Without Him, You Cannot; Without You, He Will Not

Although we were without electricity, that didn’t stop us from worshiping Sunday morning at Mill Creek Baptist Church. God will always light our path to do His will.

Wayne Holly greeted the congregation and opened our service with prayer. Janet and Linda shared praises, and prayers were requested for several. The business meeting was held at 7 o’clock Sunday evening and Bible study will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The adult Sunday school lesson was “Returning,” about God holding all people accountable for their actions and a study of 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. “God will hold all people accountable for their actions. Believers are to live as light while waiting for the return of Jesus. Our hope for a future is based on the resurrection of Jesus.”

Linda Abercrombie shared the devotional, “Tap” or “2 x 4,” and read Hebrews 12:5-6. Sometimes Jesus gives us a tap to awaken our faith. God’s discipline is to result in ministry, not misery.

Mitchell Lett asked God’s blessing on the offertory, and he and Tyrel Lett served as ushers. Congregational hymns included “Heavenly Sunlight,” with special praise music from Karen Gardner.

Our pastor, Mark Hall, brought us God’s message, “Storm Season,” and read from Mark 4:33-40. He began by telling us that our faith should not be in man or anything else. “Man will fail you. Even people you love will fail you. People in church, the pastor, and the congregation can all fail you.

Faith can be misplaced. Your faith should be in God. He will not fail you.”

In Mark, Jesus preaches about faith using parables. Brother Mark told us that “faith is measured by feet, not in feelings. It is measured in walk, not in talk. And it is measured in life, not in lips.” As he read the scripture, Brother Mark talked about Jesus telling the disciples to get in the boat (the will of God). “Jesus was with them and a storm came from nowhere. The boat filled with water. Even in the will of God, you can be in a storm. Are you doing what God tells you? If so, then you are in His will. Although it may not be what we want, we do it to stay in His will. The storms of life come and deepen our experience with God to increase our faith.”

Brother Mark talked about the three kinds of storms in the scripture and in life. The first storm was the storm of circumstance. “They had no control over the wind or waves just like the storms in life that we have no control over.”

The second kind of storm is the scary storm — the one of emotions. “We can experience fear, anger and anxiety. When emotions take over, we lose our faith. It goes out the window. It is hard to keep the faith.”

The third kind of storm is the spiritual storm. “This happens when we have doubts that God really cares and ask ourselves why He would let this happen.”

Brother Mark read Mark 4:39-40, where Jesus tells us, “Peace, be still! Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

Brother Mark told us that when we have that spiritual storm, that is when we put the problem ahead of the promise. In verse 35, Jesus tells us that He will take us to the other side.

“When you get saved, that is God’s promise to us. When we have problems, we wonder where God is, but we shouldn’t. Without Him, you cannot. Without you, He will not. When people have problems, put your feet to your faith and your walk to your talk.”

Brother Mark told us that sometimes in life, we get afraid of the wrong thing. “We get afraid of the storm and the circumstances. Sometimes we get too comfortable in our religion and forget that God is in the boat with us. Don’t get sideways with God. We might be scared of the storm, but we should be more afraid of not being in God’s will and doing His will. Even as Christians, we take God for granted until we have a problem. We should fear God more than the problem.

That’s faith.

“Faith is a bridge that gets us across the challenge of where we are to where we need to go. Faith gets us through the challenge, across the bridge of faith and to God. Jesus is the bridge between God and us. The Bible reminds us that ‘everyone has been given a measure of faith’. We have to throw our faith out there to cross the bridge. Our faith in Christ gets us across the bridge and to the other side.”

Our hymn of invitation was “Wherever He Leads, I’ll Go.” Jerry Abercrombie gave the benediction.

We invite you to worship with us at Mill Creek Baptist Church. Sunday morning worship begins at 10 a.m. and Sunday school at 11 a.m. Everyone is welcome.