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. ...

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 Healing Power of No

Introduction

What is a two-letter word that we often don’t like to hear? It is a word you have probably used on your kids, maybe a word ...

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 ...

Return of the King

Introduction

When was the last time you couldn’t wait for something to happen? During the summer of 2020, my wife, Sierra, and I could not wait to ...

Count Your Blessings

Introduction

The Chamber of Commerce invited a pastor to offer the blessing at a banquet honoring elected officials. The master of ceremonies forgot to ...

Well, What Do You Know?

Introduction

"Well, what do you know?"

Knowledge plays a huge role in our Gospel reading today. The man born blind repeatedly admits, "I don't know." Where's ...

Panhandling for True Satisfaction

Introduction

Being asked for spare change by a person on the street corner can often make for an awkward situation. Do we look them in the eyes or do we ...

Heart Worm

Over these past weeks we've been looking together at some conditions of the human heart that obviously need help. When we meet somebody whose life is ...

Heart Throb

If you've picked up nothing else from our study over these past weeks, I hope you've absorbed this simple truth: the heart of God throbs for human hearts. ...

The Transforming Word

Introduction

It's been called the speech that changed America. I'm talking, of course, of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln ...

The Testimony of a Tax Collector

I want to begin reading at verse 1: "Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector, ...

It Doesn't Sting Anymore

Introduction

Tony Campolo, at the end of a sermon titled, "The Year of Jubilee," tells this story:

I went to my first black funeral when I was 16 years ...

When the Seeds Come Up

Introduction

Someone hearing for the first time that the dead will be raised—physically—from the grave could easily picture something from ...

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 ...

Summer

Introduction

I grew up in a small mining town in northern Canada, a place memorable for its hard, cruel winters. But on the first day of summer in 1975, ...

Spring

Introduction

I spent many early years in a northern mill town—a town with a heavy reputation. It's a place that made ice in winter and mud in summer, ...

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," ...

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 ...

Battered into Submission

Introduction

Not long ago, someone said to me, "I've never heard a sermon about violence in the home. I've never heard the preacher pray about it. I've ...

Don't Waste Your Cancer

Text: Various
Topic: How to respond to life-threatening circumstances

Editor's note: The richness of John Piper's theological reflection as it relates to ...

The Source of Celebration

Introduction

We love celebrations, don’t we? Celebrations are an important part of our lives. For example, we celebrate our birthdays, anniversaries, and ...

Myths That Make Us Miserable

How many of you were taught about the Tooth Fairy as a child? How many of you heard about Santa Claus? The Easter Bunny? Has anybody here been taught ...

Touch of Christ

I would like to begin by asking you to look at your hand for a moment. Maybe it has been a while since you have looked at it. Why don't you get reacquainted? ...

Year of Jubilee

When they asked Jesus why he had come, he told them over and over again that he'd come to declare the kingdom of God. All the things that he said were ...