Mars Hill Baptist Church News

It’s the beginning of the Christmas season. We deck our homes with lights, nativity scenes, and Santa Claus. The streets are glowing, and the stores are calling us to come in and spend, spend, spend, but not everyone enjoys the Christmas season. Some are homeless, alone, poor, sick or have lost loved ones. Remember the real reason for the season, and this Christmas, share Jesus with those you love and who love you. Reach out to others who may not be as fortunate as you are. Make their day brighter with a smile, a laugh or a word of encouragement. When you share yourself and your faith in Christ, you bring the true spirit of Christmas to the world.

This Sunday, Bro. William Short’s sermon came from Psalms 69:1-5.

We read a psalm of David, who, when writing the psalm, was in despair. In the passage, he calls out to God to save him, for the waters have come up to his neck, and he is sinking. The floods are overflowing him, and he is weary of his own situation. He cries while he waits for God to help him. David was spiritually bogged down. Sound familiar to you?

How many times do we falter and fail in our spiritual walk with God, only to cry out to him for help? When we need to be picked up and have the mud cleaned from our sinful souls? When we cannot rejoice in the joy of his salvation because of the sin in our lives? And when, we ask, has he ever failed us? No, he has not, and he will not.

The waters of this life can quickly overflow us and drown our joy in the sins we commit, but praise God, if we have been saved, we cannot be unsaved! We can fall to the bottom of the barrel, but we can’t fall out. Just knowing this truth should be enough for us to get back up, get back on track with God and push forward again and again and again.

In all things, give thanks to God; he will take care of the rest. Stop complaining about the situation you are in, and get up and do something about it. Get right with God, and everything else will fall into place within the will of God.

When you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, give God a try. We get so caught up in the world that we lose sight of Jesus. He has not moved, we just leave him behind.

Saint Paul tells us to examine ourselves. Have you done that? You might be surprised at what you find. Just where do you fit into Jesus’ picture? Do we even cast a shadow? My friend, we are the problem. Get selfishness out of the way and put Jesus first. Pray that God will save us from ourselves.

David tells us in this passage that his enemies hate him without cause. They are mighty and want to destroy him. Though he stole nothing, he must restore it. Count it a blessing when others hate you without a reason. Jesus did nothing wrong, yet he hung on the cross and died for the sins of the world. He, too, was blameless, yet paid the price for all. God knows our foolish sins; nothing is hidden from him. Put the shine back into your life today. Live this Christmas season for Jesus, for he lives everyday for us. God is great, all the time.

We will begin our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in December, and the week of prayer is Dec. 2-9. We are his heart, his hands and his voice. Please help with a donation, a prayer or tell others about Jesus. You can make a difference. Please pray for our church, the sick, the lost, the hurting, our military and our country. Amen.

Shiloh Baptist Church

It was a beautiful Sunday morning in the Shiloh community as our choir led the call to worship, “There’s Something About That Name,” followed by “To God Be the Glory” and “At the Cross.” The choir special was “Amen.”

Bro. Ernest Fike’s message was from 1 Timothy Chapter 1. Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We are all sinners. He is always at the door patiently waiting on us to let him in.

He said he would return to take his bride, no one knows when. But he is so patient he has waited all this time (thousands of years) for us to turn to him. Will we be ready?

The invitational hymn was “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go.”

We would like to invite everyone to our Hanging of the Green service Dec. 2 at 5 p.m.