I was trying, one day recently, to put together some thoughts about Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to have on hand to use around the Lord’s table the next time I had opportunity to preside over communion. As I studied, I began reading the 22 nd Psalm and decided I would rather present a sermon on it. So, this morning that is exactly what I have prepared to speak on – the prophesy of David in Psalm 22 about the crucifixion of Christ. There are times when faith speaks with confidence like: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” And then there are times when faith cries out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Both statements come from the Psalms. I’m sure we’re all familiar with Psalm 23 – “The Lord Is My Shepherd.” And you are very likely familiar with at least parts of Psalm 22. Sometimes we may like to imagine that strong faith never struggles, never weeps or asks “why?” But Scripture gives us a more honest picture. As people ...
Central Theme: God does not depend upon man's strength, numbers, resources, or abilities to accomplish His purposes. What He requires of His people is faith, humility, obedience, and the willingness to trust Him even when His instructions do not seem reasonable by human standards. When Less Becomes More We live in a world today that teaches us that bigger is better. We measure success by numbers. A successful business is one that has more customers. A successful nation has a stronger military. Successful organizations are one’s that has more members, more money, and more influence. And sometimes, sometimes, if we’re not careful, we can bring that same way of thinking into the Lord's church. We look at congregations with hundreds of members and assume they must be doing something right. We look at a congregation with twenty or thirty members and sometimes wonder whether it can accomplish anything meaningful. And we are even fewer that that here at Axton. But I want us to conside...