Faith Baptist Church – Champaign, IL

Jul 7, 2021

GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU

Steve Hall

Have you ever felt, as did the Psalmist, that God has forgotten you? Does it seem as though He has hid His face from you? Does your situation seem dire and seemingly your Heavenly Father is distant? Is the sense of urgency so great that you want to shout “Oh, that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down…..” Lord? Can you hear me? Are You listening? Lord, are You even there? Sure, we’ve ALL been there at some point or another in our lives, just as the great saints of old have been. Sometimes the storms of life seem like they’re going to sweep us away and there doesn’t appear to be any hope in the foreseeable future. When life gets difficult (and it will) we must remember what David wrote in Psalm 40:4 “Blessed (happy) is that man who maketh the LORD his trust….” Here, “trust” simply means refuge or security. In the storms we face, God is our refuge and though He may seem distant, though He may seem to have forgotten you, remember this…..things aren’t always as they seem to be. God will never leave you nor forsake you. Trust Him to be your trust.

Jun 25, 2021

EXCITED TO GO TO CHURCH?

Steve Hall

Psalms 120-134 are called Songs of degrees or Songs of Ascents. It is generally agreed upon that these Psalms were sung by pilgrims on the ascending march from the Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem. The Hebrew word for glad conveys that of a joyful or cheerful countenance, perhaps even the making of merry voices and leaping for joy! Wow! Do you get that excited when Sunday rolls around and you have the opportunity to worship in the house of God? Let us rejoice with praise and thanksgiving, with BIG smiles on our faces and a spring in our step as we congregate this Lord’s Day to worship our God and King, our Savior!

Jun 22, 2021

DESTRUCTION OF PRIDE

Steve Hall

C.S. Lewis once said of pride, “There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.” Pride manifests itself in many ways. One way of identifying pride is when one spends all their time talking about themselves and feigns giving God any credit by an obligatory mention of Him here and there. Listen to what Solomon says! Destruction is the result and a fall is sure to come.

Jun 21, 2021

WHAT IS RIGHT?

Steve Hall

In days past, we looked at “what is love?”, “what is truth?” now let’s look at “what is right?” So, “right” can be defined as morally good, justified or acceptable. The word employed in our text conveys the thought of doing what is right in my own eyes, i.e., what pleases me, what I approve rather than what God approves or what pleases Him. In other words, “right” became relative rather than absolute, subjective to how one may feel about a certain situation rather than objective. The line of demarcation between right and wrong has been blurred by moral relativism. Today, as in the days of the Judges of Israel, nearly everyone advocates this “to each their own” philosophy. The standard for what “right” is, is found in God’s unchanging, forever relevant, forever settled Word, the Bible. As the moral fabric of our society continues to decay, we can be sure of this, the Word of God will never change! It’s not fluid where it will somehow adapt to changes we see in our society where once what was held as being right or sacred has now become wrong or profane.