Jerry Abercrombie welcomed a wonderful crowd of worshipers Sunday morning at Mill Creek Baptist Church, and Linda Jarvis and Jerry were celebrating birthdays. Special prayers were requested for Barbara, the Masons's grandaughter, the Greene family, Denny Martin family, the Crawley family and Jeanette Easter. Jeanette thanked everyone for their prayers and kindness, and Janice Mason shared a praise.
Linda Abercrombie gave the devotional "Windows," with scripture from Colossians 3:1-2. We should think about the things of heaven and not earth. It was a story about a garden tour and the view we get from windows. Life is like that -- the views from large and small windows and what we see. Our windows define our being. We need to look at the forever view in the large window.
Becky Johnson and Karen Gardner led the congregation in singing hymns of praise, and we were blessed with special music from Jerry, who sang "God On The Mountain," and Karen and Becky who harmonized in singing praise to God in "Come Home." Tyrel Lett asked God's blessing upon our tithes and offerings, and he and Rick Lett served as ushers.
"Go to Christ With Your Crisis" was the title of Bro. Mark Hall's message as he read Acts 12:1-7 about Peter's faith and being freed from prison.
"The world is so chaotic that everyone seems to have a crisis. Have you ever stepped into a covey of quail at night? That is what we look like in a crisis. Everything going every which way. In a crisis, cool heads always prevail. When you lose it, everyone else loses it."
"When Peter was in prison, he had constant prayer from church."
Bro. Mark talked about the five things to remember during a crisis.
The first thing to remember during a crisis is don't demand to understand.
Bro. Mark said, "Remember the mystery of God's providence. It doesn't mean it will make sense; that is a part of God's mystery, but blessings sometimes come from trouble. Don't demand to understand what your crisis is about."
Second, during a crisis, remember the ministry of God's people and the constant prayer by the people of God.
"Ask others to pray for and with you."
Bro. Mark told us that as we pray during a crisis, there are six things to remember and gave scripture reference to each: the frequency of prayer (Matthew 7:7), the fervency of prayer (Jeremiah 29:13), the fellowship of prayer (Matthew 18:19-20), the faith of prayer (Mark 11:24) the facts of prayer (Mark 11:25), and the focus of prayer -- the one we are praying to (Matthew 6:6).
The third thing to remember during a crisis is the mastery of God's peace and keeping your eyes on God and rest in His love.
Bro. Mark talked about Peter's example of sleeping the night before his planned execution in Acts 12:6-7.
"You can have peace in a crisis when you are in tune with God and sense His presence. You can calm down, keep a cool head and get out of the tizzy."
Bro. Mark used Grant as an example to show how we can go in the right direction by the choices we make.
"Making bad choices turns you in the wrong direction to get to where you are going in life. Life's little choices can change the course of your life. Keep a cool head and remember the Lord's Prayer. We need God's will to be done -- the focus of our prayer. Then you can sleep during a crisis."
The fourth thing we need to remember during a crisis is the peace in the midst of a crisis.
"Remember God moves in His own time and His own way."
And the fifth thing to remember is the moral of God's power when He delivers us from crisis.
"When God delivers us from crisis, we need to share it to strengthen the faith with our brethren as it tells us in Acts 12:17. We need to share it and testify God's grace to others. Your testimony will lead more of your friends to Christ than anything. It strengthens one another's faith. In the midst of a crisis, slow down, ask for God's direction, pray and then share the blessing."
Our hymn of invitation was "Leave It There," and Wayne Holly gave the benediction.
Sunday evening we gathered at David and Kitty Collingsworth's home for our fall fellowship dinner and annual watermelon seed-spitting contest. Congratulations to our winners Terry Lett, Kenneth White and Doug Cory. It was a good time. Business meeting will be held next Sunday evening.
We invite you to worship with us at Mill Creek Baptist Church located 3.5 miles east of Noel, just off Highway 90. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. and worship service at 11. Come worship and fellowship with us. Everyone is welcome.
Religion on 09/22/2016