Understanding Depression: A Biblical, Personal, and Therapeutic Narrative

Introduction

I want to begin with an expression of deep sympathy to the parents of Evan Cheung, Andrew and Julia Cheung, and his sister Ashley. ...

Pay Attention

Introduction

One time, my family and I went to a restaurant. As per usual, I was off in my own little world while my family grabbed their food and sat ...

Don’t Fall Away!

Introduction

A survey from Barna shows a large percentage of churchgoers have “stopped engaging.”[1] One leader here in Manchester told me ...

The Unbelieving Heart

Introduction

The Book of Hebrews is written as an extended exhortation to Jewish believers not to go back into the law, not to fall into the air ...

Why Jesus at All?

Introduction

I want to begin by asking a question: Is Jesus Really God? Now, I’m going to answer that question, but I want to take a few ...

Our Journey with God

Introduction

“Life’s a journey, not a destination,” Steven Tyler sang in the rock band Aerosmith’s 1993 song, “Amazing.” ...

Growing in Wisdom

This sermon is part of the “More Than a Holiday” sermon series. See the whole series here.

Introduction

I’m excited to kick off our Advent ...

Courage to Sacrifice

Introduction

I have to say on a Sunday when I get to kick off a new study, it does feel a little bit like Christmas morning and I finally get to open that ...

Growing Together

Introduction

Today, we're going to continue with our series called "Forever Luke." I know that for some of you, it feels like we've been ...

Keyholders

Introduction

Across from the residence where I lived in college stood a mysterious building known as Scroll and Key. This great stone-clad mausoleum was ...

When It Is Okay to Judge

Introduction

"When It Is Okay to Judge" is not the most inviting sermon title. For many of us, the mere mention of the word "judge"—especially in ...

The Blessing, the Curse, the Calling

Introduction

How many hours in a day? 24. Let's break a 24-hour day down. First off, the average human sleeps how many hours a night? Not counting ...

The Good of Our Work

Introduction

When you read the word, "job" what comes to mind? You might think, "I'm glad tomorrow's a holiday!" Still others think, "Boy, am I glad I ...

Beyond Sympathy to Solidarity

Introduction

In the immediate aftermath of the tragic shooting of nine persons at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, the sympathy of ...

The Way of Embrace

Introduction

A few months ago something strange happened on an airplane bound for Los Angeles. The actress Amy Adams was shooting a new film in Detroit ...

Personal Transformation

Introduction

Today we are asking the question what does it mean to be whole people in the presence of others. What does it mean to be shaped into wholeness, ...

Vampire Churches

Introduction

In 1998, author Anne Rice shocked readers and the publishing world when she announced she would never write another vampire book again. She ...

A Church Full of Characters

Introduction

I'm sure you'd agree with the fact that the church is full of characters. When we say someone is a "character" we usually mean in some way ...

Rethinking the Great Commission

Introduction

We believe in our community that the gospel is the account of God coming to dwell in the midst of his people, so we read the gospel lesson ...

Family Matters

Introduction

Colin Smith suggests a number of common, but faulty, metaphors for the church. He says the church can be viewed as a gas station—a place ...

When the Spirit Comes with Power

Introduction

Acts 2 brings us to an event that most of us are relatively familiar with—Pentecost. The drama we are dealing with here in these verses ...

Finding Joy in Our Differences

Introduction

In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded the little nation of Kuwait. Saudi Arabia, knowing it would be next on Saddam's hit list, called Washington ...

Passing Judgment

Introduction

There is a new John 3:16. The old John 3:16 was John 3:16. That was the verse that everyone knew, the verse that was familiar to all, the ...

You Were Created to Connect

Introduction

I have been the senior pastor at Christ Church for nearly eight years, and the theme I hope you've heard over and over in my preaching is ...

A Heart for Service

Introduction

Once upon a time there was a wonderful church that suddenly found itself in trouble. After an exciting season of growth, things just didn't ...

The Shared Life

Introduction

For the last few weeks, we've been turning to the Book of Acts, the place where we hear about the stories of the early church, to learn something ...

Love in Spite of Differences

Every sailor could agree on one fact. Had it not been for the captain, they never would have survived. The storm came suddenly, and in a matter of moments ...

The Ultimate Community

Introduction

The story is told of three men, all in the New Testament, who were born blind but who had been healed miraculously by Jesus. These men heard ...

Messiah's Community

Introduction

Years ago a small-town newspaper carried a letter sent in by one of its subscribers. She had gotten a thank-you note from her grandson after ...

Christian Singles

Introduction

Currently 17 to 20 million unmarried women and several million fewer unmarried men live in the United States. It's estimated that, at ...

Release Resentment

Introduction

It may have been King David's lowest moment. His son Absalom was leading a revolution against him. Absalom was a charmer and had convinced ...

When the Roll Is Called Down Here

Introduction

I hope you will not feel guilty if your heart was not all aflutter during the reading of the text. It's not very interesting. It's ...

Life Together

Introduction

The first week we moved into the small town where I served as pastor, my wife Jane and I decided to take a walk down Main Street. We immediately ...

Love Does Not Boast

From the editor:

Over the next few months, PreachingToday.com is going to run an entire transcript series from Haddon Robinson on 1 Corinthians 13. The ...

The Discipline of Communal Examination

From the editor

Next week we start to roll out all of our new Easter sermons, but seeing as many congregations have just begun observing the Lenten season, ...

Learning from Tiger Woods

From the editor

In late November 2009, a series of events led to a bevy of stories about infidelities on the part of golf's greatest player, Tiger ...

Two Bad Examples

Click here to listen to the audio.

The story behind the sermon (from Mark Buchanan)

This sermon came near the end of a 10-week series on the letter to the ...

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 Neighbors Are Nuts

Introduction

When I was a kid, my parents used to drag me out to church on Sundays. I'd walk into this big building in a shirt and shoes that seemed too ...

You Can Count on Me

Introduction

On Dec 5, 1914, Ernest Shackleton embarked on what he called "the last great polar expedition." His goal was to cross Antarctica by dogsled—an ...

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 ...

Gentleness

Introduction

This is the seventh week we've been growing through our study of the fruit of the Spirit. This week we're going to look at gentleness. You ...

Here Is the Love

Introductory remarks from Bryan Wilkerson:

Each year we choose a ministry focus for the church year, which we introduce in September and address from the ...

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Introduction

The troops the United Nations deployed to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan look like they could be soldiers from just about any nation. ...

Rebuilding the Walls

Introduction

In the countryside near Leicester, England, there stands an ancient church whose walls are inscribed with an eloquent memorial. The inscription ...

United

Introductory remarks from Mark Buchanan:

This sermon fell mid-way through a seven-part series on Ephesians, entitled "A Church for the World: Paul's Letter ...

Moving Towards Reconciliation

Introduction

Victor Hugo's novel, Les Miserables, is a story about Jean Valjean, who was sentenced to a nineteen-year prison term for stealing a loaf of ...

Calling on Family Support

Introduction

A mother entered her daughter's bedroom one afternoon and saw a letter on the bed. With trembling hands, she read:

Dear Mom, It is with much ...

Brokers of Truth and Love

From the editor

We would probably all agree that conflict resolution is necessary, but incredibly tricky. Emotions trump reason, stubborn loyalties trump ...

The Real Scoop on the Lord's Supper

Text: 1 Corinthians 11:17–34
Topic: How to approach the Lord's Supper in a worthy manner

From the editor

When was the last time you preached about the ...