On Thursday, February 13 we learned that 70 Christians were found beheaded in a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As shocking as this news is, these 70 are only the most recent of the millions upon millions of followers of Jesus who have "loved not their lives unto death" throughout church history. How are we to respond? "To die is gain."…

At the end of a discourse on the cost of discipleship, Jesus makes a seemingly unrelated statement about salt, its flavor, and its usefulness. What does salt have to do with the radical discipleship our Lord has just described?Por Pastor Paul Edwards

It is not possible to be a Christian unless you are a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. How does Jesus identify true disciples? Controversially: 1. A true disciple of Jesus hates father, mother, wife, children, and his own life. 2. A true disciple of Jesus bears his cross and comes after Jesus 3. A true disciple of Jesus renounces everything he ha…

In his Gospel, Luke records 7 meals where Jesus was either a guest, a host, or both guest and host. What has Jesus given us in each of these meals which are also present whenever we celebrate the Lord's Table?Por Pastor Paul Edwards

On the evening of His resurrection, Jesus shared a meal with two of His disciples who lived in a village called Emmaus. What do we learn from this meal that informs the way we share the Lord's Supper together as God's family?Por Pastor Paul Edwards

Even as we plan our way, the Lord orders our steps to bring us to the gospel. Each of us must ask, "Who do I worship and what do I do with my sins?" The answer to those questions are found in stories of men and women in the Bible, some who experienced miraculous conversions and others who experienced mundane and ordinary conversions. Can you see yo…

The early Christians in the New Testament were not trying to imitate families. So far as they understood the gospel, they WERE a family. And in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus made the startling claim that God's family - the church - has priority over your biological family with the expectation that we will fold our families into the family of God, wi…

In this inaugural sermon in the series "Devoted to God's Church" we consider the nature of our relationship to the church as given to us in Paul's Letter to the Ephesians: the prerequisites (believing and belonging) and the particulars (the body, the brood (family), the building, and the bride.Por Pastor Paul Edwards

When did it last cross your mind that Jesus was thinking about you? When did it actually cross your mind that Jesus wants you?Por Pastor Paul Edwards

Why don't I feel like praying? Because when I pray, I say the same old things about the same old things. There is nothing wrong with praying ABOUT the same things. The issue is SAYING the same things about the same things. One remedy to our frustrated praying is to pray the Bible. Using Dr. Donald Whitney's method outlined in his book, "Praying the…

God made a promise at the beginning of the Bible which unfolds like a blooming flower throughout the Bible, finding its ultimate fulfillment in Revelation 21:3 "God himself shall be with them and be their God." Revelation 21:1-7 gives five specifics of what this promise means for us, as well as revealing how we come to be participants in it's bless…

J. I Packer called the steps which the Son of God took down from heaven to earth to be incarnate in human flesh "the great stoop." In Philippians 2:5-11, using what is believed to be an early hymn of the church, the Apostle Paul traces those steps.Por Pastor Paul Edwards

The Angel's startling announcement to a young virgin that she will bring forth the promised Messiah comes in two parts: what does this mean and how is it possible?Por Pastor Paul Edwards

The Angel's startling announcement to a young virgin that she will bring forth the promised Messiah comes in two parts: what does this mean and how is it possible?Por Pastor Paul Edwards

The story of Christmas does not begin in a manager, or with shepherds, or angelic messengers, or a star. The story of Christmas begins in eternity when God the Father and God the Son entered into an everlasting covenant to redeem Adam's fallen race. The promise of that covenant is made in the beginning of history, after Adam's rebellion, when God c…

"So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together" (1 Samuel 31:6). On the same day David is routing the Amalekites and recovering his family and goods, winning a decisive victory over God's enemies (1 Samuel 30), God is using His enemies (the Philistines) to bring final judgment on Saul and those asso…

The objective of the Book of 1 Samuel is to reveal the kind of leader for whom God is seeking to be the shepherd king of His people. The people had chosen Saul, who turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. God chose David, whom we have watched grow from a young shepherd boy into a mighty warrior. But God isn't looking for a mighty warrior. He's lo…

How can it cany any worse? All of us have asked this question when circumstances have overwhelmed us. Almost since our first meeting David in 1 Samuel 16, he has lived his life as a fugitive from Saul and the unrelenting object of Saul's wrath. And just when you think it can't get any worse, he loses everything.…

When the Lord does not answer Saul's inquiry, Saul seeks out a woman with a familiar spirit to conjure Samuel from the dead. This episode in our Bibles raises some questions about the legitimacy of the occult, the ability of this woman to bring up Samuel from the dead, and whether it is actual Samuel who appears or a demonic apparition.…

The running theme of 1 Samuel 28 is the silence of God. Saul is distressed to the point of a mental breakdown. The Lord is not responding to his inquiry about a coming battle with the Philistines. He has used every legitimate means in an attempt to get God's attention to no avail, so he turns to a woman who practices divination to conjure the proph…

From the time David slew Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, have had a front row seat to the valor, courage, and integrity of David as he lived as a fugitive from Saul. We have come to love him, to respect him, to expect nothing but honorable behavior from him. And yet in our study today we come to a very disturbing story which reveals the depravity of David …

The details recorded in 1 Samuel 26 are almost a mirror image of the event that took place in 1 Samuel 24. In both chapters, Saul is told where David is hiding, Saul is vulnerable to David's revenge, David spares Saul, and Saul seems to be repentant. But in between 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26 is 1 Samuel 25; and the word of God to David through Abi…

When the story of David and Nabal begins, David is prepared to repay with the violence the insult of Nabal by taking matters into his own hands, an action of vengeance that would have been a blot on his character for the rest of his life. God intervenes with preventive providence through Abigail to save Nabal and his men from David's violent vengea…

In this sermon from 1 Samuel 25:29, Pastor Paul explores some "seed thoughts" from the Abigail's poetic phrase: "The soul of my Lord (David) is bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God." Abigail's expression here is covenant language, grounded in God's everlasting promise to His people to secure them for eternity.…

Having considered in the previous message the details of Abigail's counsel to David in 1 Samuel 25:18-31, we come back to consider how it illustrates "answering a fool" in Proverbs 26:4-5. David responds to Abigail's counsel with three blessings and a surprise proposal.Por Pastor Paul Edwards

1 Samuel 25 introduces us to "a woman of good understanding" as an example to all of us of how to see God's unseen hand in the circumstances of our lives. Dale Ralph Davis says that "Abigail is the Lord's stop sign, mercifully placed in David's path." The Lord's providential intervention through Abigail restrains His chosen king from his own impuls…

David and his men have been providing protection for Nabal and his possessions. When David sends his men to Nabal to request payment for services rendered, Nabal insults David. David's response reveals a surprising flaw in David's character which to this point in our studies of 1 Samuel we have never seen. There are lessons to be learned here about…

In a rather blunt and matter of fact way our narrator announces the death of Samuel. But God’s work in Israel did not end when Samuel died. God’s work never is dependent on only one man. In this sermon we reflect upon the life of the prophet Samuel.Por Pastor Paul Edwards

Por Grant Blackmer

Por Grant Blackmer

David is the anointed king, but Saul is the reigning king. For years David has been waiting patiently for God to fulfill His promise to him while being unjustly pursued by Saul, fleeing for his life under continual distress. But now David is presented with an opportunity to seize the throne by force when Saul "happens" into a cave to relieve himsel…

In this continuation of our study in 1 Samuel 24, Saul responds to David's restraint in sparing his life.Por Pastor Paul Edwards

Por Mike Edwards

The Ziphites have disclosed to Saul the hiding place of David which initiates one of the most intense scenes in all of the book of 1 Samuel that ends with David and his men surrounded, destined for certain death at the hands of Saul and his men. But there is an unseen providence at work which is protecting David and preventing Saul from accomplishi…

Identifying with David is dangerous. It has already cost the priests at Nob their lives, and now the people of Keilah are threatened by Saul for harboring the fugitive he seeks. But our of the evil of Saul's actions at Nob, God has provided David with the gift of an intercessor in Abiathar. Christians also know that identifying with Christ is dange…

In the character and behavior of Saul there are types and shadows of antichrist. In the character and behavior of David there are types and shadows of Christ. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the details of the events leading up to the escape of Abiathar and the safety he found in David.Por Pastor Paul Edwards

God is not the author evil. God, however, controls the effects of human evil so that they serve his ultimate purposes. There are four scenes in 1 Samuel 22 which serve to show us the ways in which God is sovereign over human evil.Por Pastor Paul Edwards

1 Samuel 22:1-5 is an Old Testament illustration of the New Testament truth expressed by the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 1 that "God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty." David continues his run from Saul, only now he is no longer alone. Everyone in Israel who was discontented, in debt, and distressed have jo…

In our desperation we often find ourselves making foolish decisions that put us in precarious situations. David's fear has caused him to flee from Saul to the last place on earth he thinks Saul will think to look for him: in the enemy territory of the Philistines. But soon after arriving in Gath, he is recognized by the soldiers of the king of Gath…

Of the three evidences of genuine regeneration given by the author (love, faith, and hope), he doubles down on hope. What is this hope? What does it mean that "God swore by himself"? What are the "two immutable (unchangeable) things" God swore by?Por Pastor Paul Edwards

There are 5 experiences listed in Hebrews 6:4-5 which are often mistaken for evidences of regeneration when in reality they are the experiences of many who come into the church and under gospel influence but do not necessarily come to saving faith in Christ. But in Hebrews 6:9-12 there are three EVIDENCES of genuine regeneration which manifest them…

To this point in our study of 1 Samuel, all of our encounters with David have been positive. We have seen him display valor, courage, and loyalty. He is seemingly an infallible hero. But when David comes to the priest at Nob our impression of his character is one of disappointment. David, it turns out, is as frail a human sinner as the rest of us. …

Only the resurrection of Jesus Christ gives meaning to our suffering.Por Pastor Paul Edwards

Chapter 20 closes with the bitter scene of the parting of Jonathan and David. David will remain a fugitive from Saul, yet Jonathan's final words to him are "Go in peace." How can Jonathan wish David peace when he knows full well his father's intentions to kill David if he ever finds him? How can we have peace in circumstances that cause us anxiety …

David is hiding in the field while Jonathan is taking the measure of Saul's attitude toward David. Over the course of a three-day festival, the covenant between Jonathan and David (made in 18:1-4 and reaffirmed in 20:8) will be tested, its cost will be levied, and where loyalties lie will be exposed.…

Hebrews 6:4-6 is the most often cited text by those who seek to make a case that believers can fall away from the faith and lose their salvation. But a careful reading of the text makes it clear that the author of Hebrews does not have genuine believers in view at all. An important and essential to key to the interpretation of Hebrews 6:4-9 is to u…

What are you afraid of? David's fears are in the context of his immediate present circumstances. Jonathan's fears are in his concern for the future welfare of his family. Regardless of the source of our fears and anxiety, they are a condition of life in a fallen world. This issue isn't THAT we are afraid, but HOW our fears find their resolution in …

Is it possible for a believer to fall away and be finally lost? Many have used Hebrews 4:4-6 to make the case that it is. But who is being addressed in these verses? What does the context of these verses reveal about what it means to "fall away" and the impossibility of being "renewed again unto repentance"?…

Where do you turn when there is no where to turn? This is David's predicament. He is a fugitive now, fleeing and hiding from the plots of Saul to take his life. David finds the resolution of his anxiety in the covenant of the Lord, grounded in the steadfast love of the Lord in spite of his perilous circumstances.…