God and Creation

We had a good day in church today even though there were not many present. Hannah Diggs sang "Oh, be careful little eyes what you see" and Katelyn Smead played a piano solo. Terry and Tammie Diggs sang a special with the guitar entitled "Look Away From The Cross".

Bro. Donis preached on God and Creation and his text was Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." We studied what does creation reveal to us.

• Creation reveals its Creator. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Romans 1:20 We have no excuse to not believe in God. Being a created being and seeing God's beautiful creation, we should instinctively know that there is a creator.
• Creation reveals that we need a Redeemer. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Romans 8:20-21. Creations reveals that sinful and needs to be freed from bondage. Sin has corrupted the creation of God, but God can make it right.
• Creation reveals that we exist for God's glory. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. God doesn't have a plan 'B'. God designed us, created us, and placed us on this earth to show His glory. We don't serve and worship God to please Him, but because we are His children and we want to serve and worship Him.
  

Thankful Hearts

I forgot my notes from the sermon yesterday morning, but just suffice it to say that Bro. Donis told us how to have a better life. I really did enjoy our morning service yesterday. We had a time for everyone to stand up and say what they were thankful for. We had lots of people who wanted to speak and it is evident that we are grateful for all of God's many blessings.

One thing we all seemed to agree on is that we are thankful for our family, friends, and church family. I felt that everyone was trully grateful for this and not just saying it. I can vouch for the fact that not everyone has family and friends. For me, I have always had lots of family and friends. I've been well liked and when someone doesn't like me, it becomes my goal to make them like me. I have never had to wonder if I would have somewhere to go for the holidays; most of the time, I have to decide who gets to see me at the holidays instead. Working with the people I work with, I have discovered that there are a great many who are not as blessed as I am. We had a lady make her Will the other day and she only had one person in this whole world to give her estate to. Usually we have alternates just in case that person does not survive you, but she didn't have one. Her husband had just died, she doesn't have any brothers or sisters. She doesn't have a church or close friends. I have had people who needed to have a witness for court who just couldn't come up with anyone. There are alot of lonely people in this world, and I encourage you to take note of any of these you might come into contact with and invite them to your dinners during the holidays.

God's Glory And Not Our Own

Tonight I stayed with the adults while Shelley and Angie took the kids. We had Chris with us again this week. We have enjoyed getting to know him.

In the adult class, we studied David and how he wanted to build a temple. He was distressed because he lived in such a mansion and the place of worship that held the Ark of the Covenant was still in a tent. He wanted to build a nice place of worship for the people of God, but God had different plans. He didn't allow David to build the temple because he had been a man of war. There are differing opinions on why this disqualified him, but one opinion that I had never heard before was that because he was a man of war he had brought lots of attention to himself. He used to be compared to Saul and they would say, "Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed his tens of thousands." He was glorified for his skills of war, and God did not want the temple to bring glory to David, but to himself. Despite all this, David did not despair and give up. He didn't say "well, fine then, I'll just quit working for God if he doesn't want what I want to offer." He instead starting preparing for his son to build the temple. He drew up plans and gathered massive amounts of building supplies. He involved the entire nation and it became a joint effort to build the temple. Even though David's dreams were crushed, he continued to serve God and work for Him. We must do the same. If God chooses to take our lives down a road we don't want to travel, we must still serve Him. Just remember that God's plan is bigger than you are.

Why Did Jesus Go To Calvary?

Sunday was a good day in the Lord. I was busy all afternoon and evening visiting with my step-son, Will, his wife Ashley, and my grandbaby, Gracie. He preached at Caney-Valley MBC that morning and evening. We visited Caney-Valley yesterday evening, but I did attend Mt. Moriah yesterday morning and have a few notes from the sermon.

1 Peter 1:17-20

17And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: 18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

Why Did Jesus Go to Calvary? There are three (3) answers to this question.

• He had a plan to finish. He was "forordained before the foundation of the world" (v.20) He was predetermined to die before the world was ever created. There is only one plan for all men--Americans, Eurpeans, rich poor, etc.
• He had a payment to furnish. We needed to be redeemed and we couldn't die for our sins. He paid for Adam's sins and every person thereafter.
• He had a people to free. He came to free me from the bondage of sin.

Quotes of the day:

"A life without Jesus is a life wasted."

"All of Satan's apples have worms."

"Jesus died to make life more meaningful and eternity more
pleasant."

This Is The Day That The Lord Hath Made

How Close Are You To God?

Last night Sis. Shelley spoke to us about how close we are to God. We all put our right elbows touching and at this point we were as close to God as we could get. Then she asked us questions that would cause us to either move away from God or grow closer. For example, she said, "if you've read your Bible everyday this week, take one step closer, and if not, take one step back." "If you've prayed at least three times this week, if you've witnessed to a friend, if you've argued with someone, etc. Wow, you should of seen us scatter. Needless to say, our elbows never did touch again. Then we all made one vow of what we would do this week to draw closer to God. I made a spoken vow and an unspoken vow. So far today, I've kept my vows, and now I just have to do it one day at a time.

She also spoke of how we are to show Christ's love to others and how maybe God puts you in the line with the grouchy cashier so you can smile and show His love. You may get the imcompetent teller so you can show God's love.

We were very excited and happy to have Christopher and Cody (Sis. Julie's step-sons) with us last night and they are planning to be back with us on Sunday.

After our devotional, we decorated boxes to use in collecting food for the Jackson House.

Smead Family Sings