Jesus’ Last Prayer On Earth, Not Last
Beautiful summer lilies adorned the altar as we gathered to worship Sunday morning at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Carlie was celebrating a birthday and Doug Cory greeted the congregation. Special prayers were requested for Ray Deen, Jim, Kendall, Blake, Vernie, Vic, Steve’s niece, Skip, Jerry, Grant, Marvin, Don and Janet, and Darryl.
There will be a shower for Jamie and Teddy on June 14 at 2 p.m. at the church. The business meeting will be held on June 28. Jerry, Susan and Skip shared a praise.
Rick Lett taught the Adult Sunday School class lesson, “Charted Waters,” a study from the book of Proverbs. God’s word warns us of the consequences of foolish choices. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Godly wisdom is applied truth that leads to transformation and wise practical living.
Linda Abercrombie shared the devotional, “Treasures Out of Darkness,” with scripture from Isaiah 60:89. Isaiah gave warning to God’s people of their suffering if they did not return to God. What suffering are you enduring? Ask God to bring you out of the darkness with the treasures of wisdom and faith.
Congregational hymns included “What a Friend We Have In Jesus” led by Susan Cory and Karen Gardner, and we were blessed with special music from Susan’s family, which sang “The King is Alive,” and Jerry who sang “The Prodigal Son,” with reference to Luke 15:11-32.
Our Pastor, Brother Mark Hall, began God’s message for us by reading John 17:1-26 “Jesus’ Intercessory Prayer.” The title of Sunday’s sermon was “Jesus’ Last Prayer.”
Brother Mark told us that although this was Jesus’ last prayer on earth before going to Calvary, it was not His last prayer for He is still praying for us. “If you knew the Lord was coming tonight or tomorrow morning, we probably would want one more opportunity for one more prayer. It is a safe bet that the last prayer would be important to us. It was important to Jesus that He pray one last time before leaving earth. That last prayer was important to Jesus because he needed to glorify himself, believers needed sanctification and His church need to be unified. Those three things are the only hope for a lost world to be saved.”
Brother Mark talked about those three reasons Jesus needed to pray one last time before leaving earth.
“Why does Jesus ask to be glorified? To make Him known as the Savior of the world to save us. The purpose of building and attending church is to glorify Jesus. That’s why we are here today. Our mission is to lift up Jesus and draw men near to Him.”
Second, Brother Mark asked, “Why do disciples/ believers of Jesus need to be sanctified? We must be sanctified to be set apart and dedicated to the Lord’s work. Grace and salvation set us apart to do that work. In life, we have titles and labels, but God’s salvation sets us apart and puts us as a servant of the Lord first. We then become better fathers, mothers, farmers, carpenters, etc.”
Brother Mark referred to John 17:6-19 and told us how those verses pertain to believers. “There are three phrases of those verses: Growing in verse 6 is the training. Knowing in verses 7-8 is when we gain knowledge of the Lord. And the sowing in verses 9-19 is when we start living for the Lord. That’s when the devil comes after us, when we start working for the Lord. The devil is a tempter and an accuser. He tries to tempt you because he knows your weaknesses. Then he becomes the accuser and tells you that you are not sanctified when you fall into your weakness. But you have two things going for you when you think you fall and can’t continue to serve the Lord. Jesus is praying for you and you have the word. Verse 17 tells us to run to God’s word when the devil tempts and accuses us.”
Third, Brother Mark talked about why the church needs to be unified. “That’s how the world knows we are real. Our love for one another makes us real. John 13:34-35 tells us if Christians are real or counterfeit. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Brother Mark told us that our unity is so important because that is how the world knows God sent His son to change us.
After a little skit with help from Wayne Holly, Brother Mark said, “We need to have unity and all be Bible-believing, gospel-preaching and Jesus-glorifying churches. That way everyone out there knows everyone in here is sanctified and unified. The devil hates to see Jesus glorified, he hates to see believers sanctified and he hates to see churches unified in our love for Jesus and one another. It was so important to Jesus that He be glorified, believers to be sanctified and churches to be unified that he prayed about it in His last prayer on this earth.”
Our hymn of invitation was “Wherever He Leads, I’ll Go,” and Mitchell Lett gave the benediction.
We invite you to worship with us on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. Everyone is welcome at Mill Creek Baptist Church, located 3 1/2 miles east of Noel just off Highway 90.