Dogwood branches and palm leaves adorned the altar for Palm Sunday. Wayne Johnson greeted the congregation and opened our service with prayer and special prayers were requested for Brooklyn and Jerry Abercrombie. Steve Mason shared a praise and Janice Moss expressed thanks. We will have an Easter egg hunt for the kids immediately following worship service next Sunday and ladies will be wearing their Easter bonnets.

Linda Abercrombie gave the devotional "Fuel for the Moment" and read Psalm 29:11, "The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace." Linda began by asking how you would finish the sentence, "I need all of my strength to make it through what?" We always need emotional and physical strength. We run on God's energy when we need His strength to face big obstacles and little irritants. When you are weary, ask God to give you strength and He will.

Janet Chaney read Matthew 9:36-38 and talked about Annie Armstrong and the Annie Armstrong Easter offering. Becky Johnson and Karen Gardner led the congregational hymns including "The Old Rugged Cross" and "At Calvary." We were blessed with a special song from Jerry and Linda Abercrombie, "The Greatest of All Miracles," appropriate for Easter as it told about what Jesus did for us. Becky and Karen sang "Come Home, It's Suppertime." Tyrel Lett asked God's blessing and he and Rick Lett served as offertory ushers.

Our pastor, Brother Mark Hall, brought us God's message "A Spiritual Guarantee," the third sermon in the series on the Holy Spirit. Scripture for the message was from Romans 8:1-17, which tells us of the life in the spirit and the promise of life that frees us from the bondage of death if we are the sons and daughters of God.

Brother Mark began by asking if we ever received help just in time before a catastrophe, a near miss or a close call and probably a lot of them we never knew anything about except God. "Those are temporary reprieves. The near miss isn't temporary, it is eternity. The spirit of life sets us free." Ephesians 1:12-14 tells us, "That we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." Brother Mark told us it is like canning and the lid going "dink" when it is sealed. "God seals us and puts our name in the book of life. The 'dink' means we have the Holy Spirit and we know it is there and don't have to wonder." I John 3:24 tells us how we know we are sealed and have the Holy Spirit and our names are written down. We know we have Jesus because He gives us the Spirit as it says in I John 4:13, "By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit."Brother Mark said, "When we walk in the Spirit, we can see the proof of our guarantee. Grieving the Holy Spirit will make you miserable and if it doesn't, you might not have the Holy Spirit."

Brother Mark told us there are three things that grieve the Holy Spirit: bitterness, anger and clamor. "The cure for these is to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving." Ephesians 4:30-32 says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." Brother Mark told us that grieving the Holy Spirit is one thing, but resisting the Holy Spirit is worse. "Resisting what you know is right, knowing better and doing it anyway. But the worst is blasphemy of the Spirit known as the unpardonable sin-against spiritual knowledge." In Matthew 12:31-32 Jesus tells us, "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." Brother Mark said blasphemy is the continued and willful rejection of the truth about Jesus. "People have the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ and confess Him as the son of God or deny Him. Don't choose sin over your salvation." Hebrews 10:26-29 says, "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries..."

In closing, Brother Mark said, "God wants us all to come to the knowledge of the Spiritual Truth. God gave us confession and repentance. Grieving and resisting the Holy Spirit is one thing, but blasphemy, insulting the Holy Spirit, is the worst. Jesus will call and call. The Spirit will come and come, but God says there will be a day when He is done and there is no longer a place for you." Jesus tells us in John 6:44, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day." Brother Mark continued reading John 6:60-65 and said, "When Jesus calls, you need to answer. How many chances will you get? How many chances should you get? Accept that He died for you. Are you willing to accept Him? Will you choose sin or salvation?"

Our hymn of invitation was "Why Do You Wait" and Steve Mason gave the benediction. We invite you to worship with us on Easter Sunday and share in the praise and joy of what Jesus did for us. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. and worship service is at 11 a.m. Everyone is welcome. Mill Creek is located 3 ½ miles east of Noel just off Highway 90.