Lenexa Baptist Church

The story of Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, is a remarkable story. He and his wife were newly married but found themselves increasingly frustrated and disappointed with the course of their lives. In the midst of that time, Bill sensed God calling him to surrender his life totally and completely to Him. Bill and his wife obeyed. They made a list of all their dreams, plans and goals and signed them over to God. Apart from salvation, it was the greatest decision of their lives. It began what Bill would refer to as the “Great Adventure.” This adventure would come with a cost. Bill sold his company and left his courses at Fuller Seminary. There was great uncertainty, many risks and various trials, but God was always there to protect, provide and guide. As they laid down their dreams, they found that their dreams paled in comparison to God’s dreams.

In our passage this weekend, we find David in the midst of his adventure of following God. His adventure, like the Brights, had many ups and downs, difficulties and dangers. However, God was always there bringing him into a brighter day in the fulfillment of a plan that was bigger than what he could ever have imagined. I pray you will join us for worship this weekend as we consider the grand adventure of following Christ!

— Pastor Chad

Years ago, a mathematical formula was developed to determine the odds of all the appropriate factors necessary to create and sustain life. The determination was that it is virtually impossible. In other words, there are a lot of scientific coincidences that are sustaining your life right now. If you believe that life is a product of time and chance, then you will likely be an evolutionist. If you believe, however, in a personal God who is sovereign over creation and orchestrates everything for His glory, then you will be a creationist, regardless of whether or not you physically see His hand.

In our text this week, David will face all kinds of circumstances, both good and evil. While we don’t physically see the hand of God, and we may not even see His name, God is orchestrating it all. God is behind all of it, bringing it all together towards the completion of His perfect will. This is a critical lesson and principle for our lives. Like David, you will face all kinds of situations and circumstances, and you must decide before those things occur. Does life hinge upon a bunch of luck and coincidences? Or is there a personal, almighty, holy God who loves you and is sovereign over every aspect of your life, orchestrating every event according to His plan for His glory? When we come to a place of trusting in God and believing in His Son, Jesus, who died for our sins, we are then able to trust God’s heart even when we can’t see His hand. I pray that you will join us this weekend as we look to God and His Word and rest in His sovereign grace. — Pastor Chad

Have you ever found yourself in a place of deep, emotional pain with the realization that you are responsible for the circumstances? In 2 Samuel 15, we find David at the lowest point in his reign. His family is a mess. His son has betrayed him and led a coup against him. His closest adviser has helped to engineer the rebellion. Everything that he loved and gave his life for was crumbling right in front of him, and what made it worse was the realization that he was responsible. Have you ever been to a place like this — a place of emotional pain and betrayal with a full awareness of your own sin? At some point, we will each find ourselves there. It is part of living as sinners in the midst of a fallen world. The valleys of life remind us that we are sojourners, and we have not yet arrived. We are saved, but that salvation is not fully realized. We have been redeemed from Egypt, but we are not yet in Canaan. David gives us hope, though. In fact, we get to read not only the details of David’s circumstances, but we have his prayer journal. Psalm 3 is the accompaniment to this point in David’s life. David encourages us that he made it through the valley, and so will we! I pray you will join us this weekend as we worship the One who is our shield, our glory, and the One who lifts our heads. — Pastor Chad

Have you ever found yourself in a place of deep, emotional pain with the realization that you are responsible for the circumstances? In 2 Samuel 15, we find David at the lowest point in his reign. His family is a mess. His son has betrayed him and led a coup against him. His closest adviser has helped to engineer the rebellion. Everything that he loved and gave his life for was crumbling right in front of him, and what made it worse was the realization that he was responsible. Have you ever been to a place like this — a place of emotional pain and betrayal with a full awareness of your own sin? At some point, we will each find ourselves there. It is part of living as sinners in the midst of a fallen world. The valleys of life remind us that we are sojourners, and we have not yet arrived. We are saved, but that salvation is not fully realized. We have been redeemed from Egypt, but we are not yet in Canaan. David gives us hope, though. In fact, we get to read not only the details of David’s circumstances, but we have his prayer journal. Psalm 3 is the accompaniment to this point in David’s life. David encourages us that he made it through the valley, and so will we! I pray you will join us this weekend as we worship the One who is our shield, our glory, and the One who lifts our heads. — Pastor Chad

Sometimes the most painful hurts we encounter in life come from those who are closest to us. Certainly, this was the case between Absalom and David. Absalom murdered David’s eldest son, Amnon, to avenge his sister’s rape. Can you imagine the emotional pain that David must have felt? It is hard to imagine how anyone could care perfectly for their family in the midst of that kind of relational heartache. Despite all the pain, David brought Absalom home, established boundaries, and eventually welcomed Absalom with a kiss. How did Absalom respond to his father’s kindness and forgiveness? He conspired to overthrow his father’s kingdom. He slandered his dad and forced him out of the nation. It is the sad commentary on the sinfulness of man and the cost that is brought to bear in our lives when we don’t forgive and repent of our sins. There is much to learn in our scripture passage, and I pray that you will plan to join us this weekend as we worship the Lord in song and the study of His Word.

In Christ,

Pastor Chad

What a great Easter weekend! It was so good to meet and greet so many new faces in all our worship services. Thank you for inviting your friends and family members to worship with us. I pray that every guest was pointed to the wonder and glory of Christ who lived, died and rose for our redemption, salvation and reconciliation.

This weekend, we will turn our attention back to 2 Samuel 14. Our passage is a difficult text and probably not one that you will find in the Little Golden Book of children’s stories. But make no mistake, this passage has real relevance for our lives. Both David and Absalom demonstrate the need for forgiveness and reconciliation and the danger when they are not achieved in a biblical way. If you have no conflict in your life and never sin against anyone, feel free to take the weekend off. For the rest of us, I look forward to seeing you this weekend as we seek to align our lives to the plumb line of God’s truth in His Word.

— Pastor Chad

How essential is the resurrection to our faith? Is it possible to be a Christian and not believe in the resurrection? What do we lose if we lose the resurrection, and what do we gain in the resurrection? This weekend, we will invite the apostle Paul, on the basis of his words to the Corinthians, to instruct us on the most important questions and the essential nature of the resurrection. I pray you will join us at one of our many worship opportunities this weekend. Invite a friend, a family member, or co-worker to join you as we worship the resurrected Christ! He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

— Pastor Chad

On the very first palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, there was a lot of excitement. People were waving palm branches. They were quoting scripture. There was so much nationalistic excitement. But I believe if you had asked someone on that day what was happening there, I think they would have said, “I’m not really sure.” I think they probably would have said, “I’m not really sure.” They were excited, and they could quote scripture, but they had a total misunderstanding of why Christ came. This week as we look at the triumphal entry in John 12:12-19, we will find that Jesus makes plain why He came. This is so important. All of our study of Scripture and Christ’s life is meaningless if we don’t understand the purpose for which He came. I pray you will make plans to join us this weekend at one of our services or at one of our campuses as we worship Christ in song and in the study of His word.

— Pastor Chad

Join us this weekend as we continue to look at David's life and the lasting consequences of sin. It's going to be a great weekend at LBC.

Sin always has consequences. While David has been forgiven and his sins put away, the effects will continue to be felt for generations, starting with his eldest son, Amnon. Few stories in the Old Testament demonstrate more fully the depravity of man and the deceitfulness of our hearts. I pray you will read 2 Samuel 13 in preparation for this weekend’s message.

NOTE TO PARENTS:

I would also like to issue a word of warning to parents. The text addresses content that you might not be ready to address with your children. Please know that I always do my best to be aware that children are in the audience and make the message appropriate for all audiences. However, because of the nature of this text, I wanted to give you a heads up. With this in mind, I pray that you would make every effort to join us this weekend at one of our campuses as we see again how God, even in the midst of sinful circumstances, points us forward to our perfect Savior, King Jesus.

— Pastor Chad