There was a crisp hint of fall in the morning air as we gathered to worship Sunday at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Gracie Allison, Ashton Cory and Logan were celebrating birthdays. Wayne Johnson opened our service with prayer. Jeanette Easter shared a praise, and special prayers were requested for Del and Eileen Hawkins, Steve Mason and Ruth Briggs.
Janet Chaney shared two devotionals. "The Strength to Deal With Change" tells us to pray when we get restless and worry about change. We get caught up between the tension of wanting change and fearing change. Trust in God who remains the same when we face change in our lives. "Shirley and Marcie" tells of a kindergartner's first week in school and Shirley and Marcie following them to school to make sure they made it safely. Scripture was from Psalm 23:6, which says "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."
We were led in song by Becky Johnson and Karen Gardner who also sang "The Lord's Prayer." Tyrel Lett asked God's blessing upon the offering, and he and Wayne served as ushers.
Brother Mark Hall continued the sermon series, "Christian Citizenship," and began by reading Romans 12. Verse 3 tells us, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."
Brother Mark began by telling us that if we have been made in God's image, no one is worthless if Jesus hung on the cross for all of us.
"We all belong to one body, despite our talents. No one is more valuable than anyone else. You can't have a song service without the piano player, the song leader or the congregation. You can't preach if you don't have ears to hear. God gives each of us special abilities which we are to invest in Kingdom service. Your talent is no less important than anyone else's. It is what you do with it that is important. You are responsible for using your talent. We have lots of spiritual resources in our churches and life, but they are untapped and people are going to hell because of it."
Romans 12:6-9 tells us "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them; if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good."
Brother Mark told us love without hypocrisy is unconditional love. Only loving someone when they act like you want them to, do what you want them to do and live like you want them to live is loving someone with hypocrisy.
"Love is a two-way street. Do things because we love someone, not because we want them to love us. Love is a guiding principal in Christian citizenship. It is not possible for God to love anyone more than anyone else. We serve God because we love Him, not to make Him love us. We were saved to serve. Abhor what is evil. Dislike the act, but not the people. Cling to what is good. That is the best way to keep evil off of you. Good and evil don't mix. If we are to survive as Christian citizens in this evil world, we must cling to Jesus and each other like stick tights. It keeps us centered in our Christian citizenship."
In closing, Brother Mark told us our Bible verse for this week is 1 Peter 4:10: "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." He told us to memorize the verse and put it into practice this next week.
"Use our gift to honor and love God, not to make Him love us. He already does. What is your God-given gift? Don't worry about what your gift is. Ask Jesus what it is and put it to use as part of your Christian citizenship."
Our hymn of invitation was "Where He Leads, I'll Go," and Tom Sharp gave the benediction.
We invite you to worship with us at 11 a.m. Sunday mornings at Mill Creek Baptist Church, located 3.5 miles east of Noel just off Highway 90. Sunday school begins at 10. Everyone is always welcome. Come see what you are missing.
Religion on 09/08/2016