We greeted visitors, and Wayne Johnson opened our Sunday morning worship service with prayer. Special prayers were requested for students, teachers and support staff as school begins this week. We ask that God will bless them with a wonderful and safe school year. Prayer was also requested for Susan, Pat Ramsey and the Louisiana flood victims. Thanks to everyone who helped with the church booth at the Back-to-School Block Party in Noel. We gave away 154 bags of new school clothes to children.
Linda Abercrombie gave the devotional, "Morning and Evening," with scripture from Psalm 139:16. She talked about a strand of beads that slide with knots on each end. The beads are our goals and relationships and, as they slide, the knots on each end keep them from falling a part.
The knots represent our mornings and evenings, and the beads represent everything in between. We need to keep our priorities in life straight to keep from falling apart. If we consume too much media in the morning or evening, we waste time -- Godly time that we could spend with Him. We will have more peace in a life well lived if we will begin and end the day with God. Prayerfully ask God how to begin and end your day.
Karen Gardner and Becky Johnson led the congregational hymns. Wayne and Karen sang "Jesus is Coming Soon," and Karen sang "The Unclouded Day." Tyrel Lett asked God's blessing upon our tithes and offerings, and he and Rick Lett served as ushers.
Brother Mark read Luke 22:31-34 - when Peter denied Christ three times. We began thinking about our failures and near failures especially when it comes to Christianity. "Give Up or Get Back On" was the title of the message. Brother Mark told us everyone feels like a failure once in a while.
"There are several things that can cause us to stumble in our Christian walk with God just as Peter failed."
He talked about three things that caused Peter to fail. First, he argued with God.
"You won't get anywhere doing that. You are not going to change His mind and why would you want to? What do you know that God doesn't? What does God know that you don't?"
Second, Peter failed because he was impulsive. Brother Mark referred to John 18:1-11 about Peter going off.
"Don't we all have a short fuse in a hot situation sometimes? That just makes it hotter when we act on impulsive behavior and out of emotion. Impulsive behavior and a hot temper can make us look and feel like a failure every time. Nothing can make a Christian fall quicker than that."
Third, Peter failed because he hung out in low places.
"He hung out in the wrong place with the wrong people. As Christians, we are in church because we need it. Faith can fail for lack of fellowship. Christians fail because they follow Jesus at a distance. Jesus says, 'Come follow me.' He will never go any faster than you can keep up. There is always a way out of what you get into if you follow Christ.
"We get on fire for Christ and then we start following Him at a distance and then we get behind and begin to argue with Him. When you follow Jesus at a distance, you will end up in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people fixing to do the wrong things."
Brother Mark told us the cure for those three failures is to seek Jesus.
"Confess your sins, and He is faithful and just to forgive us. When we get too far behind him, Jesus will come back to get us. That's what following Jesus looks like. Peter tried to follow at a distance. It didn't work.
"The main reason for Christian failure is following Jesus at a distance. Peter failed, but God sent angels to tell Peter that He knew what he had done and would forgive him because God still had work for him to do. Don't feel like you aren't good enough to be a Christian. Just follow Jesus closely. Psalm 145:8-9 tells us 'The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all, he has compassion on all He has made.'"
In closing, Brother Mark said, "Prayers are hindered when you follow Jesus at a distance. We get too far behind for Him to hear us. Follow Jesus at his heels, not at a distance. Abundant life gets put off when you follow at a distance. Do not argue with God, be impulsive or hang out in low places like Peter. It is time to get closer to God and see what He has for you."
Our hymn of invitation was "Where He Leads Me," and Wayne Holly gave the benediction.
We invite you to worship with us next Sunday as we will celebrate our annual Homecoming. The Gould family will sing during the morning song service and again in the afternoon after fellowship lunch. We invite you to come worship with us, listen to the music, eat and fellowship. Everyone is welcome.
Mill Creek Baptist Church is located 3.5 miles east of Noel just off Highway 90.
Religion on 08/18/2016