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, ...

3G Ministers in a 5G World

Introduction

I’m guessing that most of you probably own one of these (holding up a cell phone). It might even be fair to say that some of you are ...

God Takes Sin Seriously

Introduction

Has it taken you a long time to get where you are today? Maybe you’re in a good place in life right now, but it was a long road getting ...

Christmas Stories: A Mission Story

This sermon is part of the “Christmas Stories” sermon series. See the whole series here.

Introduction

(Read Jonah 3:1-4:1)

It was a dark, stormy ...

Why has the Lord Done this for Us?

Introduction

There are portions of the Scripture that teach truth propositionally. They directly state truth claims. You'll find that, for instance, ...

How to Look at People with God's Eyes

Introduction

You may remember that in Jonah 3 there was this great revival in Nineveh. And usually when there's revival there's also great joy in the place ...

The Surprise God's Mercy

Introduction

Imagine that you wake up at 2:00 in the morning, and you think to yourself, Is my life really pleasing to God? What would help you determine ...

Crime, Punishment, and Vindication

Introduction

A few years ago I got an unexpected phone call from an old college friend. She had given up a promising medical career to get married, put ...

New Eyes for New Life

Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 10:46-52, which we identify as the account of a young man who was blind named Bartimaeus. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem ...

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 ...

Defiled and Cleansed

Introduction

Today we're going to look at Numbers 5:1-10. This chapter is easy to outline because of the phrase that is repeated three times, in verses ...

The God Who Shines Like the Sun

Introduction

One Friday night I was getting in a little exercise. It was a rainy and cloudy day, but just around dusk, the sun came out for a short time. ...

The Kingdom of God Is Like

Introductory remarks from Mark Buchanan:

This sermon was the second-to-last sermon of an eight-week series on the kingdom of God. I wanted, with this sermon, ...

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 ...

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 ...

Desperate for God

Introductory remarks from John Ortberg:

I remember reading that when baseball great Ty Cobb was in a slump, he would battle it by resorting to bunting. ...

A Bleeding Hearts Club?

Introduction

Suppose someone were to describe you as "a bleeding heart?" How would you feel about that? That expression is often attached to ...

Annihilate the Amalekites

From the editor:

One of the chief hang-ups people have with God is the wrath he pours out in the Old Testament. How can a loving God call for the slaying ...

You Don't Know, Do You?

Introduction

A member of this congregation experienced a tragedy when her father was suddenly killed in an accident. He was driving home one Wednesday ...

Releasing Resentment

Text: John 21:15–22; 1 Corinthians 13:5
Topic: How we forgive those who hurt us

Introduction

It may have been King David's lowest moment: His son Absalom ...

Costly, Messy, Beautiful Obedience

Introduction

The key word in the title of this message is "obedience." When I did a Google search on obedience, the most popular sites fell into two categories: ...

The Grieving Heart of God

Introduction

On the first day teaching his class for 250 college freshmen, R. C. Sproul carefully explained the assignment of three term papers. Each paper ...

The First Extreme: Conformity

Introduction

We have already met Jonah, a scowling, spiteful little man in a chronic state of bellyache. The meaning of his name—"dove"—just ...

Understanding Providence

Introduction

A loyal person understands providence. In order to understand this, by way of contrast, consider our culture today. If there's one word that ...

Giving Thanks for God's Enduring Love

Introduction

I want you to imagine a special, highly festive event. Psalm 118 was written for such an occasion. It began with a blare of trumpets, the ...

Knowing and Loving God

Introduction

Have you noticed it's often very difficult to talk rationally and logically about the things that are most real to us? Great beauty, great ...

I Struggle With a Certain Sin Often. Will God Forgive Me?

Introduction

Here is today's question in the complete words of the person who submitted it: "I struggle with a certain sin often. Will God forgive me? ...

You Get What You Give

Introduction

On February 3, 1998, Karla Faye Tucker was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, TX, for her role in a 1984 double homicide. In the ...

Singing in the Cave

Introduction:

The psalmist is singing again. It's not exactly like singing in the rain, but it's kind of like singing in the rain, because he's in trouble ...

Radical Mercy

When I played football in high school, I realized that my size and ability would limit my chances of earning a "letter", so I decided to try out for ...

When Your Enemy Prospers

God spares Nineveh, and Jonah is angry. He said: God, I knew you'd do that. That's why I didn't go, because I know you're gracious and forgiving, and ...

High Pitch of Devotion

The story of David, the king of Israel, has ended. The ancient historian concludes it with one of David's psalms. It is fitting that he would do so. But ...

When Your Enemy Prospers

When Your Enemy Prospers

by Bruce Larson

God spares Nineveh, and Jonah is angry. He said: God, I knew you'd do that. That's why I didn't go, because I ...

Belonging and Becoming

The relentless creativity of God has affected my life in such a consistent manner that I'd like to share with you what I'm learning.

The plane I got on ...

Baptism: A Public Declaration of Dependence

I was driving into church and I put in a cassette tape of the song "Mercy Came Running." I arrived at the worship center and went up to my office, did ...