Category: Article

by Justin Morton

What do Benedict Arnold, Tiger Woods, Jephthah, Judas, Thomas and Peter all have in common?  Each of these men are remembered for one BIG mistake.  Benedict Arnold had a successful military career but is remembered for his treason.  Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers to ever play but is remembered for his repeated acts of adultery.  Jephthah was a great leader in Israel who is mentioned in the Hall of Faith in the book of Hebrews, but he is remembered for the tragic vow he made before God.  Judas was an apostle of Jesus who carried the disciples’ money bag but is remembered for his kiss of betrayal.  History tells us that Thomas went outside the Roman empire and helped convert thousands to Christ but is remembered for his doubting the resurrection.  Peter preached the first Gospel sermon but is remembered for his denial of Jesus.

Despite the fact that each of these men had more successes than failures, they are remembered for one BIG mistake.  People seem to forget all the good they did, and remember only their brief moments of weakness.  What if, no matter how much good we do, others only remember our failures and moments of weaknesses?  What if, after we have passed from this life, all people can say about us centers around our mistakes?

Let’s be careful to live our lives in such a God-honoring way that when others go to speak evil of us, they have nothing to say because we are remembered for the good we did and not for the mistakes we made along the way.  This does not mean we will be perfect and never mess up; it just means the God-honoring life we are striving to live will outweigh our mistakes and failures in the eyes of others.

“For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.” (2 Corinthians 8:21)

“That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”  (Philippians 2:15)

by Justin Morton

Last Sunday night millions of viewers tuned in to watch Super Bowl LIX between the two-time defending world champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.  This game was a rematch from the big game two years earlier.  This year’s game had an estimated audience of 127 million viewers, which is a new record.  While some of those watching were cheering for a particular team, others were just hoping to see a good game.  Although millions of people tuned in to watch the big game, just as many probably tuned in to watch the commercials that had been produced for this special broadcast.  With so many eyes glued to television sets across the world, marketers were willing to pay big bucks to land one of those coveted spots.

In fact, this year’s commercial spots during the Super Bowl went for $8 million for a 30-second ad.  Just let that sink in.  Some companies were willing to pay $8,000,000.00 for a relatively short commercial spot.  Now, to some of us, this seems like an astronomical amount of money to spend on a 30-second advertisement.  Why pay such enormous money for such a short commercial?  Couldn’t there be better ways to spend such large amounts of money?  While it may seem somewhat ridiculous to many of us, to these corporations, this is a small price to pay for such significant exposure.  When we consider these businesses are investing in the world-wide promotion of their product in front of over 127 million viewers at one time, $8 million doesn’t really seem like so much after all.

As Christians, we too have a product we are trying to get others interested in.  Our product is the transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And although the Gospel is free to all who listen and obey, it still can cost those of us who desire to spread the Gospel to others.  It takes our time, energy, resources, courage and even our hard-earned money sometimes.  Sadly, it appears the spreading of the Gospel is not worth such sacrifices for some people or congregations.

Friends, we have been commanded to “Go” and spread the greatest news the world could ever receive (Matthew 28:19-20).  We have at our disposal a product the world desperately needs—a product which can change not only the lives, but also the eternity, of all of those around us.  The question for each one of us is: “What’s it worth to us?”  Like the companies who bought ads for the Super Bowl, do we think teaching others the good news of Jesus Christ is worth the price it may cost?  I pray we do.

Thankfulness

Romans 1:7-10 reads:  7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10 making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.

Paul appreciates the church in Rome because their faith is well-known all over the world.

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

A church being known for its faithfulness is one of the best compliments it can get. Paul wants the Christians in Rome to understand that their strong reputation for faith makes him not just grateful for them, but also keeps him in prayer for them.

9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.

We’re really fortunate at Walter Hill. Our reputation as a dedicated congregation didn’t just happen by chance. It’s thanks to our committed members who not only show their faith but also embody the fruit of the Spirit.

One of the best things we can do for Walter Hill Church is to keep it in our prayers. Let’s pray for spiritual growth, for the young, the middle-aged, and the seniors. It’s not just about health; it’s about spiritual wellness too. Let’s also pray for what’s ahead. We have a building expansion on the horizon. This is a great opportunity to work together and express our love for others by telling them about our Lord and His Church and invite them to worship with us.

by Justin Morton

We may not like to admit it, but some of us struggle with anger. This emotion is a constant battle in the life of many people today. We become angry when we are upset or if something doesn’t go our way. Anger in and of itself is not a problem. However, allowing our anger to boil over and explode is. In fact, let’s just call it what it is: sinful. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27).

When we allow ourselves to hold on to our anger, we give the devil an opportunity to use our anger against us, causing us to sin. Just consider the life of King Saul for a moment. His jealousy of David caused the anger in his heart to boil over to the point he tried to kill David (I Samuel 18:10-11; 19:9-18). Thankfully, he was unsuccessful in his attempts on David’s life. Unfortunately, on another occasion, he was so angry over the priest Ahimelech helping David that he ordered him and all the priests of the city of Nob to be executed (I Samuel 22:6-23). All this happened because Saul became jealous of David and allowed his anger to control him. 

For many of us, we find ourselves involved in difficult situations because we allow our anger to get the best of us. Perhaps we say something we shouldn’t to our spouse or kids in anger and hurt them terribly. Maybe we react in anger to something someone said in a way that brought hurt and pain into the lives of those we love. I don’t know what has happened in your life, but some of the painful situations we find ourselves in are the direct result of us allowing our anger to get the best of us.

When we allow our anger to get the best of us, we lose control and respond in a sinful manner. Sure, we may feel better in that moment, but we leave behind a trail of pain, heartache and sin. Let’s learn from the example of Saul to control our anger so our anger doesn’t end up controlling us and causing us to say and do things we will live to regret.

by Justin Morton

This is an exciting time for the Walter Hill congregation. God has blessed this congregation in so many ways over the last few years and it is such a joy to watch the way He is working among us. All you have to do is stop and look around and you will see so many wonderful things taking place.

Today we get to be a part of something very exciting. At the close of our service this morning, brother Matt Lanius will be appointed to serve as one of our shepherds. He, along with Brian Byrd, Randy Cary, Randall Smith and Bob Tracy, will look to continue leading and guiding us in accordance with the will of God. I ask you to pray for each of our elders and their families. The role they serve in is not easy, but it is one of the greatest works on earth. They need and deserve our prayers on a regular basis. We are blessed to have this wonderful group of men, with the support of their faithful wives, working with us as shepherds at Walter Hill.

Our young people just got back last Sunday from Evangelism University (EU). If you are not familiar with EU, it’s not a youth rally, but an event designed for high school leaders who are spiritually ready to begin sharing the Gospel with others. We had 9 of our high school students attend this year where they studied the theme Set Free. Those attending also had the ability to choose from several different classes focused on evangelism. I know our young people had a great time and learned from this opportunity. We are blessed to have Chris and Emily working with us and are grateful for all they are doing with our young people.

Our Bible school program continues to grow. We met both of our goals for Sunday and Wednesday evening attendance this past year. We averaged 201 on Sundays and 197 on Wednesdays. That is two straight years of growth for both of those evening class opportunities. We are blessed to have so many different individuals who teach in our Bible school program and we are grateful to each one of them for all of their hard work.

Then there is our ladies, prime-timers, young families and jail ministries. Each of these groups are involved in study, service and fellowship that are impacting our congregation. We are so grateful to all those who lead and participate in these ministries. What a great blessing these ministries are to Walter Hill.

Certainly this list is not exhaustive, but space prevents me from continuing. However, I hope the point is clear; Walter Hill is experiencing some exciting times. What a blessing each and every member is to our family here. May we strive to make 2025 the best year yet.

by Justin Morton

             We have four godly men who currently serve in the role of overseers of our congregation.  They, along with their wives, do so much for our congregation, much of which is never seen or heard.  We are grateful to these men and their families for all their years of service, and we look forward to many more wonderful years of them leading us well into the future.  And while these men are doing a terrific job of shepherding the flock right now, each one of them is mindful of the fact that the work is much bigger than any one of them.  They want to see God’s kingdom expand both now and for many more years into the future.  They understand that for this to happen, more servants are needed to help advance the cause of Christ.

Last Sunday our shepherds put forth Matt Lanius’s name for consideration to be appointed as a shepherd of the Walter Hill congregation.  Matt currently serves as one of our deacons and leads us in worship most Sundays as our song leader, something he has been doing since 2020.  When Matt is not leading singing publicly, he is still coordinating our song service.  He has helped in our Lads to Leaders program, taught in our education program and participated in various activities and ministries here at Walter Hill.  Matt, along with his wife Dayna, have two children: Lucas (the Sunday morning song leader at Stewart’s Creek Church of Christ) and Nicole (a senior at the University of Tennessee at Martin who faithfully attends the Martin Church of Christ while at school).

The elders are asking the congregation to prayerfully consider the qualifications of elders as taught in the New Testament.  Please spend some time reading and meditating on I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.  If anyone has a scriptural reason why Matt should not serve as an overseer here at Walter Hill, you are asked to submit that reason in writing with your name (print please) and to give it to one of our current shepherds.  Should there be no scriptural objections to Matt Lanius serving in the role of an elder, he will be appointed as a shepherd of the Walter Hill congregation on Sunday, January 26^th.

We are very grateful for our current shepherds and appreciate our brother Matt and his willingness to serve alongside these godly brothers in this role.  Please prayerfully consider this request from our elders and pray for the Walter Hill congregation.  All of us hope and pray this congregation will be a light in this community and throughout the world for many years to come.  To God be all the glory!

As we begin 2025, I would like to share a passage that helps summarize how we can live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.  The passage is Colossians 1:9-14, not only does it summarize how we can please the Lord, it’s also an example of Paul praying for his fellow disciples.  This passage begins with Paul expressing his frequent prayers on behalf of the Colossian brothers and sisters.  Paul was often prayerful in his epistles, many began with his prayers for those he was writing.  I hope that we will follow Paul’s example and pray for one another often.

As we look at this prayer, I want to encourage you to pray it specifically for our teens.  Read over Colossians 1:9-14 and use it to shape your own prayer on behalf of our youth.  Using scripture to shape our prayer life is a powerful way to ensure we are praying God’s will, and it helps keep our prayers and Bible reading fresh.  Certainly, we could all benefit from having someone pray this prayer on our behalf.  The reason I mention the teens is because I see what our youth ministry is trying to accomplish in the words Paul articulates.

Our mission is to equip disciples of Christ as a family to change our world.  We want to help our teens be world changing disciples, understanding that might simply mean changing one person’s world.  To use Paul’s language, we want them to live a life fully pleasing to the Lord.  If they are simply Christians while they are teenagers we haven’t accomplished anything.  Thankfully Colossians 1:9-14 gives us a helpful and practical explanation of how we can all live a life fully pleasing to Him and a prayer we can use as a model to benefit ourselves and one another. 

When we look at Colossians 1:9-14 we are able to identify five things needed to live a life that’s pleasing to God.  They are (1) knowledge with spiritual wisdom and understanding of His will so we can (2) bear fruit, (3) increase in knowledge of God, (4) be strengthened by God for endurance, and (5) give thanks to God who has orchestrated our salvation.  These are the objectives Paul lays out for us “to walk in a manor worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him.”

I hope we can see how praying this prayer for our teens would benefit them richly, and I hope you have been encouraged to study this passage farther, and will use it as a template to challenge yourself to grow this year.  Maybe these questions can help get us started: How can I increase the fruit I bear?  In what areas does my knowledge of God need to grow?  How do I need to ask God to increase my endurance?  How can I express more thanksgiving to God?

by Justin Morton

It’s that time of year. The decorations are out, the tree is up and the floor beneath the tree is filled with presents, or at least it will be soon. Growing up I vividly remember the excitement that Christmas brought. I could not wait to unwrap all those mysterious presents labeled with my name. Now that I am older, the thrill has moved from unwrapping presents for myself to watching my family and loved ones unwrap the presents I bought for them. I love being able to give presents and see the joy on their faces when they unbox a gift chosen just for them. 

Giving presents to those we love is wonderful any time of year. However, what if the gifts that fill the floor around our Christmas tree are not the best present we truly have to offer those we love? Instead of focusing on finding the one present that is going to bring a few moments of satisfaction, what if we look to give the gift of our presence to those we love? This gift will bring more than a few fleeting moments of excitement; it will bring a lifetime of joy and memories.

Many of us are so busy with our careers and activities that we struggle to slow down and give our full attention to those we love. Even during this time of year, we may become focused on shopping, decorations, events and parties, and we miss out on sharing valuable moments with our friends and families. Friends, never forget our time on this earth is very limited. James described our lives as a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away (Jam. 4:14). Some of us have experienced how quickly this life moves as we’ve had people we love pass from this world much sooner than we anticipated. May we always live with the realization that time with our loved ones is precious.

I truly believe this is the most wonderful time of the year. However, do you know what would make this time of year even better? If we focused less on the presents we want to buy and spent more energy on the presence we do have to give. This Christmas give your loved ones the only present they really need: your presence.

Each year seems to pass more quickly than the previous year.  As we draw near to the end of each year, it seems to be such a busy time.  No matter how much we think the next year will be different, 2024 doesn’t seem any different.  We may try to alter our plans so we will not be as busy, but it seems we wind up as busy or busier than the previous year.  We all have so many places to be and things to do at this time of the year as we celebrate the holidays and try to wrap up the year.

With Thanksgiving last week and Christmas in just a few weeks, it is easy to get caught up in the holiday rush and lose track of our priorities.  I hope that during the next few weeks, we can take some time to reflect on this past year.  Have we accomplished everything we set out to do at the beginning of the year?  Did we make new year’s resolutions and keep them all year?  Perhaps we planned to read our bibles every day, be more faithful in our attendance at worship services, pray more, visit others more, send cards of encouragement or teach the lost about Jesus and His saving power.  Did we plan to be a better example for others we work with or go to school with?  So, now it is time to look back and see how we did with all these plans.  Sometimes, we fall short of the plans we make at the beginning of the year and just give up.  In just a few weeks, it will be 2025.  What goals do we have for the new year and what are we doing to prepare to meet these goals?  A good place to start is to pray for God to give us wisdom and help us keep the goals we want to accomplish.  Pray that our plans align with God’s plans.  Isaiah 41:10 reminds us that God is never far from us.  “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” 

As you plan for the new year, please make it a priority to put God first in everything.  Be grateful to Him for all the blessings He continues to give us.  We look forward to our worship and fellowship together in the new year.  As we come to the end of another year, I wish you peace and joy through the holidays and hope you enjoy all the blessings God gives you each day. 

From Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and keep you;The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”

by Chris Elrod

             While there is immense evil in our world, Genesis 6:5 helps us remember things could be worse.  It reads: “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  At times it seems as if evil multiples in our world to the point that is all that exist.

We know things haven’t reached this point because we are able to witness so much good from our brothers and sisters here at Walter Hill.  While we can witness so much evil and craziness in our world, we are able to read Genesis 6:5 and be encouraged that this statement is not true to the degree it was then.  The rest of Genesis 6 describes God deciding to send the flood to condemn humanity for their wickedness.  Noah and his family are the only ones God chooses to save by allowing Noah to build an ark for his family.

God has dealt with the evil in our world in a very different way, yet there are many parallels between what God did then and what God has done for us.  God sent Noah to build an ark to save his family, likewise Jesus has been sent today to build a church to save His family!

On the day of Pentecost, Peter preaches the first Gospel message, and it is from this sermon that we can read a second verse that seems to describe our world so well, even though it (like Genesis 6:5) was used to describe a completely different generation.  In Acts 2:40 Luke records Peter’s exhortation to, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”  It’s as if Peter is saying this to us directly.

The way we escape our crooked generation does not involve entering an ark in preparation of a flood, but rather the church in preparation for the 2^nd coming.  We do this by being added to God’s church, through repenting of our sins, confessing Christ, and being baptized (Acts 2:38 & Romans 10:9-10).  Then we must be fully dedicated to God and His church, just as they were in the 1^st century (Acts 2:42-47).

There is a lot of evil in our world, but even so we can be just as sure that God has a plan to save those who are in His church, just as He saved Noah and his family who were in His ark.  How great to know we serve a God who is in complete and total control.  When the world around us seems out of control may we find peace in knowing we are safe and sound in God’s church.