We Are Forgetful People

Introduction

We can be pretty forgetful people at times. A few months ago, I drove off with the gas pump still placed in my car. Just this week, I forgot ...

Enduring Hardship Faithfully

Introduction

Life is hard and full of uncertainties. You don't always know what will get you. You just know something will: coronavirus, unemployment, ...

A Model Mother

Introduction

A wise man once described a mother as a woman who combines the practical and the spiritual into a way of life. “A mother wipes little ...

The Giant of Disappointment

In the musical version of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, the character Fantine sings a sorrowful song about disappointment called “I ...

What Is Success?

Introduction

What is success?

Here in 2019, this has become a difficult question to answer. It seems every week we hear stories of people who climbed to ...

The Lord Needs It

Introduction

As we started tonight, you helped reenact one of the biggest moments in the life of Jesus, which was when he enters Jerusalem, which was the ...

Surviving Today's Opposition

Introduction

Several years ago, Woody Allen began a commencement address with this observation: "More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. ...

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 ...

Lessons after 26 Years of Planting Seeds

Introduction

Today is my final message as the senior pastor at New Life Fellowship. You'll hear other messages from me but not as senior pastor. I've ...

It’s Good to Get Out Alive

The tourist brochure said that you can catch the bus to Yosemite Lodge up to Glacier Peak. When you get there, you can stand on the rock where a hundred ...

Rebels Have More Fun, for Now

Introduction

Everyone knows rebels have more fun: from "The Music Man" to "Footloose," which was the hip teen movie of my teenage years, to "True Blood"; ...

God's Stolen Identity

Introduction

Identity theft is one of the most rampant crimes sweeping across America. A thief steals someone's Social Security number and personal information ...

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 ...

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 ...

The Church at War

Introduction

If you have a Bible, and I hope you do, I invite you to open with me to 1 Timothy 6, as we prepare to finish out tonight our journey through ...

Running with Endurance

Introduction

Hebrew chapter 12, verses 1, 2, and 3 is the focus today. Let's read the Word of the Lord:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses ...

Hanging on When You Feel Like Giving Up

Introduction

Helen Hayes, a stage actress of another decade, was talking about charm when she said, "Charm is that thing which, if you have it, you don't ...

Blessed Forever

Introduction

In his book Leaving Home, Garrison Keillor tells a fictional story about a family from Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. Grace Tollefson married Alex ...

We Can Do This the Easy Way or the Hard Way

Introduction

For most of my time in college, I attended a small church in Chicago with my now wife, Jamie. The pastor of this church had been commissioned ...

Take Me to Your Leader

Let's look at today's text together:

Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount ...

Danger! Worship in Progress

My hometown, Britton, South Dakota, celebrated its 125th anniversary last weekend on the 4th of July. The population sign on the edge of town says 1,328, ...

Deep Walk

A real Christian?

How do you know if someone's a real Christian? Is it the fish sticker on the car, or Bible on the desk? Is it that they don't use bad ...

The Undefiled

When I was in seminary, the wife of one of my classmates worked as a quality control inspector at a pharmaceutical company downtown in order to support ...

When the Bottom Falls Out

I remember the events that led to her tears. My wife, Kathy, had come home from a weekly grocery trip with more than groceries to be concerned about. ...

Faith in the Furnace

How do you win the World Series? A few decades ago, when the New York Mets were the underdog darlings of the National League, two young pitchers told ...

Looking Up to Heaven

A shattered Colossus

The poet Percy Bysshe Shelly tells of meeting a traveler from an "antique" land who describes the ruins of a great statue in the desert. ...

The Judgment of Grace

Chapter five of Daniel addresses the question of what would happen if you gave a party, and God crashed it. Nebuchadnezzar was no longer on the throne. ...

The Song of a Broom

Sunday school pictures of a ruddy faced lad in a lions' den have scant resemblance to the actual situation described in this sixth and last chapter of ...

The Scarlet Letter

Introduction

Today we're continuing to look at the Ten Commandments. We've seen that this isn't easy material. These commands are anything but sugarcoated. ...

God Only

Introduction

This morning we're beginning a series on the Ten Commandments. These are familiar to just about everybody. Well, sort of. I heard about a ...

Looking in the Mirror

From the editor

Mother's Day is this Sunday (May 10), and should you decide to offer a message for the occasion, you might get a few general ideas from ...

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, ...

Jesus and John - Together to Trust

Introduction

The year was 155 AD and the place was Smyrna, in the Roman province of Asia. There was a new wave of persecution that was sweeping against ...

Joseph Stowell Charge

Introduction

Leadership is not optional; it is essential. It is the one ingredient essential for the success of any institution. But leaders are quickly ...

Who's the Boss?

Story behind the sermon (from Lee Eclov)

I wonder if people aren't a little suspicious when we preach about work. When we say that all work is a calling, ...

Why Worry?

Introduction

We're probably all familiar with the story of Howard Hughes. Hughes was a big-time businessman who dabbled in oil, entertainment, and ...

Who Can We Trust?

From the editor:

Here is another sermon from one of our featured preachers, David Anderson. Anderson uses the story of Samson and Delilah to explore issues ...

The ABCs of Praise

Introduction

This is a Psalm that begins with a commitment that on the surface seems rather simple: "I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise ...

When Love Fails

From the editor

Given that Valentine's Day is this coming Sunday, many of you will probably be addressing themes like love, relationships, dating, and ...

Life After Victory

Introduction

Early in his career, the great American playwright Eugene O'Neill wrote an imaginative play called "Lazarus Laughed" about Lazarus's life ...

And Grace Will Lead Me Home

Introduction

What would you say if you knew you were going to die and had a chance to sum up everything that was most important to you? That's how the ...

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 ...

Blessed Are the Persecuted

Introduction

Imagine you are in the market for a new car. You visit the dealer and the salesman who is showing you the latest model takes you for a test ...

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. ...

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

Introduction

Through the centuries there have been some people who have wanted to view Jesus' teaching in the Beatitudes as a kind of ladder that can carry ...

Blessed Are the Merciful

Introduction

Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg entered the diplomatic service and was appointed foreign minister of Austria in November 1848. After the Hungarian ...

Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Introduction

A businessman decided to throw a party for some of his clients, and because he was doing so well, he spared no expense. He hired the most ...

Blessed Are the Meek

Introduction

Suppose the company you work for were to write a description of the ideal person to be its new CEO. Do you think meekness would be on the ...