Mars Hill Baptist Church

This Sunday was a beautiful day to be in the house of our Lord, Savior and King, Jesus Christ!

We welcome our new members with open arms and loving hearts. We are so happy you chose Mars Hill for your new church home. God is so good!

This past week brought plenty of rain and clouds, and our nation mourned again the loss of life on Sept. 11, a day we will never forget. Let us also remember that after a storm, there is a rainbow. Our God is in control; he loves us, and brings mercy into our lives when we deserve justice.

Bro. William Short’s message was taken from 1 Timothy 1:15-17: “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me Jesus Christ might show longsuffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Jesus came into this world for one purpose: to save sinners. He came as the sacrificial Lamb of God, born to die in order that we might be saved. He was buried to rise again on the third day so that we might believe on him and accept that he was and is the only Son of God. He came into the world to save us all, to grant mercy to everyone willing to accept him and believe.

Why is it so hard for us to reach out and accept eternal life with Jesus in heaven? We only have to believe. When we accept him as our Savior, Lord and King, we begin a personal relationship that will last forever, throughout this life and the one to come.

That personal relationship with Jesus will change your life. Your prayer life will open up the windows of heaven. Before you are saved from your sins, there is only one prayer that God will hear, and that is “Lord save me; come into my life and be my Lord and King.” Jesus living in us is the only reason we are worthy of heaven.

We will have problems and the storms will rage high, but God will see us through them. He will either remove the storm or take us through it to come out on the other side stronger than we were before. God is our problem-solver—not the government or another man or woman. God alone deserves our true worship and praise.

Jesus is eternal, forever and immortal. He symbolized death on the cross so that we might never experience the sting of death. What—not die? Yes, if we belong to Jesus, our last breath on earth will be our next breath in heaven.

Jesus conquered death, hell and the grave. Why would you not ask him to save you from hell and the grave? This world has nothing to offer to compare with Jesus. Wake up, friend; Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Scripture tells us that God is invisible, yet as Christians we believe. Have you ever seen him? The world says, “Show me and I will believe;” God says, “Believe and then I will show you.”

I know from personal experience that God is with me. He has answered prayers for me, sometimes not in the way I expected, but in the way that was best for me. He has brought me through the storms of life, through grief, loss, depression, anxiety and much more. I can tell you that Jesus is my Savior, Lord and King, and there is no other life but through him. I know he is there—I can’t physically see him, but through the reading of his Word, the Bible, I know without a doubt that he is there. He sends angels to watch over me and protect me, and he will do the same for you if you only believe.

There are some pretty smart people in this world—and some of them belong to Jesus—but God alone is wise. The dictionary defines “wise” as “someone showing discernment and good judgment, having scholarly knowledge; learning, being informed.” That about sums it up, friend. There is no one more knowledgeable than God; he knows us all, he has the hairs on our head numbered and he knows what is in our heart.

Can you find one person on this earth that knows all things? Nope, you cannot; only God is wise. It’s up to us to “wise up” and realize who and what Jesus is: the Son of the living, breathing, all-knowing, invisible, immortal, eternal King! To him alone be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

So where are you going when your number is up: heaven or hell? The choice is yours and yours alone. Be smart and choose Jesus today, before it is eternally too late.

Please pray for our church, our pastor, the sick, the lost, the hurting, our children, our schools, our government, our military, our missionaries and the peace of Israel. God is good, all the time! Amen.

Submitted by Danny L.

Bethany Baptist Church

Service opened with the song “Holy Bible, Book Divine.” A devotion titled “Profit in the Inspired Word” from 2 Timothy 3:16-17 was given.

All scripture is inspired, which is an important thing to know. This collection of books that make up the Bible is the Word of God. It is profitable—not moneywise, but the Word of God has more than enough knowledge and wisdom than we can ever learn.

Even though we will never reach the point where we know it all, it is important to study God’s Word daily. When we are knowledgeable in the Bible, we will know if someone is telling the truth.

In Verse 17, we see where a man of God may be mature through applying God’s Word to his life. Just knowing about God is not enough; we need to understand and be doers of the Word.

After a prayer and, we sang “A Child of the King,” “Come Unto Me,” “Once For All” and “Set My Soul Afire.”

Bro. Aubry made these announcements:

•Sept. 27: Homecoming will begin at 10 a.m. (we will not have Sunday School). A fellowship and dinner will follow in the fellowship hall. Ladies auxiliary and the men’s meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m.

•Oct. 9-10: The State ABA meeting will be held in Winfield.

•Oct. 11: The Mattingly Family will be with us at 6 p.m.

Prayer requests were then taken, after which Bro. Aubry preached the message from Job 11:7-11 titled “Essentials of God’s Purpose.”

In this passage we find a “friend” of Job is reproving him because of all the troubles he has been experiencing. Job was a man of God who, because of his love, faith and obedience to God, suffered at the hands of the devil. In reproving Job, the friend tells some truths that he himself did not understand.

We cannot know and understand all there is to know about God.

We must know how God wants us to serve him. No one can say they have an excuse for saying God does not exist.

Lastly, we must know the Bible is the Word of God. To be a soul-winner for Jesus, we must understand the Bible and know who and what Jesus is. Most people believe the Bible, which serves to instruct us.

The Son of God is Jesus. We are here at Bethany to spread the Word to the world. America was founded in order for man to spread the Bible. The only people who can understand the truth of the Bible are born-again Christians.

2 Chronicles 33:11-13 tells us to not wait until troubles come to pray to God. As children of God, he hears our prayers. America needs to turn back to God.

God’s fullest revelation to mankind came to man in the form of Jesus Christ, the man. During the age of the Law, God spoke to man through the prophets; afterward, he spoke to man through his Son, Jesus Christ—the same Jesus who walked on earth is the Son of God. He was God in human form.

We are living in the Church Age, and we are supposed to take his Word literally. The Church Age began with Jesus’ ministry on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The Church was founded before the Day of Pentecost. On that day 3,000 souls were added unto the Church.

To be “added unto,” the church had to already have been in existence. From Genesis to Malachi, over 3,800 times, we see the phrase “Thus saith the Lord.” The New Testament also shows how the Bible is the inspired Word of God (John 10:35.) In it, every tenth saying recorded of Jesus is a direct quote from the Old Testament (Luke 16:17).

In order to be saved, we do not have to keep the law, which is good, because no man can keep the law, Hebrews 4:12. If we break one part of the law, we have broken the whole law.

The Bible is a living, powerful book, and we can come to know God on a personal basis when we accept Jesus as our personal Savior. The Bible points us to Jesus Christ and salvation. Believe in Jesus and you can have eternal life. Adopt the Bible as your rulebook, and you will have no problems in life that God will not help you overcome. The Bible tells us how to live and how to die.

In these passages, God has told us how to walk with God daily. We have an invitation to go to heaven when we die, but we must RSVP to the invitation. Do not leave this world lost, because if you do, you will never have a chance to be saved.

We closed the evening services with a prayer and the hymn “Jesus Is Calling.”

Our prayer list includes our church, Bro. Aubry, Shirley, Grace, Debbie R., Frankie and family, Evelyn K., J. C., Glenda, Vikii, Helen, Charlotte, Lisa R., Barbara T.W., Bro. Hubert and many more, but most of all the unsaved.

Submitted by Jane Vines