Mill Creek was rolling as we gathered to worship Sunday morning at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Tiffany Hazelton was celebrating a birthday, and we were greeted by Doug Cory. Special prayers were given for the Tom Collingsworth family, Karen Morgan, Keith Peck, Skip, Wayne and Becky. Shelley Hall presented the church with the Old Timers Day plague for our parade entry "Mill Creek Mayberry Revival," and thanked everyone for help and participation. Thanks to the country road grader for making the road to the church passable after the flood. We welcomed Tina as a new member of our congregation.
Linda Abercrombie read a thank you note from David and Kitty. She gave the devotional, "Fear Not," and read Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you." Linda began by asking "What are you afraid of, all? There are all kinds of things to be afraid of from spiders to public speaking. Some fears are useful and cause us to use caution or motivate us. Fear is not a problem unless it controls us. Anything that controls us besides God is not good. God helps us battle our fears and anxieties. Read your Bible and trust God with your fears and anxieties that threaten your peace." Ephesians 6:17 says, "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."
Rick Lett and Jerry Abercrombie served as ushers and collected the offertory as Susan Cory played "His Name is Wonderful." Congregational hymns, including "Sunlight" and "The Unclouded Day," were led by Karen Stroud.
Before beginning God's message, Brother Mark Hall invited everyone to come and grow in grace and knowledge in Sunday school class. Brother Mark began a sermon series on "Quality of Walk, Walking with the Lord" with Sunday's message, "Living in Milk and Honey Country," and read Numbers 14:8, "If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey."
Brother Mark began by talking about the things we should do to improve our quality of life, for example exercising and diet. "But do we do it? Do we want it bad enough? We have a home in heaven but, on this earth, we can live in the land of milk and honey with God by our side if we want it bad enough. The Bible tells us that 'His yoke is easy and the burden is light,' but do we balk at getting in the yoke with God?"
In the book of Numbers, Brother Mark talked about the children of Israel who became slaves in Egypt with no hope and then were saved by the blood of the lamb. "We wander in the world's wilderness when Canaan isn't that far away, just like they did. They marched to Canaan and then wandered away when they got close, just like we do when we could reach the land of milk and honey on this earth that God has for us. Do you wonder why there are so few young people in church? They see older ones wandering around so long that they can't see the land of milk and honey God has for us on this earth. We can't see it because of giant problems, walls of resistance and rivers of trouble."
Brother Mark read Numbers 13:27-33, which tells of the 12 spies sent to Canaan, and he talked about Caleb, the Canaan conqueror, and the wilderness wanderers. Brother Mark talked about getting yoked up with Jesus and facing the walls of resistance, the rivers of trouble and our giant problems.
"How do I get to the other side to Canaan?" Brother Mark read Joshua 3:5 which says, "And Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." Brother Mark asked, "What is it to sanctify yourself? It is to be set apart to a sacred purpose, to look, act and respond differently. The difference is how we respond to the circumstances of the rivers of trouble. A sanctified person should respond differently than a lost person. We need to be sanctified and set ourselves apart for the next generation to see. There are Canaan conquerors who attend church today, but what will we look like and how will we respond to things tomorrow? Will we look like a wilderness wanderer? It is a daily thing to live as a sanctified person.
God carried the children of Israel through a river of trouble, walls of resistance and giant problems; and then they forgot about what He did for them. Don't live the desert rat race. Our next generation can't see the land of milk and honey if we do. The wilderness is full of wanderers, but they won't know about the land of milk and honey if we don't tell them about God. Showing them is even more important. Happiness is knowing there is an eternity in heaven. We have an awesome God that can carry us through the rivers of trouble, the walls of resistance and our giant problems if we will sanctify ourselves and let Him. Get out of the wilderness and into milk and honey country. Chase God, not other things. It is our responsibility to put up memorial stones to show others what God has done for us. Our memorial stones are when we praise God for all the good He does for us so we can live in the 'sweet by and by' and not the 'nasty now.' Sanctify and set yourself apart to live in the land of milk and honey with God."
Our hymn of invitation was "Just As I Am" and Jerry gave the benediction. We invite you to join us next Sunday as we pay tribute to the mothers for Mother's Day.
Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. and worship service at 11 a.m. at Mill Creek Baptist Church, which is located 3 1/2 miles east of Noel or 8 1/2 miles west of I49, just off Highway 90, on Upper Mill Creek Road. Everyone is welcome.
Religion on 05/09/2019