Mars Hill Baptist Church

Thank the Lord for another beautiful day to come into the house of God and worship him in spirit and truth. That’s exactly what we got today from Bro. William Short’s sermon, “The Truth,” taken from 1 Kings 6:37-38 and 7:1. It’s what we all need to hear every time we are in church. We need to hear what is good and right, and not what will tickle our ears. We need to hear what God expects from us, not what we expect from God.

In Verse 38, we are told that it took Solomon seven years to build the house of the Lord. What would we do today if a builder took seven years to build a new home for us? We would probably fire the builder. We want everything instantly, in a snap of the fingers. We stand at the microwave and yell, “Hurry up already!” In 1 Kings 7:1, we learn that it took Solomon 13 years to build his own personal home. It must have been really something to behold, but again, in today’s society, we can’t wait 13 years for something that we just have to have right now. Now I ask you, what can we learn from this that fits into our culture today?

First of all, it took Solomon seven years to build the Lord’s house and 13 years to build his own house. He spent more time on his personal work than he did on the Lord’s work. Oops! That is a lesson in itself. Are we guilty of having plenty of time to spend on our personal tasks, things we want to do, then have no time to do the Lord’s work? No time for church on Sunday morning? Wait, what about Wednesday night prayer meeting? No, I did not forget the Sunday night thing, but most people do. It’s not until society is in the position of not having the opportunity to attend church that they truly wish they had gone to every service they possibly could have attended. That time may not be too far away, my friend.

We live in an instant society today, an age of having what we want, when we want it. Drive-in resturants, drive-through banks, and some states even have drive-by churches; drive on in and get your Sunday worship out of the way so you can get on with your day! There’s also instant worship via the Internet. Just open up your favorite site, sit a spell in front of the computer and get your worship time with God over and done with. We don’t have time for God and his work, but the truth is, we can’t afford not to have time with God and his work. One day, we will all stand before God and answer for what we have done, and maybe more importantly, what we have not done. We have to stop running long enough to listen to our Lord and really hear what he has to say. Heaven should be the goal of every Christian, and every Christian should have a goal of leading as many people to Christ as possible. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of room for everyone in heaven; it won’t be too crowded! The more we worship him, the closer we get to him. That’s what we need, a closer walk with Jesus!

Then there is this other thing we want: instant forgiveness. What? Never heard of this? Look around your church pews, see who is there this Sunday and see who is not there next Sunday. We go to the altar and pray for forgiveness. Yes, God is faithful and forgives our sin. The sticking point here is that Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Go and sin no more.” Does our forgiveness last 15 minutes, or until the church service is over? Are you bothered until you walk out the door and head to your other activities? We need, and God requires, real repentance of sin; not lip service, but true repentance. We will never be clean until we are washed in the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ. Jesus is not someone we can pick up on Sunday, if we have time, and leave until the next time we are in trouble. He is Lord of all, or not at all; he gives eternal life and forgives our sins.

No, there is no instant fix to this world. What we need is the cross. Take up the cross and follow Jesus, not the world. Ask him for real forgiveness today, then worship him in spirit and in truth.

Our Fall Festival will be held on Oct. 27 from 2-4 p.m. Please bring your candy by Wednesday night.

Please pray for our pastor, our church, the lost, the sick, our troops, this country and the coming election. Our county has lost good Christian men this week. Please pray for the families that are hurting from the loss of a loved one. God is good all the time. Amen. See you at church next Sunday!

Bethsalem Baptist Church

Bro. Cleve Mallory opened our day of worship with welcoming and ministry opportunities. Special music was provided by the Celebration Choir singing “In the Cross Alone I Glory.” The message, brought by Bro. Jeff Hammack, was taken from Psalms 1.

In the evening service, Bro. Jeff preached about Judas and The Last Supper.

Wednesday service at 6:30 p.m., soup and chili supper at 5:30 p.m. We will also have prayer meeting for adults, Team Kids for children and Student’s Outlet.

Pray for Herschel Blalock’s family, Rickey Coburn’s family, Marshal Green, Keith Allen, Charles Bryant, Roy Williams, Sid Griner, Debra Mims, Jeff Thrasher, the Crawford family, Jay Troy, Lois Blaclock, Glen Smith, Ida and Claude Davis, Monica Ousley, Marti Asher, Edward Moore, Elridge Townsend, Juana Wright, Bobby Carter, Justin Corn, Samuel Smith, Victoria Snitherman, Monica Price, Lilianna Thompson, James and Sally Smith, Donnie Sanders, James Carl Burnett, George Dobbs, Jennifer Mitchell, Wes Raines, Ellen Seals, Perry Parriss, Richard Smith, Harold Hunt, Tamike Lewis, Dearl Hilyer, those facing cancer, our homebound and those in the nursing home.

Happy birthday this week to Hope Wilson, Hannah Jones, Michelle Moseley, Emily Powell, Joy Smith, Eddie Salim, Kyle Pack, Teresa Pack, Jeff Thrasher and Emily Clackley.

Next Sunday, we’ll have baby dedication. Come worship with us on Sunday.