Samaria Baptist Church

Bro. Charles’ message titled “It Is Time to Serve the Lord Only,” came from 1 Samuel 7:1-13. Diane Fisher sang “How Great It Is.”

America needs to turn back to God. Everyone is doing their own thing, seeking to please their own desires. As long as we put our wants and wills of self ahead of what God wants for our lives, we will not prosper in the way a Christian should.

The God of heaven can retrieve a drifting soul back into his service, and forgiveness is abundant. Our God is a jealous God, and he will not share the throne of our lives with anyone or anything. He deserves to be the one and only God of our lives.

Scandals abound in our government today, and this is one reason that we are faltering as a nation. The lack of faith and faithfulness to the cause of Christ in those of us professing him is also responsible for our faltering.

In the time of Samuel, Eli did nothing to rebuke the sins of his own. He was not a good representation of leadership. He did not make sure his family served God and avoided adulterous sin. Common decency is not the norm anymore. The sins and depravity of society often trickles into the lives of church families. The devil likes nothing better than to bring down a person who is a great example for Christ. If he can seduce a strong Christian into falling into sin, he has gained a lot for his evil kingdom. We must stay faithful and trust God to keep us from the pitfalls that will take us down if we give them the chance.

We are imperfect. We fail to heed the call of God and live the way he directs us to live. This is when we approach the downward spiral. We must be in a continuity of commitment to God. We tend to get lax when we don’t stay prayerful. God blesses everything we offer in the right spirit of service.

Tithing is important to a church’s survival. The costs of keeping a church going has to be maintained in a practical world. God can do all things, but he wants us to give willingly. He blesses our gifts, and we can depend on him to meet our needs. When we see tough times, we tend to call on God more quickly. This is the way it will be in the end, when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord.

Positions in life can promote false pride and cause us to think that we are self-sufficient. God’s love is constant. We don’t need to wait until we are against a crisis to praise and worship him.

Prayers go out today for Jeff Smith, Horace and Gayle Cleckler, Dottie Alred’s family and the Lois Nelson family.

Birthday celebrants today are Luke Stoneback, Charles Hay, Anthony Sparks and Josh Parker.

Jesus meets us here at Samaria during every service. Our Christmas choir program will be next Sunday, Dec. 16, at 10:45 a.m. Our children’s play will be the same day at 5 p.m., with a Christmas meal to follow. Please visit with us, and worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.