Ruth 1:1-22

Calvary Baptist Church - DE

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Ruth 1:1-22

The Anatomy of Bitterness

March 7, 2021 • Dr. Peter Radford

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This week’s message explores Naomi’s life and circumstances as recorded in the first chapter of Ruth. Reeling from the difficult circumstances of her life, Naomi becomes bitter. The message presents an anatomy of bitterness based on Naomi’s actions and statements:

1. Bitterness is often sourced in great personal tragedy. (1-5)

2. Bitterness comes when we see our circumstances solely through the lens of our ability to change them. (6-14)

3. Bitterness comes when we overlook the small blessings that God sends. (15-20)

4. Bitterness can come when we remember the past through rose-colored glasses. (21)

In the end, Naomi is not just bitter at life, but is bitter at God. The Big Idea we draw from our passage is that the source of bitterness is when we believe the lie that God is against us.

Debunking Four Myths of the Church

July 18, 2021 • Dr. Peter Radford

Esther Narrative

July 4, 2021 • Dr. Peter Radford

This week we seek to capture the larger message of Esther in a single message. Pastor Pete wants to convey to you that while the sermon followed the general contours of the Biblical account, some details from this week’s message have been added to help the story move along. (For instance, Harbona is mentioned a couple times in the text, but we don’t know what his job was or if he was present for all the events presented in the message.) The goal of this week’s message is to help the story of Esther come to life.

Esther - Chapters 7-8

June 13, 2021 • Dr. Peter Radford

This text records for us the second banquet that Esther hosted for King Xerxes and Haman. At this banquet, Esther reveals her identity as a Jew and the plot of Haman is foiled. The lesson we draw from this text is that God watches over the righteous. We find three evidences of this in the text: 1. God positions the righteous according to his will to accomplish his purpose. 2. God brings the evil that the wicked intended for the righteous squarely upon them. 3. God answers the prayer of the righteous and protects them from harm.