The Battle Is The Lord's

Mill Creek Baptist Church was organized in 1904 and we gathered Sunday morning to celebrate 111 years of worship with our annual homecoming.

Wayne Johnson greeted a full house and welcomed many visitors. Susan Albertson was celebrating a birthday and David and Kitty Collingsworth were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. Special prayers of healing were requested for many including John Garvey, Ada White, Ashton Cory, Kirsten Crosby and Shirley Newburn. We joined voices in singing "Blessed Assurance" and Rick Lett and Jerry Abercrombie served as ushers and collected the offering. New American and Christian flags were in place near the altar in memory of Bill Emanuel and Pastor Mark presented Mary McCain with her baptism certificate.

We were blessed with special music from The Gould's as they praised God in song during our song service.

Brother Mark Hall brought us God's word in the message "The Battle Is The Lord's." Scripture reading was from I Samuel 17:45-47 which talks about young David and his faith and the story of David and Goliath. Brother Mark told us "Goliath never had a chance, because the battle became the Lord's. Sometimes our giants in battles are not always people." Brother Mark talked about the characteristics of a giant. "First, they always look big and unbeatable. Giants are always loud, obnoxious and inconvenient. They consume us because they are so loud we can't hear anything. They are so big we can't see anything and they get all our attention. They interrupt our lives and steal our focus on God. The goal of the giant is to get all of our attention and service and then we are defeated. A giant will always criticize you and cause you to be criticized. Criticism is cheap. That's why there is a lot of it."

Brother Mark told us "You won't be judged by what other people say about you, you will be judged by what you say about others. Ask yourself what are you fighting for? For your pride? Whose glory are you fighting for? Yours or God's? If you are fighting for your pride and glory, you are fighting against yourself. Never forget your testimony because there will always be giants. Courage and confidence are needed in Christianity today. David didn't really whip Goliath with a slingshot. We beg God for help to fight our battles and then when we win, we brag about what we did instead of giving God the credit. Whipping giants isn't a big deal when the battle is the Lord's."

Brother Mark referred to Revelation 12:9-11 which talks about the final battle and why we will need courage, confidence and testimony. "In the final battle, we will need two things -- the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Remember sorrow looks around, worry looks back, pride looks at itself, jealousy looks at others, but faith looks up."

Our hymn of invitation was "Lord I'm Coming Home," and Wayne Holly gave the benediction. We then gathered in the fellowship hall for a wonderful lunch, listened to more hymns of praise from the Goulds, heard our church history read and then gathered to witness the baptism of Kenneth White.

It was a wonderful homecoming and day of worship and praise. We invite you to join us in worship each Sunday morning at 11 as Brother Mark Hall brings us God's word. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. and everyone is welcome. Mill Creek Baptist Church is located 3 1/2 miles east of Noel just off Highway 90.

Religion on 08/20/2015