Lenexa Baptist Church

This week, we come to one of the most difficult and challenging sections in all of God’s Word. The text itself is not that hard to understand but is often hard for us to accept. Many come to these chapters looking for clarity and answers to some of their deepest theological questions. Some of you will come over the next few weeks to find out where I land on some of these issues regarding Israel and the sovereignty of God. However, if we simply come to this text with a desire for greater clarity on the theoretical and theological questions of our mind, we will have missed the point.

Having just finished a chapter on the greatness of the salvation, assurance and security that we have in Christ, Paul’s heart breaks for his lost kinsmen who do not have this same salvation. While Paul’s heart breaks for this loss, his heart is also filled with worship at the “riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” In other words, if our study in these chapters does not develop a greater desire to see the lost saved and a deeper sense of love and worship for the God we serve, then I will have failed us, and we will have certainly missed the point.

I pray you will come prepared to worship this weekend. Make plans now. Begin to prepare your heart today. Read ahead. Study the text, prepare your heart and pray for the lost. As we gather for corporate worship, let’s expect God to move in response to the study of His Word and the worship of His people.

— Pastor Chad McDonald

Romans 8 is the chapter of Christian assurance. The chapter begins with “no condemnation.” There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. No condemnation now or any time in the future. God’s verdict of acquittal in justification is a verdict that is irreversible. Then, at the end of the chapter, we find that there is “no separation.” There is no separation from the persisting love of God which is in Christ — no condemnation and no separation from the love of Christ.

Paul is clearly ministering to people who needed that kind of assurance. In light of the circumstances and situations of the Roman believers, there appears to have risen some questions about the sufficiency of God to handle such a threatening world. Paul responds with more than just general words of encouragement. He brings them to the height of Christian doctrine and truth in the love of God demonstrated in Christ.

Some of you are facing circumstances and situations that are leading you to a similar place of insecurity and fear. Is God totally sufficient for my needs and situations? When no one else seems to understand, how can I be certain that God loves me and that I can trust Him? I pray that you will join us this weekend as Paul seeks to plumb the depths of God’s love demonstrated towards us in Christ.

— Pastor Chad McDonald

Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” portrayed the death of Christ in one of the most accurate ways ever seen by man, except for those who saw it firsthand. I saw the movie once. I have never seen it again. It is one thing to imagine the death of Christ; it is altogether different to see it portrayed in such a realistic way.

In our Good Friday services, we will look at another portrayal of Christ’s suffering in Isaiah 53. Isaiah describes the suffering of Christ with detail and perfection, but unlike Mel Gibson, he pens his description over 700 years in advance of it actually happening. Only God can talk about future events as if they were yesterday’s news.

Then in our Easter Celebration services, we will turn our attention to another resurrection in Scripture. A resurrection that anticipates the resurrection of Christ and our own resurrection. A resurrection in which Christ’s claim is tested and gives us proof-positive that He is the resurrection and the life! Only in Christ can we find hope for the future and life for today. I pray that you will join us for all our Easter weekend activities. Make the decision now to attend and invite a friend. Join us as we serve and worship the Risen Savior, King Jesus!

— Pastor Chad McDonald

A Church for all generations. Weekly Sermons from Lenexa Baptist Church.

Why did Christ leave the glory of heaven? Why did Christ come to earth? Why did Christ die on the cross for our sins? These are primary questions that we must understand. If we get the answers to these questions wrong, we will end up rejecting Christ just like many in the crowd on that first Palm Sunday. When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday, the majority of the crowd was overwhelmed with excitement. Christ their King was entering Jerusalem to take His rightful place. Before the week is over, however, they will reject Him and put Him on a cross shouting, “Crucify Him!” Why? Because they didn’t understand who Christ was. They did not understand who they were, and they did not know why He came. For that reason, they rejected Him. Sadly, many are making the same mistake today.

This weekend as we look at Christ’s triumphal entry marking the beginning of the Passion Week of Christ, I pray that God will make clear to us through His Word and Spirit who we are, who Christ is, and why He came. And I pray that many will come to trust in Him as Savior and submit to Him as Lord. I pray you will join us!

Every week, we receive numerous prayer concerns. As pastors, we seek to pray over all these prayer concerns. When you combine the full prayer list with our cares and hospitalization list, it can be overwhelming. Just this week, some of our fellow church members received discouraging cancer news. We also held funerals for two beloved church members. Earlier in the week, Pastor Kelly conferred with one of our missionaries in Thailand whose community and country have been affected by a horrible earthquake. Thousands have died, and the number continues to grow. The combination of all these situations is overwhelming.

Then we come to our text in Romans 8:28. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” When times are good, when we have steady jobs, when our families are doing well, when no one is sick, and there have been no recent deaths, it is easy to say that we know God will work all things together for good of those who love Him. But what about the other times? What about those listed above? In those times, we need to be sure that we know what we are professing when we quote Romans 8:28.

— Pastor Chad McDonald

In 2 Chronicles 20:12, Jehoshaphat prays, “For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” I wonder if some in the crowd weren’t thinking to themselves, “You call that leadership? No power. We don’t know what to do.”

Most of the time we are looking for people who will say, “I am very powerful and I know exactly what to do.” That is what our culture most often identifies as true leadership. The Scripture, however, speaks something very different into our lives. We are frail. We are not that smart, and when we come to the understanding of our weakness and frailty, then we are comforted with the knowledge that the Spirit of God helps us in our weakness. As Paul would say in 2 Corinthians 12, “His power is perfected in our weakness.” If you have it all figured out, you know everything, and you have all the strength you need to meet the circumstances of your life, you can probably skip this weekend’s message. But if, by chance, you are at a place where you don’t really know what to do, or if you have come to a place where the circumstances seem overwhelming and you feel powerless, I pray you will join us the weekend. In our passage this week, Paul will reinforce a powerful truth that is so critical for the effective Christian life: “the Spirit helps us in our weakness.”

— Pastor Chad McDonald

Imagine for a moment being someone with great financial troubles and difficulties—someone who has trouble making ends meet. For some of you, this may not be too difficult to imagine. It may be your present circumstances. But then imagine waking up one morning to discover that you are an heir to one of the wealthiest individuals in the world—someone who is infinitely and fabulously wealthy. One day you will enter into all the riches and immeasurable wealth of that person. If you multiply that truth by infinity, you will not even be at the edges of understanding what it means to be an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ. What a glorious truth! No matter how wonderful your conditions are today, for the believer in Christ, the best is always yet to come.

I pray that you will join us for worship this weekend as we examine these wonderful truths of what it means to be “in Christ” and the application of these truths for our present lives. Remember, weekend worship is a Friday decision. Make plans today to join us for worship!

— Pastor Chad McDonald

As we have seen in previous weeks, genuine believers are no longer under God’s condemnation. We have been freed from the penalty and power of sin. But while sin no longer reigns, it does still remain. In our text this week, Paul expounds on the truth that not only are we not under condemnation, but we are also not under sin’s obligation. We can say no to our flesh every day. How? Through the pattern of saying yes to the Spirit, through the power supplied by the Spirit, and through the promise of an eternal inheritance reserved in heaven for us. As we look at verses 12-17 this weekend, we will examine three truths: the believer’s invitation, the believer’s indwelling and the believer’s inheritance.

— Pastor Ryan McDaniel, Campus Pastor

We all long for security. We long for security in our relationships, our financial situation and when we sleep at night in our homes. If you have been the victim of identity theft, you know the value of a secure identity. Romans 8 is all about security. We have security with God because of what Christ has accomplished for us. The security of the believer, however, is not just some propositional truth or some future hope, it is a present reality that is evidenced in our changed lives.

— Pastor Chad McDonald