Community Baptist Church Edwardsburg Sermons

How long, O Lord! Now that's an honest prayer! Who among us hasn't wondered when an answer would come and why God seemed not to care about the struggles we faced? Four times in the first two verses of Psalm 13 David cries out "How long?"He was running for His life. He thought he was following God's plan. And yet, here he was asking why God was hiding His face. Been there? Maybe you're there now. Psalm 13 teaches us how to pray. It's a prayer we all need to have in our repertoire of prayers. 

In Psalm 12, David shares his trepidation for future generations, but he also models how to pray for them. It's a great time to look at this Psalm as we enter month two of our "Pray for Me" emphasis. 

King David had great opportunity and friendly counsel to quit, but he took refuge in the Lord and stayed on course. Let us follow his example as we dissect Psalm 11. 

The Book of Psalms is a book of prayers and has been called God's training manual for prayer. We will look the next four weeks at some of these model prayers as we prepare to talk to Him and know Him better. 

Honoring Mothers. We all have/had a mother and when God started listing His commands for loving others, He began by saying, "Honor your father and your mother". This must be important. 

God loves unity among His children. Therefore, we can conclude that His enemy loves discord. Satan wants us fighting and often uses the liberty we have in Christ to drive a wedge between us. He tempts us to judge others on insignificant issues or abuse our own freedom. Paul addresses our handling of what he calls, "disputable matters" in Romans 14.

God's commands are always for our good. God made us and knows how we function best. So when He gives us Romans 13, He does so because He loves us. His law is perfect. 

What is love, really? It can be and has been defined in a vast variety of ways. Let's learn to live and love like Jesus. 

As our study in Romans progresses, we will be growing in practicality. We believe the gospel. So what? What difference will it make in our lives from Monday through Saturday? From Romans 12, we'll see the transformation God is making in us and how He wants to work through us. 

The greatest news the world would ever hear came as day was breaking on that first Easter. "He is Risen." Because He is risen, everything changed. Death's reign ended. The shackles of sin were broken and life has meaning. He is Risen! 

We will be continuing our emphasis on prayer. We'll be talking about how we can connect different generations through the simple act of prayer. 

In Romans 11:33, Paul exclaims, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" Depth might be the very thing we are missing in our knowledge of God. Many times, we settle for a one or two-dimensional picture of Him. As we look through Romans 11:33-36, it will give us a three-dimensional look at our Lord and Savior. 

Does God love you? Are you sure? Are you, as the Apostle Paul would say, fully persuaded? Life is sometimes hard. It can lead us to doubt that He loves us. The end of Romans 8 tells us why we need to know we are loved and how we can experience that assurance. 

New life in Him is our theme today. We'll walk through Romans 8:1-17. 

Longing for God. Seeking Him. Desiring Him. Needing Him. Crying out to Jesus. These phrases tell us what fasting is about. In our selfishness, we often try to come up with ways to get what we want from God. Our study of fasting will show us the real issue is about us recognizing our need of Him. Let's keep growing together in our understanding and application of His Truth. 

In the Old Testament, many places were given names that carried great meaning. I came across two valleys that have names of particular interest. One is called the "Valley of Breakthrough" and the other is called the "Valley of Blessings". We'll begin to see how God's people arrived at these places. Get ready for an exciting and practical look at prayer. 

As we prepare for our annual meeting, I will be praying, thinking, and seeking concerning the vision and direction of our church. Please pray with and for me. We want what God wants for our church. We want what only God can give, people being transformed by the power of the gospel. Pray like Moses did in Exodus 33:15 - "If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here." 

God loves people. May we all lean into His desire and grow in our love for people. Dear Lord, please use us to give what people so desperately need, love. 

I hope you are grabbing hold of the truths we have explored in recent weeks. In Christ, we are justified, forgiven, loved, and accepted. These works of God cannot be altered by man. The gospel not only sets us free from sin's penalty, but also from its power. Romans 6 keeps us moving and growing in our walk of faith.