Shelley Hall was celebrating a birthday and Wayne Johnson greeted the congregation as we gathered to worship Sunday at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Special prayers were requested for Doug Cory, Ruth Briggs, Molly, Debbie, John, the Eileen Cantrell family and Wayne. We celebrated Father's Day by thanking God for our fathers and presented them with gifts.
"Power" was the devotional given by Linda as she read Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Linda talked about the power of electricity and its energy that is transmitted over long distances and then transformed into high voltage energy. "Transformers deliver the power, but they don't create it. In spiritual power, we are transformed conveying God's power to others around us. God uses us as conduits to convey His grace to others. We need God's power not just to transform us but to transmit it to others. Without His power we have no peace."
Tyrel Lett asked God to bless the offering and he and Wayne served as ushers. Wayne Holly, Jerry Abercrombie and Karen Gardner led the congregational hymns and Karen and Wayne sang specials.
"What Do You Want From Me God?" was the title of the message with scripture from Micah 6:8, "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" Brother Mark Hall began by asking us "Did you ever start a new job and didn't know what to do next? We get a list of things to keep us busy. God expects us to be doing something, but sometimes we are not sure what. The Lord has given us a list to keep us busy. It is not voluntary, it is required. There are three things that God requires of us -- that we do justly, love mercy and kindness and walk humbly with our God. Commit yourself to a submissive relationship with God."
Brother Mark told us that doing justly required us to do right. "It is not about us, but God, because He is the only one who can truly make things right. God uses imperfect people to find the perfect solution like he used Mosses and Ester. Sometimes doing right requires a sacrifice, but God will bless you for it. We tend to think of justice as how others treat us, but it is about how we treat others. We always remember when people treat us badly, but tend to forget when they are good to us."
The second requires us to love mercy or kindness. Brother Mark said, "The mercy God is talking about is compassion without prejudice.
"We aren't to pick and choose, we are to show it as Jesus shows it. No one is unworthy of the gospel. It is there for everyone. The more you give, the more you get back. The kindest people you know are the happiest." Romans 2:11 says, "For there is no partiality with God."
The third thing God requires is that we walk humbly with Him.
Brother Mark said, "Sometimes we forget who we are walking with. Humility is the clear recognition of the honest truth, who we are and who we recognize God is. How do we look walking beside God? How could we walk any way but humbly with Him. The world distracts us and we forget that He is the God of the Bible and the universe. We tend to forget how great He is."
In closing, Brother Mark reminded us of the three things God requires of us as it tells us in Micah "to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God." We all have different jobs to do, but we should never stand around wondering what God wants us to do.
Our hymn of invitation was "Trust and Obey" and Wayne Holly gave the benediction. Vacation Bible School will be held on Saturday, July 29, and we will meet after church with a luncheon on July 9 for a planning meeting and business meeting. We invite you to worship with us at Mill Creek Baptist Church located 3 1/2 miles east of Noel just off Highway 90. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. and worship service at 11 a.m. Everyone is always welcome.
Religion on 06/22/2017