What Christmas Love Always Does

From the editor:

Every year at Christmastime, news stations run video segments of crazy shoppers pushing and shoving each other to get their hands on the ...

If Jesus Lived in My Neighborhood

Introduction

Mark 10:35–45 offers several reasons why we should be servants in our community, in our work environment, and in the neighborhood in ...

The Use of Money

From the editor

From time to time, we like to feature a classic sermon from a celebrated preacher of old. Bill White, a frequent contributor to PreachingToday.com, ...

Buying Friends

Have you started your income taxes yet? I started working on mine this week. I pulled up my computer records and looked at my general spending categories. ...

The Sermon on the Amount

Introduction

I heard about a little girl who experienced a major breakthrough in her life when she learned to tie her own shoes. Instead of excitement, ...

Grace of Giving

When Paul addressed the matter of giving to the Corinthian church in his second letter to them, he did so with model tact. What he did is, he sited the ...

Givers and Takers

Introduction

My son is the assistant manager of a Potbelly's sandwich shop in the northern suburbs of Chicago. When you ask for a glass of water, most ...

What Do You Need to Be Happy?

Click here to listen to the audio.

The story behind the sermon (from Francis Chan)

This message is about being content. It comes out of Philippians ...

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 ...

More Better

Introduction

On my way to work this week, I had this peaceful time to think as I drove. Actually, I had even more time than usual, because I was kindly ...

Mind Your Own Business: What does the Bible say about savings and debt?

From the editor

If the prognosticators are right, the current economic crisis will probably stretch on into 2010. With that in mind, now might be a good ...

Regime Change

From the editor:

Here's a sermon by Kevin Miller that might inspire a few ideas for your own Palm Sunday sermon (April 5, 2009). As you read the sermon, ...

Take the Risk

From the editor:

As the country sinks further and further into a time of recession, financial issues will be weighing heavily on the minds of listeners. ...

The Flames of Heaven

Text: Revelation 21:1–3
Topic: What would happen if heaven crashed into earth

Introduction

In Revelation 21:1–3, John gives us a glimpse—a ...

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 Crop Is A Crop

Introduction

We've been considering what it means to be jars of clay—ordinary, fragile people living in a difficult and dangerous world. The message ...

You Can't Fool the Lord

Introduction

One of the ministers at this church the television show 24 because of the things that Jack Bauer never has to do: eat, charge his cell phone, ...

How Should a Pastor Think About His People's Giving?

Introduction

When I mentioned the title of this sermon to a group of pastors at our monthly denominational meeting, it elicited considerable response. ...

The Blazing Fastball That Gives Us Confidence

Introduction

On July 15, 1986, Roger Clemens came to bat in his first Major League Baseball All-Star game. Roger was the sizzling right-handed pitcher ...

A Lifestyle Inventory

Introduction

I want to tell you exactly how to live your life and spend your money. I know I have your attention now, because when we talk about money, ...

Stewards of Just-Us or Justice?

I graduated from college over 20 years ago now. As communication majors, one of the things we learned is that people respond to positive messages and ...

Stewards of Just-Us or Justice

Text: Malachi 2:17–3:5
Topic: What Christians should do about social justice

Introduction

I graduated from college over 20 years ago. As communication ...

Treasury Notes in Heaven

Text: Matthew 6:19–21
Topic: Why storing your treasures in heaven is better than storing treasures on Earth

Introduction

Our son-in-law, Keith, works ...

How To Gain a New Perspective on Money

Introduction:

Leadership experts like John Maxwell, Warren Bennis, and Jack Welch, along with social psychologists, agree that when it comes to change, ...

Finding Financial Freedom

We're talking this winter about living a life that counts. When all is said and done, we want our days and our dollars to add up to something worthwhile, ...

Tithes, Offerings, and Thieves

So, how do you feel when the offering basket comes around? Pressured? Guilty? Confused? Grateful? How do you feel when the pastor announces a series on ...

Living In the Zone

When the New England Patriots take the field this evening, they want to be "in the zone." The zone is a state of being in which an athlete is performing ...

A Sad Man Walking

I was out for a run a week ago or so. It was one of the first warm days after the big snow. As I made my way through one of the neighborhoods, I came ...

Christmas Compassion: How to Give Christmas Gifts All Year Long

It's commonly accepted that people should be compassionate during the Christmas season, and it's a sociological fact that they are. People tend to do ...

Living in a Material World

A man living in Southern California was on his way to work one morning in his brand new BMW. Suddenly, the "Big One" hit: the earth began to tremble ...

Being a Giver

Today we are beginning a new series entitled "How To Make A Difference." This is something we can all relate to—everyone wants their life to make ...

Becoming a Giver

Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got till it's gone...

Do you remember that song? "Big Yellow Taxi." Joni Mitchell. 1969. I'm ...

Spending Time

I happened to catch a song on the radio a few months ago called "100 Years," by a group named Five for Fighting. It was the tune that caught my attention ...

Let's Talk About Money

Do you realize Jesus had a lot to say about money? He talks very bluntly about money. He talks very bluntly about things. One day a fellow came to him ...

Great People Do for Others

In the recent NCAA basketball Final Four playoffs here at Dallas, I was interested in the statement made by one of the coaches prior to the game. He was ...

Down the Up Staircase

Retelling the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

The man owed a whole lot of money. Surely he wasn't surprised when he was summoned to the inner chambers ...

Real Giving

When it seemed as if every home in our community were getting an answering machine, Deb and I would affirm our mutual dislike for those machines and our ...

Giving and Growing

History tells us that revivals do not happen because the schedule calls for one. Revivals happen because people are in a frame of mind and spirit to receive ...

Wise Up About Money

The shock disk jockey, Howard Stern, is probably most well known for his vulgar and crude antics on his radio and television shows. In fact, at last count, ...

Stealing From God

When we put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we enter a love relationship with him. It's a sacred romance. It's not just a working relationship. ...