Center Hill Church

What a beautiful day to be in the Lord’s house! We had several important announcements for our church family. Practice for the Christmas cantata will be after church on Sunday nights. Next Sunday night will be our Fifth Sunday Singing with snacks to follow. Members of our church and surrounding churches will be singing for us.

On Oct. 14, we will have a Soup Day, sponsored by our youth. The youth will be serving all present for tips. This is to help the youth raise money for camp.
Rice bowls are available for you to fill with spare change for World Hunger Day. They will be returned in November.
The Fall Festival will be held on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 5 p.m. All are invited to enjoy the games and activities. There will be a chili contest, so bring your best chili to compete.
Pastor Appreciation Day will be held after the worship service on Nov. 4. There will be a potluck meal honoring Bro. Jeff and Jackie.
Bro. Jeff’s sermon was Part 4 of “Living the Risen Life.” Scripture was taken from Colossians 3. When you are living the risen life, you should have a new affection for God and his people. There should be a new action of putting to death your old sins, then you should put on new attire or adornment. These will be the new characteristics the world will see in you: love, patience and kindness, just to name a few.
For a new attitude, let the peace of Christ rule in your life. You have to let the peace rule; it will not be forced on you. The peace of Christ is to be in our church life, personal life and all aspects of our life. We are to be thankful for this peace. In fact, the Bible tells us, “In everything give thanks.” This is much easier said than done, but we have to remember who created us and provides everything we need; not what we want, but what we need.

Second, we are to let the word of God dwell in us. This is not an option. Like the peace of Christ, the word of God should permeate all facets of our lives. You might ask why you should know the word of God. When we have the Word in our hearts, we can teach and admonish each other based on scripture. We are to do everything in the name of Christ. Whatever you say and whatever you do, do it all in the name of Jesus. Be sure to give thanks to God through Jesus. “To God be the glory; great things he hath done.” Remember your manners and thank him!

Mars Hills Baptist Church

It’s the little things in life that count: spending time with your family and loved ones, calling friends just to say, “hello” and having lunch with a good friend, even if it’s only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! It is important to take time out of our busy, hectic lives to show that we care about something besides what is happening in our own little world. We need to share what we have with someone who needs it more than we do. We should do more than our part in the church body to which we belong. We should live life the way God intended us to live it: in his will, mercy, grace and everlasting love.

Bro. William Short’s message this week was taken from Proverbs 30:24-28: “There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags; the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks; the spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is found in king’s palaces.”

These four things are certainly little on the earth. We mostly take them for granted, except when one of them bites us, or makes his home in our home. Have you ever seen an ant sitting still, doing nothing? An ant is always preparing, always giving everything he has to building the mound. The rock badgers build their homes in the rocks for security. The locusts swarm together; they are united. Spiders live in palaces; they are committed to spinning the web. Can we learn anything from these little creations of God?

We should be prepared every day to go about our father’s business. We may not have tomorrow, so do what you can for Christ today. Are you prepared to meet God, or to pray with someone who needs him? We are weak in ourselves, and we need a rock to stand upon. Who better than Jesus Christ, the solid foundation of the world? Are we secure in our faith? Do we know him? Can we call upon him daily? By ourselves, we can do nothing, but united with Christ, we can do all things through him who strengthens us. We can do nothing without him. We spin around in circles by ourselves, but with God’s help, we can gain direction and purpose for our lives. Do you know your life’s purpose? If you stay plugged in to your power source, Jesus Christ, and stay charged up to go against Satan every day, that old Devil can’t touch you.

Yes, we can certainly learn something from these little creatures of God. These lessons teach us to prepare, to stand secure in his love, to be united, for we all need each other, and to be committed to doing his work. Jesus should be our ‘everything,’ for he gave everything he had for us. Amen.

Pray for us at Mars Hill. We love our visitors and thank them for sharing part of their week with us. Pray for the sick, the lost, the hurting, our troops and our nation. Pray for the upcoming election, and remember to vote! Our WMU and Brotherhood will meet this Wednesday at 7 p.m.