Weekly Bible Verses: Psalm 105: Seek the Lord and His Strength

Psalm 105¹O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.
²Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works.
³Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
⁴Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.
⁵Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
⁶O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
⁷He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
⁸He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
⁹the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁰which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹¹saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.”
¹²When they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in it,
¹³wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,
¹⁴he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account,
¹⁵saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”
¹⁶When he summoned famine against the land, and broke every staff of bread,
¹⁷he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
¹⁸His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron;
¹⁹until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord kept testing him.
²⁰The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free.
²¹He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions,
²²to instruct his officials at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.
²³Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
²⁴And the Lord made his people very fruitful, and made them stronger than their foes,
²⁵whose hearts he then turned to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.
²⁶He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron whom he had chosen.
²⁷They performed his signs among them, and miracles in the land of Ham.
²⁸He sent darkness, and made the land dark; they rebelled against his words.
²⁹He turned their waters into blood, and caused their fish to die.
³⁰Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings.
³¹He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.
³²He gave them hail for rain, and lightning that flashed through their land.
³³He struck their vines and fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came, and young locusts without number;
³⁵they devoured all the vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground.
³⁶He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the first issue of all their strength.
³⁷Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.
³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it.
³⁹He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night.
⁴⁰They asked, and he brought quails, and gave them food from heaven in abundance.
⁴¹He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.
⁴²For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.
⁴³So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.
⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,
⁴⁵that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

Church Cancelled August 28, 2011 Due to Hurricane Irene

Exton Community Baptist Church will be closed tomorrow due to the expected hazardous travel conditions and potential damage caused by the hurricane. ECBC asks everyone to stay safe during this weather event.

Our prayers go out to all who have been and will be impacted by the hurricane.

There are several sermons online here as podcasts now if you wish to worship this Sunday even though the church doors are closed. Simply click on the label (on the right side of the blog page) sermons or podcasts and you will be able to choose a message for the day.

Weekly Bible Verses: Romans 12:1-8: We, Who Are Many, Are One Body in Christ

Romans 12: I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. ³For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Sunday sermon now available for download.

Sorry for the delay this week.  We ran into some audio issues, but God's word did not go unheard, even without Pastor Sum's lapel microphone listening in.

August 14 Service (Full)

Prayers for All Who Attended the Indiana State Fair Yesterday

Our prayers go out to the people of Indiana and all who attended the Indiana State Fair yesterday. A storm rose up, high winds developed, and the stage collapsed. Over forty people are known hospitalized and four dead at this time. God bless all those who rushed forward to help in this time of tragedy. We stand with you all in this difficult moment.

Weekly Bible Verses: Matthew 15: 10-28: Speak with Care

¹⁰Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: ¹¹it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” ¹²Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” ¹³He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” ¹⁶Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? ¹⁸But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. ²⁰These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
²¹Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²²Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” ²³But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” ²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Pastor Joseph Sum - August 7, 2011

The sermon from August 7, 2011 is now available for download or streaming online!

Children's Sermon for 8/7

Sermon for 8/7

A Word From Our Missionary to Cuba

The need for Jesus Christ in Cuba is great.  Only a small number of people know, really know, because they have attended church and read the Bible, what God offers us: divine love, salvation and life transformation.

 

There is such a mixture of beliefs presented in Cuba.  Some people believe in nothing, except that the Communist Party will provide for them.  Others believe in Afro-Cuban gods, keeping statues in their homes surrounded by glasses of water, candles and other offerings.   Many people are superstitious and put a lot of stock in “luck” and try a little bit of everything.

 

Yet God does speak powerfully through Cuban Christians as they share what God had done in their lives.  In one church where I visited, I was sent to the home of a prominent member of the community for dinner.  Their home was quite luxurious by Cuban standards and the father of the home shared some of his testimony with me.  He had been a worshipper of Afro-Cuban deities, made a nice living selling things on the side of his regular job and had many women chasing after him (despite being married).  After his wife became a Christian, the local church members began praying for his salvation.  He believes that God gave him a nightmare early one morning (he was being pulled into darkness by the spiritist deities); he ended up running to the church’s 5 a.m. prayer and fasting meeting where the pastor challenged him with the gospel.  After spending the day shaking in fear, he finally accepted Christ that afternoon and threw away all of the spiritism statues, etc. in the house.  His wife attests to his dramatic lifestyle change, especially in family relations.  But the greatest impact is his testimony to the local community, where he now participates actively in the church.            

 

Through your support [anyone can support the good works of ABC USA missionaries throughout the world], I was able to exhort this small church to continue to reach out in Christ’s name and spread the news of God’s love and salvation.  Their pastor, too, had been trained by the Baptist Seminary where I serve on the faculty.  I was also able to lend a sympathetic and encouraging ear to the pastor’s wife who works tirelessly with few amenities in her home.  (She had led this man’s wife to faith in the Lord.)  Your support reaches out through me and others in Cuba in training, encouragement, mentoring and witnessing for God’s glory.

Sue Hegarty

Weekly Bible Verses: Matthew 14: 22-33: He Came Walking Toward Them On the Sea

Matthew 14: ²²Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. ²⁵And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. ²⁶But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” ²⁸Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³²When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

ECBC is now streaming online!

ECBC's Sunday service is now available online for streaming!

Minister: Jeff Snyder

Children's Sermon for 7/31
Sermon for 7/31