Mars Hill Baptist Church

Our God is an awesome God! We thank you Lord for the youth that were saved this week at the youth conference in Tennessee. Four of our own were saved, and a total of 386 were saved conference-wide! There are no words that describe your goodness, your power and your love toward us. To God be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

Is your own salvation a sure thing? Do you often find yourself saying, “I hope I am going to heaven” or “Maybe I will make it to heaven?” If so, then you’d better check-up. There is no such thing as a “hope so” or a “maybe” salvation. St. Paul was convinced in what he believed, and we should be too. If you are not sure of your salvation, get on your knees now; ask God to come into your heart and be assured of where you will spend eternity!

Bro. William Short’s message this week was taken from 2 Timothy 1: 11-12: “To which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day.”

Sometimes people experience an emotional response to the call of God, which quickly wears off. You need a “heart response” to the call of God. If all we experience is emotional, that can and will change with the wind, which is why so many people say they are saved and yet never come back to church. We have to love God and follow him on purpose, even when we don’t feel like it. Our feelings have little to do with being saved, accepting Christ as our Savior and living for him. We can have religion, and yet not have what we need most—a relationship with our Lord, where we trust him completely and know what we believe and why we believe it. Do not be ashamed to speak of Jesus. Tell others of what he has done for us.

If you truly believe in Jesus, there is nothing that can keep you from telling about his love. And if you believe with all your heart, mind and soul that he is the Son of God, sent to earth to deliver us from our sins, then you also have to believe that every word of the Bible is true. You can listen to news shows and watch reality shows, and maybe fifty percent of what you watch is truth, but know that every word of the Bible is true. You can rely on what it says and live your life by the words of God, trusting that he knows what is best for us.

Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.”

There is only one kind of preacher, the God-called. There is nothing wrong with education, but with that education should be a calling from the Lord to preach his word. Paul tells us he was appointed to be a preacher, an apostle and a teacher to the Gentiles. He was called of God to be these things to the non-Jew of his time. He was not ashamed to suffer for his beliefs because he knew that God would keep him until the day he was called home. Everything God does is in accordance to his will.

2 Corinthians 5:1 says “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Do we trust God with everything we have: our houses, our lands, our money, our children, and our life? Paul was convinced that God would keep whatever he committed to him. By keeping, he meant trust. Paul trusted God with everything he had, even down to his life. In this life, nothing is lasting. We can lose our jobs, our homes, or our families. But, if we have the Lord in our hearts, we have everything we need. Trust God with everything—not just some things, but everything! If we are in the Father’s hands, no man can pluck us out. We can be assured of that forevermore. Be a person or a church that Jesus is pleased with. While no man knows when Jesus is coming back, we know that he is coming. If there are things in your heart and life that are not pleasing to God, get rid of them now, today.

We are thankful for our visitors every Sunday. Please come again. We welcome you to Mars Hill Baptist Church.

Please continue to pray for our church, our pastor, the lost, the hurting, our children, our troops and our government. God is good, all the time! Amen.