Alesia Parish was celebrating a birthday and David and Kitty Collingsworth were celebrating their wedding anniversary as we gathered to worship Sunday morning at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Doug Cory was our greeter, and special prayers were requested for Nancy Harris, Skip McKenna, Cindy Cory, Joann's family and Dayna. We also prayed for our students, teachers, bus drivers and school staff as another year begins at school. Prayers were given for their safety and that all will have a good year. Kitty also shared a praise. We were reminded about homecoming this Sunday. SpringStreet, a gospel bluegrass group, will sing during the morning song service and again after lunch in the fellowship hall.
Linda Abercrombie talked about attending the Missouri Baptist Children's Home fundraising event. "Blame" was the devotional that Linda shared with the congregation, with scripture from Job 38:43 and 34. She talked about blaming ourselves for things and that guilt keeps on giving. We tend to take responsibility for things outside of our realm. Guilt keeps on giving. We are not in charge of the universe. God is. Let Him take care of it.
Rick Lett asked the blessing upon the offertory and he and Tyrel Lett served as ushers. With Susan Cory at the piano, Karen Gardner led the congregation in singing, "It Is Well With My Soul." The congregation was blessed with special music by Jerry Abercrombie, who sang, "The Prodigal Son."
"Doing Our Duty" was the title of Sunday's message, and Brother Mark Hall began by reading The Beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-16 in the words of Jesus. The text of the message was particularly from Matthew 5:13-16 when Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." In summary, Brother Mark said, "Let your light shine and glorify God. Ask Him to show us what dims our light and what basket is over our light. The Latin translation of beatitude means, how to live in order to achieve blessedness. Verses 13-16 deal with our Christian duties. There is a misconception about Christian duties. You do things out of love for your brother. All are here in church today because of our love and fear of the Lord, not because it is our Christian duty. We don't see much fear of the Lord anymore. The dwindling of attendance in churches today is because of a culture that lacks the love and fear of the Lord."
Brother Mark continued by asking, "What is your Christian duty? It is to be the salt and light. Salt is a subtle influence. It is not the main thing, like salt on a watermelon. You eat it for the watermelon, not the salt. The salt only enhances the watermelon. In comparison, we, the salt, are not the main ingredient, but we can have a positive or negative influence on those around us. We can be a subtle influence, and our Christian duty is to be a positive influence. Jesus said that when salt loses its flavor it is good for nothing. Salt is also a preservative. We are, too. We live in a dying, decaying world. We are to be the preservative for our world. Prayer has been taken out of our schools, but there are still Christians there. The Ten Commandments have been taken out of the courthouses, but there are still Christians there. We are the salt to preserve it."
As salt is the subtle influence, light is the obvious influence. Things tend to scatter when the lights come on. Just like in the world, some people are drawn to the light and others will scatter. It is our Christian duty to help be the light. In John 8:12, Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." Brother Mark said, "If we are saved, we are the subs for light. It is our Christian duty to shine our light in the dark world. People can't see if they are in the dark. We have to shine the light for them to see. God puts us in places to give others that light. Being around some people makes us better people. God sends us into dark places to shine our light for others."
In closing, Brother Mark said, "If we don't do our Christian duty, the world will keep on decaying and heading deeper into darkness. What kind of basket is hiding your light? Is it a basket of fear, disobedience or unfaithfulness? If you give God time, He will give it back to you. Everyone thinks his time is more valuable than another person's, but with God, the more time you give Him, the more He gives back. What kind of basket do you have over your light? Is your light shining? Is your influence positive?"
Our hymn of invitation was "Have Thine Own Way, Lord," and Rick Lett gave the benediction. We invite everyone to come worship on Sunday as we celebrate our annual homecoming and 115 years of worship at Mill Creek Baptist Church. SpringStreet will sing during our morning song, followed by God's message from Brother Mark Hall. Lunch will be served in the fellowship hall, and SpringStreet will sing again following the reading of the church history.
Everyone is welcome to come worship at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. and morning service at 11 a.m. Mill Creek Baptist Church is located 3½ miles east of Noel or 8½ miles west of I49, just off Highway 90, on Upper Mill Creek Road.
Religion on 08/15/2019