Many Times We React Instead Of Respond
We welcomed several visitors as we gathered to worship Sunday morning at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Special prayers of healing and comfort were requested for Finley, the Mertie Harmon family, Chris Crosby, the Mary Mason family, Donna, Gordon, Kari, the Jimmie Gideon family, Janet Chaney, Mildred Easter, Jimmy Easter and Tammy’s family. Jeanette shared a praise, Janet expressed thanks to the church, and Doug Cory opened our service with prayer.
“Unashamed,” a study of Luke 9:18-27, was the adult Sunday school lesson taught by Terry Lett. The lesson told us that “Jesus expects His followers to forsake all else for Him. All people must realize who Jesus is, not all will accept Jesus as the promised Messiah, and believers are called upon to unashamedly follow Christ with all their being.”
Linda Abercrombie shared the devotional, “It Is Well With My Soul,” as she told the story behind the hymn. “A good attitude will determine your altitude. Be thankful for the good and simple things in your life. Little is much when God is in it. Don’t be envious of others.” Jerry and Linda then sang “It Is Well With My Soul.”
With Susan Cory at the piano, the congregation joined voices in singing hymns of praise led by Karen Gardner. We were so blessed with special praise music from Jimmy Easter as he played “Why Me, Lord” on the canjo.
“You Better Invite Jesus” was the title of Sunday’s message and a study of John 2:1-11 about the wedding in Cana. Pastor Mark Hall told us that turning water into wine at the wedding was the first miracle that Jesus performed on His earthly mission and the most skipped. He then read Proverbs 23:29-35 and told us that “the Bible does not promote drinking and alcohol can ruin lives, but there were six things we could learn from the story of the wedding in Cana.”
Brother Mark told us that first, Jesus “ain’t against having a good time. You can still be saved and have fun. It doesn’t stop when you get saved. Second, you better invite Jesus to your wedding from the ‘git-go.’ You better have Jesus involved in any kind of gathering you have.” Third, Jesus wants to be involved in the little things in our lives and bless them. “When things go wrong, spend time praying instead of whining. God is big enough to take care of the small things just like the big things. He is still God even in the little things.”
Brother Mark told us that the fourth thing we can learn from the wedding story is that our response matters. “When God tells you what to do, do it.” He referred to John 2:5 “His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Brother Mark said, “Reactions come from emotions. Responses come from thought and prayers. It seems that most of the time reactions need an apology to follow. Leaders respond and losers react. Too many times in life, we react instead of responding and then regret it. A good response can save a bad reaction.”
The fifth lesson to learn in the story is that the blessing of Jesus can save you from a lot of embarrassment. Brother Mark said, “We need Jesus involved in even the simple things.”
And the sixth lesson we can gain from the story is that Jesus fills your emptiness. Brother Mark said, “There is a world of people leading empty lives and they don’t even know it. They try to fill it with stuff. Eventfully, the shine wears off of that stuff. Jesus can fill that emptiness with an abundant life. When you allow Jesus to fill the emptiness, His glory will be revealed in your life. The trouble with unbelievers is that they spend so much time looking at Christians, they never really look at Christ. They won’t see Jesus until we are able to show them Jesus. In Romans, it tells us that everyone has been given a ‘measure of faith.’ We need to use it to see Jesus. All you have to do is to look at Jesus.”
Brother Mark referred to Isaiah 45:22-25. In the words of God, verse 22 says “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Brother Mark, in closing, said, “Don’t look at Christians, look at Christ. We are all sinners saved by grace.”
“Trust and Obey” was our hymn of invitation. We joined in special prayer for Finley, and Jerry gave the benediction.
We invite you to worship with us Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. Everyone is welcome.