How Sin Brings A Storm
“The collateral damage of sin brings the storm. Samson was born to deliver the people from the Philistines. He was not prepared for what happened and never dreamed it would end up as it did for him. We need to be prepared for tomorrow because we never know what it will bring.”
It was good to be back to worship at Mill Creek Baptist Church Sunday after the recent snow and ice storms. We praise God for sunshine and above-freezing temperatures.
Happy birthday to Bobby Parish and happy anniversary to Mark and Shelley Hall. We were blessed to have members and advisers of the McDonald County FFA visiting us for our morning service for FFA week. Special prayers for Raydean, Don, Aaron, the Lloyd Barnes family, Steve’s stepmother, the Joe Banks family, the Michael Fuller family, Skip, and the McCaine’s son stationed overseas.
Rick Lett taught the adult Sunday school lesson, “Loved,” a study of Luke 7:40-50 about a sinful woman forgiven. The lesson told us that “believers should demonstrate love for God with great intensity, demonstrate love for God because of His great forgiveness and that forgiveness is found through faith in Jesus Christ alone.”
Linda Abercrombie shared the devotional, “Entrust the Problem to Jesus,” and read Psalm 34:4, “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
The congregation joined voices in singing hymns of praise, led by Karen Gardner with Susan Cory at the piano, and we were blessed with special praise music from Jerry Abercrombie as he sang “Prodigal Son.”
Our Pastor, Mark Hall, shared Sunday’s message, “How Sin Brings A Storm,” with scripture from Judges 2:7-10 and 17:6. He began by telling us that the biggest lie in the last 40 years is that the Bible isn’t relevant to modern times.
“So many believe that you can’t understand the Bible. Samson was no cartoon character. You can picture him today in all the finest, trendy clothes. He was spoiled, self-centered, and could have been blessed if he would have gotten out of his own way. You can be a Samson and not even know it. Samson was born to be of God but there were four aspects of sin in the story of Samson that got in the way: the sin of compromise, the sin of contagion, the sin of consequences and the collateral damage of sin.”
As Brother Mark talked about the four aspects of sin, he referred to Judges, chapters 13-17. As he talked about the compromise of sin, Brother Mark told us that Samson was a little self-centered and didn’t care about sin or honor. He wanted something no matter what. “That sin brought Samson a storm.”
“The contagion of sin is more contagious than covid,” Brother Mark told us. “Sin will take you farther than you wanted to go and will keep you longer than you wanted to stay. That will lead to disaster.”
Thirdly, Brother Mark talked about the consequences of sin. “The Bible tells us that even after Samson’s wife died, he still ran with the wrong crowd. Samson hit rock bottom. The consequences of sin are shame and humiliation.”
As Brother Mark talked about the collateral damage of sin, he referred to Judges 16:16-31, which tells of Samson’s death.
“When Samson was out and about, he knew the risk of sin but did what he wanted anyway. He felt he wasn’t hurting anyone but himself, but verse 31 tells us how broken-hearted his family was. Samson did hurt others besides himself. He hurt everyone that loved him.
“The collateral damage of sin brings the storm. Samson was born to deliver the people from the Philistines. He was not prepared for what happened and never dreamed it would end up as it did for him. We need to be prepared for tomorrow because we never know what it will bring.
“Are you prepared for eternity? Do you know that if something happened tomorrow, heaven would be your home?”
Our hymn of invitation was “Kneel at the Cross.” Rick Lett gave the benediction.
We invite you to worship with us at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. and worship service at 11 a.m. Everyone is welcome.