What I Am Thankful For the Most

It was a blustery day but warm inside as we gathered to worship Sunday morning at Mill Creek Baptist Church, with many visitors. Celebrating birthdays the last two weeks were Rhonda Hazelton, Debora McKenna and Doug Cory. Special prayers were requested for Dwayne Hazelton, Don Chaney, Jimmy Easter, the Glenna Carpenter Price family, the Margaret Brown family, the Margaret Spencer family and the Sherri Landon family.

Linda Abercrombie shared the devotional, "Don't Be Ashamed of Your Weaknesses," and read 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. We need to let Christ help us with our weaknesses. Even characters in the Bible had faults, and it depicts their weaknesses honestly and shows how God worked with them. All God's giants had weaknesses, including Moses, Abraham, Peter, David and John. What weaknesses do you have? God will give us the grace to face them so they don't weigh us down and we can become the person He wants us to be if we will let Him.

Tyrel Lett asked God's blessing upon the offering and he and Rick Lett served as ushers. Congregational hymns included "Trust and Obey" and "Just A Closer Walk With Thee," led by Jerry Abercrombie with Becky Johnson at the piano.

Our Pastor, Brother Mark Hall, began God's message for us about being thankful, "What I Am Thankful For the Most?" Scripture was from 1 John 2:1-2, "My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin, and if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." Brother Mark asked if we had any fears. "We have good reason for most because they are a reality, but some not so much. My biggest fear is that someone who has heard me preach might still not understand what Jesus did for them."

Brother Mark's sermon focused on exactly what Jesus did for us. Sometimes we just assume that people know. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Brother Mark told us that the scripture tells us that before we accepted Jesus Christ, we were still a sinner and even now we still sin. "We try not to and we don't want to, but we still do. But we are not seen by God as a sinner." Romans 3:23-25 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed."

Brother Mark told us that we fear death because we know we are sinners, but Hebrews 2:14-17 tells us that Jesus Christ sets us free. Brother Mark said, "Our imagination can be our worst enemy, but there are some things that we know for sure. We have all been sinners. Don't try to compare yourself to someone else. God can't abide sin and we know we can't get into heaven with sin on us. So Jesus did it for us. He is our propitiation for sin. He took care of our sin payment for everything we've done and will do. Jesus paid it all. When we near the end of our days, we worry about things that we have done -- godly sorrow. It's not all about what we did, but what Jesus did for us. That's why we need Jesus so much. That is why Jesus is what I am thankful for the most. Nothing means much without Jesus." Brother Mark told us that there is one thing that gets to him and that is to hear people speculate about another person's salvation. "We don't go to church to be saved, we go because we are thankful to be saved. Thankful Christians are faithful, serving and giving Christians."

Brother Mark said, "We all have a sin problem and Jesus Christ died for you, for those sins. Shouldn't you be thankful? Christians have so much to be thankful for, especially for Jesus Christ taking care of our sin problem." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Brother Mark said, "If you want to know God's will in your life, that's it. It is no secret. He wants us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks in everything. Sometimes there are circumstances in life when that is not easy, but no matter what, when they are placed to the realization of a literal hell, being thankful can be easy. No matter what we have in life, we always seem to want a little more. It is not about what's in your pocket, the barn or the bank that makes us thankful. It is what is in your heart. If you have Jesus, you can truly be thankful. Only when we realize what He did for us, can we be truly faithful. Whether we are one week old or 90, Jesus took care of all our sin. In everything, give thanks. That is the will of God in our lives."

Our hymn of invitation was "Have Thine Own Way, Lord," and Tom Sharp gave the benediction. After the worship service, we were so blessed to witness the baptism of Weston Allison. We are so proud of Weston for his decision. May God bless him.

Everyone is invited and welcome to worship at Mill Creek Baptist Church on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. Mill Creek Baptist Church is located 3½ miles east of Noel, just off Highway 90 on upper Mill Creek Road.

Religion on 11/29/2018