The Spiritual Disciplines You Didn't Choose

Introduction

There are two kinds of spiritual disciplines but today I want to talk about the kind that we understand less and that we struggle with more. ...

God's Eraser

Introduction

I have a friend who has a great saying. He says, "Make your plans in pencil because God has a big eraser." That's great wisdom. I used to ...

To Live Is Christ, and to Die Is Gain

Introduction

I don't like it when people take Bible verses out of context and slap them on coffee mugs, put them on bookmarks, put them on bumper stickers. ...

A Christian's Happiness

Introduction

If you're a Christian, you know that Christianity is supposed to be about joy. You probably also know that you're supposed to experience ...

The Whats and the Why of Worship

Introduction

What does God want? What would please him? Did you ever ask those questions about worship? If I only knew, I would do it. If I only knew what ...

Regaining Lost Joy

Introduction

I remember talking to a girl here in this church two or three years ago. She said, "Jill, I've lost my joy, I've lost my peace, ...

The Eyes of a Doctor

From the editor:

Here's a sermon from Donald Sunukjian on what we ought to do when we encounter someone who has yet to know God. We've mentioned before ...

How to Glorify God When We Disagree

The story behind the sermon (from Steve Mathewson)

A sermon series on the Book of Romans brought me to this text. The first challenge I faced was the sheer ...

Pragmatism

Introduction

We have built in us the desire to see things work, and we are an inventive people. That's in part a by-product of living in our American culture. ...

Happiness

Introduction

Peggy Noonan currently writes for the Wall Street Journal. She was at one time the speechwriter for Dan Rather for his radio program, as well ...

Affluenza

Introduction

The next time you get a chance to go to the public library, check out the book A Material World. A photographer went around the world and ...

Consumerism

Introduction

Paul Anka penned a song back in 1968 that was made famous by Frank Sinatra: "I'll Do It My Way." It became his signature song and rose as ...

Relativism

Introduction

Lately, I've been monitoring the gas pump—carefully. I know how many gallons will fit in my tank, so when I go to fill it up at $3 and ...

At Ease in Athens

Introduction

I was reading an article from Newsweek recently: "In Search of the Spiritual." Apparently, the religious website Beliefnet sends out more ...

From Exclusion to Embrace

The Story Behind the Sermon

This year (2009) we have been preaching through the Gospel of Luke. As the preaching schedule was being put together, it just ...

The Joy Network

Introduction

Several years ago a German researcher studied a thousand churches of every size and denomination all over the world. His goal was to identify ...

Courage

Introductory remarks from Mark Buchanan:

"Courage" was the third week in a 10-week series on Philippians entitled I Can Do Everything: Paul, Jesus, the ...

Openness

Introduction

I don't know many people who want to come to the end of their lives and say, "I never made an impact on anything or anyone?but I'm okay with ...

When You Really Want to Quit

From the editor

We all struggle with the reality that sometimes bad things happen to good people. Adding to our inner turmoil is the reality that sometimes ...

Simeon: A Song of Hope

Introduction

In the 1960s, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted a famous experiment that has come to be known as "The Marshmallow Test." Groups of 4-years ...

Mary: A Song of Trust

Introduction

A lot of people travel at Christmas. During this time of the year, many of us would like to be with family to celebrate, so we load up the ...

Angels: A Song of Peace

Introduction

We've been looking at Christmas songs preserved for us in Scripture. Some, like Zechariah's song last week, are completely foreign to most ...

Zechariah: A Song of Faith

Introduction

As familiar as we are with the songs of Christmas, there are four songs recorded in the Bible sung by people surrounding the birth of Jesus ...

Our Hungry Hearts

Introduction

Have you ever used an image to help motivate you? To help you clarify what and who you want to become? An image can be an object or can come ...

In God We Trust (Though We'd Rather Pay Cash)

Introduction

Have you ever felt really anxious and stressed? If I don't accept this offer, then …. If my child doesn't get into the right ...

The Heartbreak Gospel

Introduction

Last week we began our study of the Beatitudes: Jesus' intriguing list of people who are blessed and well-off. Suppose we were to come ...

The Christian's Happiness

Text: Romans 8:28–30
Topic: Our joy can be constant no matter our life circumstances.

From the editor

Romans 8 is such a beloved, oft-quoted section ...

Stop Witnessing, Start Working

Introduction

A few months ago, I came across an article in The Boston Globe about religion in the workplace. The columnist, who is one of the few Jewish ...

Good to Great

Introduction

Suppose someone were to show up at your workplace tomorrow, shove a microphone in your face, and ask, "How do you think your work affects ...

The Job

Introduction

One of the most talked-about shows on television today is called, The Office. The Office gives us a glimpse into the cubicles and consciousness ...

Secrets of Financial Contentment

Introduction

When I was a kid, my dad told me two stories all the time.

In the first one, a couple goes to Harvard University and asks to see the president, ...

A Strange Résumé

Introduction

It's the most dreaded question of the job interview, and when the time comes, you can't seem to push the words out of your mouth. "Tell me," ...

Beyond Comfort

Introduction

Where do you turn for comfort when you encounter loss, pain, or disappointment? Some people turn to food. For some reason, certain foods—like ...

Unbreakable?

Introduction

M. Night Shyamalan's film Unbreakable begins with a train wreck. Everyone on board is killed—over a hundred people—except for ...

Lessons from Lepers

Introduction

We often look at thanksgiving backwards. We think of thanksgiving as thanking God for something that has happened to us already. The real ...

Doubts in Belief

Introduction

I once participated in a very interesting conversation. A group of sixteen evangelical pastors, who believed the Bible and had good ministries, ...

How to Live Beyond Yourself

Introduction

I don't know if you are like me, but I imagine you are. I imagine there are times in which you feel boxed in by life; not only by what others ...

Sense Out of Nonsense

Text: Luke 24:1–11
Topic: How to make sense of chaos and suffering

Introduction

Ancient sailors puzzled over why some of their colleagues who sailed ...

It's All About You, Lord

Introduction

A poet once complained to a friend, "Life's not fair. A banker can write a bad poem, and nobody says anything about it. But if a poet writes ...

The Lord Is My Shepherd

Introduction

I don't know much about sheep. I was born and raised in the suburbs, and we didn't have sheep. In fact, they were probably illegal. ...

Worship or Worry?

Introduction

There's an old Greek proverb that says, "The bow that is always bent will soon break." What that proverb seems to be implying is that the ...

The Story of Our Broken World

Introduction

When I was about ten years old, my dad, a medical doctor, received a special gift from one of his patients: a beautiful globe with shiny sequins. ...

Pledging Love

Introduction

We have been learning how to deal with difficult people from the story of Saul and David. Today we come to the central theme of the whole ...

Showing Grace

Introduction

We are taking four Sundays to consider the subject of loyalty and what it takes to keep faith in a broken world. Our particular emphasis in ...

Speaking Truth

Introduction

For the next few weeks, we're following the story of Saul and David in First Samuel. We discovered last week that he is one of these characters ...

Understanding Providence

Introduction

A loyal person understands providence. In order to understand this, by way of contrast, consider our culture today. If there's one word that ...

You Don't Have to Be Good to Come to Christ

Introduction

The description of the early church that is found in the opening chapters of the Book of Acts almost sounds like paradise revisited. Two events ...

Back to Reality

Introduction

Do you know what it is like to have a mountaintop experience and then come down hard when necessity forces you to get back to reality? Maybe ...

Public Performance Is Easier than Private Devotion

Introduction

If you are just joining us, this is the third week in a six-week series entitled "Adventures in Missing the Point." We have been learning ...

Tradition Becomes More Attractive than Truth

Introduction

According to Merriam-Webster, tradition is "the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one ...