DIGITAL CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE AND LORD’S SUPPER

For anyone who can not join us for our Christmas Eve service, we will be offering a digital service on our website. During the service, we will be partaking in the Lord’s Supper.  For your participation, the elements of the Lord’s supper are available at the church office. If you cannot come by the church, call the church office, and a deacon can deliver them to you.

LOTTIE MOON CHRISTMAS OFFERING

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® is an annual offering collected by believers around the world to support international missions. The offering was officially named in 1918 by Woman’s Missionary Union in honor of the missionary to China who urged churches to start it and give sacrificially.

This offering is unique from other mission offerings in that 100% of gifts provide for missionaries all over the world. It is a valuable part of Southern Baptists’ 175-year history of reaching the nations with the gospel and vital to reaching the vision of a multitude from every language, people, tribe and nation knowing and worshiping our Lord Jesus Christ.

CHURCH GOAL: $5,000
Received So Far: $75.00

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

Revelation 7:9

Giving as of December 9, 2020

Budget for 2020 . . . . . . . .  $326,787.00
Tithes Needed to Date . . .  $289,081.02
Received to Date . . . . . . . . $258,551.99
Needed for weekly budget . . . . . .  $6,284.37
Tithes Received this week . . . . . . $15,178.00

Harvest Day Offering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $16,186.00

MID-WEEK DEVOTION

Don’t forget to check out Brother David’s Mid-Week Devotion on the book of Psalms. They are uploaded each Wednesday on the sermon page.

From Our Music and Family Minister

From birth, we try to push the limits of what we can get away with doing; as a child, we try to see how many times our parents will say “no” before they spank us; as adults, we set our cruise control right below the speed that we know the police will not stop us.  Unfortunately, we let this same attitude corrupt us in our Christian walk.  We either try to justify our sin or skirt right up to the edge until it is blatantly wrong.

During my senior year of high school, our football team had gone further in the playoffs than we had in several years. As it happens with every game, there must be a winner and a loser. Sadly, we lost in the final minutes of the game.

To cheer a couple of us up, an older friend of mine decided we were going fishing. After several bad decisions later, we found ourselves in the middle of pond in a 10 ft Jon Boat that was rated half of the weight we were applying to its aged hull. As the boat displaced the water, it made sounds I don’t believe were normal. I knew there was a problem in my limited knowledge of boating when a leaf splashing down would have put water in the boat. By the grace of God, we didn’t catch a fish because we would have sunk the boat. After I protested a few minutes, my two friends agreed that we needed immediately to get out of our current situation. 

As Christians, we must always be on guard and not let sin enter our lives. But when we find ourselves in the middle of sin or a situation that might cause us to sin, we are immediately to flee, as the Bible says.

“. . . flee from idolatry . . .”           1 Corinthians 10:14

“. . . flee from sexual immorality . . .”       1 Corinthians 6:18

“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. . . “
2 Timothy 2:22

However, to flee from sin, we must recognize that it is a sin. Too often, we justify our actions by what others do or what the world considers morally right. Sometimes we will lie to ourselves and say the Bible is not clear on whether it’s a sin. If we are honest with ourselves, we can quickly determine if it’s a sin. God equips us with the Holy Spirit to help guide us; however, if you are unsure, a great reference we can use is a list that John MacArthur put together several years ago in his book “Right Thinking In A World Gone Wrong.”

1. Will this activity produce spiritual benefits?
2. Will this activity lead to spiritual bondage?
3. Will this activity expose my mind or body to defilement?
4. Will this activity benefit others or cause them to stumble?
5. Will this activity further the cause of the gospel?
6. Will this activity violate my conscience?
7. Will this activity bring glory to God?

When I went fishing with my friends, I had never been on the boat that they choose;  however, it did not take me long to realize we were not in a good situation.  Without a doubt, Christians will get into situations where we can easily fall into sin.  But as Christians, we must continually fill our minds and body with spiritual food so we can easily recognize sin and flee from it.