God Our Refuge

Summer in the PsalmsCory Freeman
Written By Olivia Zurawski

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Psalm 16:1-11 | Growing up I was blessed with a wonderful father. He was a very nice man, loved Jesus (When he got saved around my teen years), and loved his family. While being the great man that he was, he also was a man that you did not want to mess with. He is the only human I know who had a healthy balance of being loveable, yet intimidating. My father holds a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do, Brown belt in judo, spent years teaching firearm classes, can break bricks with his bare hands, and he's BALD! (Because being bald adds an element of toughness that just isn’t fair). He reminds me of Denzel Washington in “Equalizer”, a mysterious man who leads a normal life.

With all of this being said, my father made me feel safe. No matter if a grown man was harassing our family or a hurricane was coming with the capabilities to potentially blow over our house, I knew everything was going to be okay because he was there to bring protection. There is no way I would replace him with any other dad in the world. He was a refuge for my family and I growing up.

Likewise, God is our refuge. He is a place that we can run to and find protection and peace, no matter the circumstance. We wouldn’t want to trade that relationship for anything in the world, no matter how strong the pull of temptation is to do so. In this message, we will look at three benefits of having God as our refuge.

- Pastor Cory

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More from this series:

Sermons
In Sorrow and In Suffering
Summer in the Psalms, Mark Wiley
In Sorrow and In Suffering
Summer in the Psalms, Mark Wiley

Psalm 88:1-18 | What comes to mind when you think of the word lament? We typically use the word in expressing sorrow or regret. For example, “I’m lamenting that I didn’t join them for the weekend retreat,” or “I lament the loss of our friendship.” However, lament is a specific language that God has given us to bring our sorrows before Him. In fact, the Bible is full of examples of lament. A full 1/3 of the Psalms are considered Psalms of lament. The reality is that life is hard, and we will face trouble and sorrow on this earth, and yet we look forward to a time when we will dwell with God, where there will be no more tears and no more suffering. But until then, lament is a language given to us by God to navigate the reality of the present with the promise of the future. In this message, we study one of the darkest and saddest Psalms of lament in the Bible. And yet, we will find in this Psalm some surprising truths that will lead us to trust and hope in the sovereign God of our eternal salvation, even in the midst of sorrow and suffering.

Summer in the Psalms, Mark Wiley
God Our Refuge
Summer in the Psalms, Cory Freeman
God Our Refuge
Summer in the Psalms, Cory Freeman

Psalm 16:1-11 | Growing up I was blessed with a wonderful father. He was a very nice man, loved Jesus (When he got saved around my teen years), and loved his family. While being the great man that he was, he also was a man that you did not want to mess with. He is the only human I know who had a healthy balance of being loveable, yet intimidating. My father holds a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do, Brown belt in judo, spent years teaching firearm classes, can break bricks with his bare hands, and he's BALD! (Because being bald adds an element of toughness that just isn’t fair). He reminds me of Denzel Washington in “Equalizer”, a mysterious man who leads a normal life.

With all of this being said, my father made me feel safe. No matter if a grown man was harassing our family or a hurricane was coming with the capabilities to potentially blow over our house, I knew everything was going to be okay because he was there to bring protection. There is no way I would replace him with any other dad in the world. He was a refuge for my family and I growing up.

Likewise, God is our refuge. He is a place that we can run to and find protection and peace, no matter the circumstance. We wouldn’t want to trade that relationship for anything in the world, no matter how strong the pull of temptation is to do so. In this message, we will look at three benefits of having God as our refuge.

- Pastor Cory

Summer in the Psalms, Cory Freeman
When Trusting The LORD Is Hard
Summer in the Psalms, Joe Cotroneo
When Trusting The LORD Is Hard
Summer in the Psalms, Joe Cotroneo

Psalm 125:1-5 | In this life, we will always come across opposition or obstacles. And most of the time we anticipate this. But what do you do when you find that your opposition or obstacle isn’t going away? Or the breakthrough you have been asking the LORD for doesn’t seem to come? The scary reality is that when these times come, we sometimes can sense our trust in Jesus beginning to waver. And it must be noted that this is when Satan often moves in closer to whisper lies to us like, "God isn't there with you," "God doesn't care about you," or "God is holding out on you." Can you relate? We will open up God's Word together and look through the portals of time and see what previous generations of God's children did to experience unshakable trust in the LORD in the midst of unstable times in their lives.

Summer in the Psalms, Joe Cotroneo
Freedom From The Fear Of Man
Summer in the Psalms, Brock Graham
Freedom From The Fear Of Man
Summer in the Psalms, Brock Graham

Psalm 56:1-13 | Proverbs warns us that the fear of man is a snare in our life, and yet I think all of us have struggled at times with fearing man more than God or seeking man's approval above God's.  Some of us may even be controlled by the fear of man. Maybe for you, it's as if someone has strings connected to your back, puppeteering your every move through life as you live too afraid to say no or stand up for what you ultimately know God would want.  

How do we have victory over the fear of man? How do we walk in the freedom of a God-fearing life, not controlled by the trap that is the fear of man?

Summer in the Psalms, Brock Graham
Good, Bad, Or Ugly... I Will Bless The Lord
Summer in the Psalms, Brock Graham
Good, Bad, Or Ugly... I Will Bless The Lord
Summer in the Psalms, Brock Graham

Psalm 34:1-22 | When we think about blessings and the Lord we often think about how the Lord blesses us. What does it mean for us to bless the Lord? In the first line of Psalm 34, David writes, "I will bless the Lord at all times..."

What does it mean to bless the Lord? And why is the Lord worthy of our lives being lived as an offering of blessing back to Him?

Summer in the Psalms, Brock Graham
Our Fortress and Our Fears
Summer in the Psalms, Brock Graham
Our Fortress and Our Fears
Summer in the Psalms, Brock Graham

Psalm 27:1-14 | We are all scared of something. Come on, admit it. The toughest person who walks into church on Sunday is scared of something. Fear can manifest in our life as a subtle undercurrent of worry and anxiety or it can manifest as an ever-present crippling paralysis.

In this message, we look at one fear crushing reminder and 5 outcomes for our life when our heart is clinging to this reminder!

So...let's walk away from this like Kevin from Home Alone walked down his front sidewalk shouting, "I'm not afraid anymore! Did you hear me? I'm not afraid anymore!"

Summer in the Psalms, Brock Graham
Olivia Zurawski https://www.makerscc.com
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In Sorrow and In Suffering
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When Trusting The LORD Is Hard