We welcomed many visitors as we gathered to worship Sunday morning at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Special prayers were requested for Ronnie Walker, Don, Susan, Carolyn, Johnny, Audrey, Clyde, Steve, Grant, and the tornado victims. Brother Mark and Jeanette shared praises. Next Sunday, the Schlessman family will bring us special music during our song service. Linda shared thank you notes from the basketball kids at Noel Elementary for their shoes.
The adult Sunday school lesson was "Saves," a study of Ezekiel 11 and 14 taught by Shelley Hall. The lesson reminds us that "God offers hope in the midst of judgment to those who trust in Him and believers find hope in the promises of God's salvation."
Mitchell Lett asked for God's blessing upon the offering and he and Rick Lett served as ushers. The congregation joined in singing Christmas carols, led by Karen Gardner with Susan Cory at the piano.
Pastor Mark Hall continued in the sermon series on "warnings" with the way the world is today. Sunday's message included warnings for the church.
"There are church members and pew-sitters who have become immune to the word of Jesus. We need new hearts. There are some you could preach to for fifty years. They could change, but they don't want to. They are too set in their ways and opinions to change. Two people in the same church can hear the same message. One will repent and confess and the other will hope that the other person heard it because they needed it." Brother Mark told us that the scariest thing for a church pastor to hear from a church member or Christians is, "I know what it says in the Bible, but ... if they say that, they need to go somewhere and pray and ask for forgiveness and then go to the Bible to make sure they are saved. We all fail at times, but don't try to justify it."
Brother Mark talked about the three kinds of hearts that need a transplant: the hard heart, the arrogant heart and the unforgiving heart. As he talked about the hard heart, he referred to Romans 2:1-9 and God's righteous judgment. In Romans, Paul gives a list of those in danger of God's judgment. Scripture tells us that judgment is coming. We are not the judge. Brother Mark asked, "Is your heart so hard that you have forgotten what you have done?"
Brother Mark told us that the second kind of heart that needs a transplant is the arrogant heart. "We need to have a heart of flesh." Luke 14:15-24 talks about leaving all to follow Christ. "People make all kinds of excuses for not coming to church. Some are too busy or too important to come to church. We look good to ourselves, but in reality, what do we look like?" Brother Mark referred to Luke 18:9-14 as Jesus spoke a parable about those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous." Brother Mark said, "We are the servant sent out to invite people to church. We are to compel others to come. Not all will, but we can invite them. Not all will get saved, but some will."
The third kind of heart that needs a transplant is the unforgiving heart. Brother Mark referred to Matthew 18:21-35 and told us that "it is easy to forget what we have been forgiven for. What did you do to get forgiveness? Jesus forgives us. That is the power of forgiveness."
Our hymn of invitation was "I Know Who Holds Tomorrow." Rick Lett gave the benediction.
We invite you to worship with us next Sunday and enjoy special music from the Schlessman family and worship with us the Sunday before Christmas. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. and worship service at 11 a.m. Mill Creek is located 3 1/2 miles east of Noel just off Highway 90. Everyone is welcome.
Opinions expressed are those of the author.