him with the words: 'Young man, sit down; when God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid and mine.'

Carey was unconvinced, and wrote a manifesto with the snappy title, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen. He preached his Deathless Sermon at a conference of Baptists in Nottingham, taking as his text Isaiah 54:1-2: 'Lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes, for thou shall break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.' The immediate response was indifference and at their meeting the next day the delegates said the task was too hard for them. As the discussion turned to other affairs, Carey tugged at Fuller's sleeve and in despair said, 'Is there again nothing going to be done, sir?'

A meeting was held in Kettering on October 2, in the back parlour of a house belonging to Widow Wallis. Fourteen men agreed to form what was to become the Baptist Missionary Society – now BMS World Mission and pledged the sum of £13 2s 6d. Carey was the first volunteer, and spent the rest of his life as a missionary in India.

His own achievements were remarkable, as a pioneer missionary, translator and evangelist. But it was the movement he started, as the 'father of modern missions', that was to see brave Christians spread the gospel all around the world. He was not the first in the modern world to attempt to reach unconverted peoples – David Brainerd had evangelised Native Americans, for instance – but it was Carey who kickstarted the missionary movement. With all its mistakes and shortcomings, it is responsible for the strong, healthy Churches in the global South today. 

And it began with a sermon: 'Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.'  

Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods