Bulletins - First Baptist Church Litchfield

- - Psalm 27:4–5ESV
At Calvary
Goodness Of God
- - Psalm 27:13–14ESV
The Goodness of Jesus
Blessed Assurance
King Of My Heart
Atheism has no moral foundation to confront evil.
Atheism has no moral foundation to confront evil. If there is no God, then who decides what is right and wrong? Morality becomes nothing more than personal preference or cultural opinion. John Lennox, the Oxford mathematician and Christian apologist, puts it this way:
“Atheism removes any ultimate accountability, and with it the very foundation for objective morality. If there is no God, then good and evil are simply matters of personal taste.” Dr. John Lennox
Without a transcendent lawgiver, fallen image bearers of God are left to themselves, and the result is tragic.
We see this in our own time. When atheism is embraced evil ideologies and idolatry run wild in the human heart. Without the anchor of God’s authority, sin drifts into the unthinkable. How else do we explain not only the murder of Charlie Kirk but the chilling response of some who celebrated it or justified it? This is not simply political disagreement—it is the natural outworking of a worldview cut loose from God. When man suppresses the truth of God, he begins to call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
Psalm 14 opens with a blunt diagnosis: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” David is not talking about intellectual capacity but moral corruption. To deny God is not primarily an issue of the mind but of the heart. The heart that rejects God cannot help but be shaped by folly, because apart from God there is no true wisdom, no true moral compass, no true hope.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk is truly a turning point for not only our nation, but for the church. We cannot sit by and be idle any longer. We must be relevant in our time, not only for the sake of the Charlie Kirk’s of the world, but even more so for the Tyler Robinsons. We have a better worldview. We have a better vision for a well lived life, an abundant life, an eternal life, better than the ideology that this young man, and so many in our country, are being deceived to embrace. Jesus has given us a powerful life changing, soul transforming, heart regenerating, eternal message to share with the world, and a commission to go share it.
This morning I want to use Psalm 14 to help us process the evil we’ve seen this week in our country. In Psalm 14, David shows us the corruption of humanity, the hostility of the world, the refuge of God, and the hope of Zion. We begin with a diagnosis of humanity. David reveals we live in a world of fools.
The Corruption of Humanity (Psalm 14:1)
Atheism is the ideology of the day, but it is nothing new. David exposed the folly of this long ago.
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”
As I said before, the fool here is not mentally slow; he is morally corrupt. David says, Psalm 14:1 “They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.” The Hebrew word for corrupt is, shachat. It is the same word used to describe the earth before the flood (Gen 6:11–13). When God commissioned Noah to build the Ark, he told him why he was flooding the earth; the earth was filled with fools. Yahweh said to Noah,
“11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:11–13
Three times the Lord uses the word corrupt to drive home the point—man is not just slightly flawed; he is totally depraved. And when corruption runs unchecked, the fruit is always the same: violence fills the earth. That’s what happened in Noah’s day. The sin of humanity grew so deep, so destructive, that God judged the world with a flood.
Yet even after the waters receded and the earth was cleansed, the heart of man remained unchanged. Noah’s children still carried the heart of Adam—a heart bent away from God. The flood could wash the ground, but it could not wash the soul.
That’s why the psalmist writes, “The Lord looks down from heaven… they have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt” (Psalm 14:2–3). In other words, every generation reveals the same disease. Whether in Noah’s day or David’s day—or in ours—the heart of man is corrupt without Christ. Man apart from God is foolish.
This is God’s perspective. He looks down, not at the surface of our lives but into the depths of our hearts. And what does He see? Not one who does good. It’s like when the doctor reads the scan and says, “It’s everywhere.” Cancer isn’t localized; it’s systemic. That’s humanity under sin. The infection isn’t just in one group, one generation, or one political party—it’s in all of us. Paul echoes this in Romans 3:10–12, “None is righteous, no, not one.”
It goes back to the Garden of Eden and the the Fall. Adam and Eve rebelled agaisnt the Lord, and so all his offspring are fools by nature (Genesis 2:17; 3:13-20; Romans 3:23). Our foolish hearts are filled with death. Listen to how Paul further describes fallen humanities heart:
“13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”” Romans 3:13–18
Paul is painting a picture of the fools hatred of God, and for his image bearers. We are all fools by nature. All of us have the capacity to murder those we disagree. And Jesus warns, if you do not fill your heart with His Spirit, you will fill it with idolatry and ideologies that spew curses and bitterness, are swift to shed blood, in their paths are ruin and misery, the way of peace they do not know, and there is no fear of God before their eyes.
When man refuses to believe in God by choosing to suppress God’s reality, atheistic morality eventually leads to depravity. Case in point, half of our country seems to be intoxicated on the lies communism and socialism. They try to gift wrap it in words like democratic socialism, but that is a farce. There is no such thing. There is no democracy where the power is of the government, not the people. Moreover, these ideologies say in their heart, “There is no God.”
Carl Marx, the founder of Communism, believed religion was created by man, not God, calling it an “illusory sun which revolves around man so long as he does not revolve around himself.” Marx once wrote, ““Religion is the opium of the people. It is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions.” For Marx, once society became free and just, religion would wither away because people wouldn’t “need” the illusion anymore. Do you know what happens to a society where God’s religion withers away? It is not free, nor is it just.
Communism, when embraced as a ruling ideology in nations like Russia, China, North Korea, and Vietnam, has left a trail of devastation—taking not just freedom but human life itself. Historians estimate that in the last century alone, anywhere from 20 million to as many as 148 million human beings made in the image of God have been slaughtered under its banner. Why such destruction? Psalm 14:1 tells us: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” When God is denied, human life loses its value. When the Creator is rejected, His image in man is despised. And the result is always the same—corruption, oppression, and bloodshed.
Since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, we have learned more of the background story of the young man accused of murdering Kirk. Do you know what political ideology Tyler Robinson embraced as a worldview? He was a socialist, which is nothing more than a brand of communism. The young man is a fool, but not in an ignorant kind of way. He is academically quite brilliant. He was attending Utah Valley on the school’s Resident Presidential Scholarship, its highest scholarship at the school, as an engineer student. No, his foolishness is not intellectual, it is his shachat. He refuses to recognize God’s rule and authority. Without the anchor of God’s authority, his sinful heart was left to drift into the unthinkable. His godless morality led to depravity.
You need to know, friends, if Jesus does not rule your heart, something will rule it. The fools corruption fills his heart with idolatry (1 Kings 21:26) and unfaithfulness (Ezekiel 16:52). You are made to worship. Apart from Christ, Paul Tripp rightly says, “Your heart is an idol making factory.”
Furthermore, the fools problem is not ignorance of God’s existence but arrogance of heart. Charlie Kirk once made the statement, “You cannot have atheism without God.” The point Kirk makes is, Atheism, by definition, is the denial of God. But you cannot deny what does not exist. The very word atheism (“a-theos”) presupposes theos—God. In other words, atheism only makes sense as a rebellion against the God it claims not to believe in. The reality is, the atheist, as Paul says in Romans 1:21-22, suppresses the truth. He doesn’t want God ruling his life. He does not want moral accountability. He makes up his morals as his foolish heart desires, and the depravity of their morality reveals itself in some of the most inhumane ways.
People actually celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk with no remorse or mercy or compassion. They said things like he had it coming, or it was justifiable because he promoted “hate.” Thats interesting to me. Hate, according to what standard?
Atheists do not have a moral authority. Atheists, through the lens of human secularism, appeal to concepts of justice, fairness, or human dignity—but those categories only exist because there is a transcendent moral lawgiver. Without God, good and evil collapse into personal opinion. So, since you deny God, you define hate by your personal unregenerate standard. Moreover, it’s not just hate you can’t define, but you have no idea what compassion looks like.
The fool demands compassion, but has no idea what it is. What is compassion but costly love? Compassion is suppose to enter the pain of another, even when it requires great sacrifice. It looks at those who are hurting, suffering, mourning, and is moved by love to act on their behalf. Maybe at this point the fool and the wise agree. But where the fool falls short is understanding compassion is not limited to friends or acquaintances. Compassion in its greatest sense is best illustrated when it is given to your enemies. That is precisely what Jesus did for us on the cross and does for the world through his church. That is why you did not see the church rise up and burn down cities or riot in the streets. No, we held vigils and we prayed. We worshiped God. We called the people to repentance and asked God for revival.
Where atheistic regimes have built gulags, Christ builds His church. Where dictators have silenced voices with fear, Jesus invites the weary to find rest in Him. Where systems without God have treated people as disposable, Christ laid down His own life to redeem them. One kingdom tears down because it denies God; the other gives life because it is ruled by God. The world is full of fools who say in their heart, there is no God. I was once one of them, but by the grace of God, he made me wise to see my sin and my need for a Savior. He called me to repent, confess my sin, and accept His gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. He gave me a heart to fear the Lord, and the fear the Lord is the begining of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7).
David begins by showing us the inward corruption of the fool who says in his heart, “There is no God” (vv.1–3), but that inward rebellion never stays hidden—it always erupts outward in hostility, as Psalm 14:4 reveals in the way the godless devour God’s people.
The Hostility of the World (Psalm 14:4)
“Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?”
The fools sin is not only internal—it’s external. What begins in unbelief often erupts in hostility toward the people of God. Erika Kirk described the an who killed her husband as an evildoer. The Scriptures describe evildoers as wicked fools who devour God’s people the way lions devour their prey. David cries in Psalm 27:2, “…evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes…” Likewise, Agur laments in Proverbs 30:14, “There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind.”
The hostility of the fool is not confined to one Testament. It stretches from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus warned His disciples, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). Paul echoes this sober truth: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).
Why such hatred? Because the mind set on the flesh is at war with God. Paul explains in Romans 8:7–8 that the foolish heart is hostile to God’s law, unwilling and unable to submit. A heart at war with God produces fruit in keeping with that war: evil thoughts, murder, immorality, idolatry, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, divisions, and more (Galatians 5:19–20; Matthew 15:19).
Behind this hostility lurks an even older enemy. Since the serpent deceived Eve in the garden, Satan has set his heart on destroying her children. He is a real enemy who works through sinful men and women, bending their hostility toward God into acts of violence against His people. This is why Paul reminds us: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Sometimes this hostility results in the martyrdom of the saints. Take Polycarp, the faithful bishop of Smyrna. In the second century, he was commanded to renounce Christ or face death. His answer is a testimony for us today: “Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” Refusing to deny Christ, Polycarp was burned alive. Why? Because the fool hates Christ and therefore he hates His people.
Charlie Kirk was not murdered for his political views only. He was hated because before he was a conservative, he was a Christian. He made it clear on every platform he was allowed to speak. He was killed because he was hated, and the hate of the fool makes for a hostile world.
Brothers and sisters, this is the cost of following Jesus. Sin is not just something hidden in the heart—it is a hostile force in the world, fueled by Satan himself. Yet take courage: the hostility of the fool is no match for the One who has overcome the world.
The Refuge of God (Psalm 14:5–6)
I can’t fully explain why, but Charlie Kirk’s death landed differently on me—and on many of you. Even my daughter said she felt it in a unique way. We weren’t avid followers of Kirk, but we knew enough: he loved Jesus, he loved his family, and he loved our country. And because he loved Jesus, watching him struck down by evil bruised my soul. It felt personal. It felt like a brother in Christ had been slaughtered. In that moment, I found myself crying out for a refuge. And brothers and sisters, the Lord has given us one.
David knew that bruised feeling too. In Psalm 14, he shifts from despair to hope: For God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. What grace that in recent weeks we’ve been reminded again and again of this very truth—in Psalm 46 and in Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28–30: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
In Psalm 46:1, David says, ““God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” God’s refuge is not a weak shelter but a place of strength, able to protect and save. His strength brings peace that outlasts the storm (Psalm 21:1; 29:11). That phrase “ever present help” means His help is always accessible, always within reach. And in Psalm 46, He calls us to respond creational and political upheaval in two ways: do not fear, and be still.
Fear is our natural drift, but faith looks fear in the eye and says, “I will trust God to be who He says He is—especially when evil bruises my soul.” Being still does not mean doing nothing; it means ceasing to strive as though salvation were in your hands. The Lord Himself fights for His people. That’s why we don’t answer violence with violence. Instead, God’s refuge gives us the necessary rest to love our enemies and to overcome evil with the good works of His kingdom. With God as our refuge we do not work for rest, we work from our rest. And from our rest in Christ, we are peacemakers who love our enemies, and win fools to the kingdom of God.
Brothers and sisters, living in a world hostile to God is like standing in the path of a tornado. Fools rage. The storm howls. But Christ is a shelter stronger than concrete walls. The storm may not stop, but inside His presence you are safe. Jesus is both the fortress that protects and the rest that restores. He is our refuge, and He is our hope.
The Hope of Zion (Psalm 14:7)
“Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!”
Friends and family will stand at the graveside of Charlie Kirk, and when they do, they will stand between two worlds—as we all do at funerals. Death feels so final. The ground beneath us is heavy with grief. Yet for the believer, the grave is not the end—it’s a doorway. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8).
David prayed for salvation to come out of Zion, and God answered that prayer in Jesus Christ. The true King of Israel stepped into our world, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for fools like us, and rose again so that fools might be made wise to fear the Lord. His resurrection secured forgiveness, His ascension secured our refuge, and His promised return secures our eternal hope.
So when we stand in the face of evil and death, we do not stand without hope. As John Bunyan pictured it in Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian crossed the river of death, and on the other side was the Celestial City, radiant with the glory of God. I believe our brother Charlie is there now, delighting in the Savior he loved. And one day, all who trust in Christ will join him.
On that day, the Lord will restore the fortunes of His people. He will lift us from suffering into glory. He will bring us out of exile into a better Promised Land. Jesus Himself promised, “I go to prepare a place for you… and I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2–3). And John assures us in Revelation 21 that a new heaven and new earth are coming, where God will dwell with His people forever, every tear will be wiped away, death will be no more, and sin and folly will be gone forever. Christ will rid the world of fools, starting with the greatest fool of all, Satan.
That is our comfort when our soul is bruised or when we stand at the grave. Charlie Kirk is with Christ. And one day, we will be too. Until then, we hold fast to this:
The fool will perish. Jesus is our refuge. His return is our certain hope.
- - Psalm 14ESV
- - Genesis 6:11–13ESV
- - Romans 3:13–18ESV
- - Galatians 6:9–10ESV
Good And Gracious King

Psalm 27:4–5ESV

Psalm 27:13–14ESV

Atheism has no moral foundation to confront evil.

“Atheism removes any ultimate accountability, and with it the very foundation for objective morality. If there is no God, then good and evil are simply matters of personal taste.” Dr. John Lennox

The Corruption of Humanity (Psalm 14:1)

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

The Hostility of the World (Psalm 14:4)

“Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?”

The Refuge of God (Psalm 14:5–6)

The Hope of Zion (Psalm 14:7)

The fool will perish. Jesus is our refuge. His return is our certain hope.

Psalm 14ESV

Genesis 6:11–13ESV

Romans 3:13–18ESV

Galatians 6:9–10ESV