The Struggle with Anxiety

Introduction

We have either heard or experienced a version of this kind of story. Someone feels so greatly plagued by a worry or anxiety that it’s ...

A Distraught Dad, His Demonized Boy, and a Faith that Moves Mountains

Author’s Introduction: If Mark 9:30-50 defies interpretation, as commentator Eugene Boring claims, the verses that immediately precede are only ...

The ‘Fear Nots’ of Christmas

Introduction

The rock star Sting, in a Rolling Stone interview, spoke of his growing awareness of his own mortality: "I'm 64. Most of my life ...

You Have the Words of Eternal Life

Introduction

One of the great joys of my life to officiate weddings. Sure, there is a lot of pressure to get things right, but one aspect I love ...

Did God Command Genocide?

Introduction

(Read Joshua 10:38-42; 15:13-15)

Note: I acknowledge with gratitude my debt to the scholarship of William J. Webb and Gordon K. Oeste, in their ...

Ears to Hear

Introduction

When I was growing up, Revelation was intimidating, confusing, a little terrifying. It seems like there are plenty of people offering to help ...

The Sudden Turn of Joy

Introduction

It’s a wonderful day and I’m really honored to be preaching on the first Sunday of the New Year it’s a great joy. I have ...

Lose It All to Gain It All

Introduction

What are we willing to do to gain something of value? Well, you may respond that it depends on what it is. In so many realms of our lives, ...

Be Strong and Courageous

Introduction

Can one person make a difference? Can one person change the direction of an entire family tree? Can one person stand up in the face of fear, ...

Worthy of Worship

Introduction

How many of us have had the thought that if we had this one particular thing, then our life would be better than it is now? I can remember ...

Fake Faith

Introduction

In a now famous experiment, two social psychologists at Princeton University in 1973 wanted to examine whether thinking religious thoughts ...

Tests Into Treasure

Introduction

Ian Barclay wrote that in 1588 terrible storms lashed across the Orkney Isles. A Christian fisherman wrote that as he saw his home, his boat, ...

Tiny Things in Terrible Times

The virus that changed your life is a 1.25 Nanometer sphere. That is one-billionth of a yardstick, tiny but traumatic. For decades you worried about something ...

Christians and the Coronavirus

INTRODUCTION

I want to speak to you today about the virus that is currently and quickly changing the landscape of our world. More specifically, I want ...

Believing Is Seeing

Introduction

As our tour comes to an end, we will watch one more story featuring an important discussion between Jesus and Thomas, the disciple who doubted. ...

Jesus: A Power Greater than the Angels

Introduction

The focus of the Book of Hebrews is perseverance. It’s about finding strength to press on in the faith when things get difficult. Our ...

'Shipwrecked!'

Introduction

There’s a little acronym that’s become common in managerial circles—VUCA, which stands for “Volatility, Uncertainty, ...

'A Politician, a Lawyer, and a Jew'

Introduction

James Emery White tells a story about his visit to The Eagle and Child pub in Great Britain, the place where C. S. Lewis and his friends used ...

Building Up Your Faith

Introduction

The Book of Hebrews is about Christians persevering in faith. It’s about understanding all that Jesus accomplished and walking by faith ...

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 ...

The Test

Introduction

Elie Wiesel, the great Jewish writer known best for his writing about the Holocaust, wrote many other things as well, including Messengers ...

Girl Interrupted: The Unmistakable Strength of Mary

Introduction

I never know what to do with Mary. I'm in good company: The archives of history and the echoes of ancient sermons never quite knew what ...

How Can I Enjoy Christmas?

Introduction

Christmas can be so chaotic, can't it? I mean, this whole season can be such a disconnect between what we expect and what we end up experiencing. ...

What Do I Do with My Heartache at Christmas?

Introduction

During this Christmas season, we're talking about the "Real Questions of Christmas"—because we all enter into every Christmas season ...

How Do I Escape the Christmas Traps?

Introduction

Advent is about enjoying and admiring Jesus. It's a season we observe each year at this time, during which we endeavor to do something intentional: ...

Faith in the Storm

Introduction

We are in Mark's gospel, at the end of Mark 4, and let me remind us all of the context. Mark is writing to a group of believers who are ...

When Good Things Happen to Bad People

Introduction

One of the strangest lawsuits in US court history was filed on September 14, 2007. Nebraska Senator Ernie Chambers—one of the first ...

More Than Meets the Eye

Introduction

Life is really about perspective. Last night, my wife went to a concert in Dallas with some friends and family. I got home, and my son was ...

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 ...

The Death of Death

Introduction

There are moments in time when all of a sudden something happens and everything changes. There are so many examples of this that it's almost ...

Resurrection Realities

Introduction

Concerned with the quantity of church growth and the quality of church life confronts us on every hand. We are barraged at conferences with ...

Last One Standing

Introduction

I'll tell you the best news you will ever hear: "The righteous shall live by faith!" So why doesn't hearing that evoke the response of other ...

There Must Be Some Mistake

Introduction

Do you know who TIME magazine's Person of the Year was for 2011? The Protester. Protesters were the big story in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, ...

Preparing for the Gift

Introduction

December is a month that raises all kinds of feelings for us. Some really look forward to this time. For others there are things that we dread ...

Stay Strong in the Lord

Introduction

I think the older I get the more intense I get about this, because I feel like we do things backwards in the Christian church. A lot of times ...

The World's Greatest Talk: Choices

Introductory Remarks from John Ortberg

This message was designed to do one thing: challenge people to decide to follow Jesus wholeheartedly.

Part of ...

The Power of Spiritual Deception

Introduction

Jim Jones was the founder of the People's Temple. More than 900 of Jim Jones' followers died in a cult murder/suicide in 1978 in Jonestown, ...

Authentic Faith

Introduction

In this series, we're going to be looking at 1 and 2 Thessalonians. These letters will emphasize two perspectives: They put a laser focus ...

Broken but Chosen

Introduction

It took Michelangelo four years to craft his statue of David. It is 13-feet tall. He used flawed marble. We know the exact quarry the marble ...

Broken but Bold

Introduction

We all are going to face giants. We all are going to be on battlefields where we will face things bigger than we are, things we cannot defeat ...

Faith Alone

True North Backstory

One reason I enjoyed preaching the sermons in this series was the contrast between a "head" message and a "heart" ...

A Tale of Two Women

Introduction

In the days when the judges ruled over the land of Judah there came a famine to the land. So a man from Bethlehem together with his wife and ...

Drafting Buddies

Introduction

Sam and Frodo find themselves on the final leg of their journey on the slopes of Mordor, but Frodo is losing heart. He's just about out of ...

Testing the Limits

Introduction

For the past couple of weeks we've been talking about friendship. And what we're learning is that our friendships play an important role in ...

BFFs

Introduction

There's a famous speech in Shakespeare's play Henry V. It's the night before the battle of Agincourt. As a young king, Henry prepares to lead ...

Beyond Friends

Introduction

Where are you on your spiritual journey? And what would help you take the next step?

A couple of years ago we joined hundreds of churches across ...

True Friends

Introduction

Last week I tossed out a question and invited you to respond: is it possible to be spiritual friends with a non-believer? For the past six ...

God Will Bring Justice for You

Introduction

When the Scripture was read, you may have thought, This is a strange message for a weekend when we are welcoming large numbers of first-time ...

He Who Must Be Obeyed

Introduction

It was probably 20 years ago; I was sound asleep one night when the phone rang. I grabbed blindly for the receiver, clattering on the phone ...

Now You See Him, Now You Don't

Introduction

It's amazing the places where people think they see Jesus. I found all these pictures on the internet of Jesus sightings: on a banana peel, ...