God’s Presence, God’s Promises

Introduction

There’s no title it just says, Of David. We don’t know for sure, unlike some of the psalms, the situation at the time ...

Christmas Promises

Introduction

Promises, promises, promises. A lot of people make promises. Some actually keep them. But when it comes to God, he always keeps his promises, ...

R-Rated: Genocide and Jericho

Introduction

I think if you're at all human, there are tensions that come up. The idea of genocide, or of this powerful people massacring innocents, ...

What Kind of Heart Does God Desire?

Introduction

David is often described as "a man after God's own heart." That is how Samuel described him at the point that he was going to be anointed ...

What Child Is This?

Introduction

I want to wish you a very blessed and Merry Christmas.

We just finished singing "What Child Is This?" and I think it's an appropriate ...

Praying While Running

Editor's Note: Throughout this document Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs has provided a running commentary on his sermon. It's an invaluable guide for how ...

Meditation for a Fallen Police Officer

Editor's Note: In the early morning hours of Christmas Eve 2012, police officer Jennifer Sebena was gunned down while on patrol. She was killed by ...

The Big Picture of God's Faithfulness

Introduction

A few years ago there was an ad on TV that started like this: There was a woman sitting in a car. She's minding her own business, and suddenly ...

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 ...

Amazing Faith

Story behind the sermon (from Steve Mathewson)

Every so often, a particular sermon stirs a congregation—and their pastor!—in stronger ways ...

Deep Hope

The person I want to be

We never stop longing to be better people, do we? There's always some aspect of our behavior or personality that we wish we could ...

Flood of Judgment, Flood of Grace

There's a song children learn in church about Noah's ark and the flood. It goes something like this:

The Lord said to Noah, "There's going to be a floody, ...

Waiting for the Fullness of Time

Introduction

Last Saturday I wrote these words:

I'm at the airport—waiting. I arrived at 7:15 A.M. It's now 9:40. My 8:38 flight was canceled ...

The Dark Side of Grace

Introduction

In the structure of John's gospel, John 11 serves as a hinge between two halves. The first 10 chapters are concerned with the ministry of ...

Encounter on Golgotha Road

From the editor:

We recently posted an Easter message by John Ortberg, because the themes like atonement, the Cross, resurrection, etc. are never out of ...

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 ...

A New Philadelphia

Introduction

There is something in a name. My name is Mike. Actually, Michael's not my first name; my first name is Jerry. I'm Jerry Michael Breaux. On ...

The Shortest Distance Between Two Points is a Zig Zag

Early in geometry we learned that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That means if I'm at point A and want to get to point ...

In the House of the Lord

Introduction

The start of the Christmas season seems like an inappropriate time to talk about Psalm 23, sheep, and shepherds. But when you open the Bible, ...

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 ...

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 ...

Avoiding Foolishness

Introduction

In the early 1980s a very wealthy Swiss couple started acting like mutual fools. It all began when the husband cancelled a vacation. The wife ...

God's Protection and Delight

The Power of Hope

Introduction

In this Advent season, we are looking at the theme of God's promise of better days for our lives. That is the hope of Advent and Christmas: ...

The Peace Jesus Brings

Introduction

In this Advent season, we are looking at the theme of God's promise of better days for our lives. That is the hope of Advent and Christmas, ...

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 ...

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Introduction

"No one ever told me that grief felt so much like fear." That is how C. S. Lewis begins his book A Grief Observed, a compelling account of ...

Less is More, More or Less

Introduction

A few months ago my two teenage sons came to me and asked if they could go camping for a week … on Lower Wacker Drive in the city of ...

Focus

Introduction

There's good news and bad news about our gospel passage. First the bad news: this is one of the most difficult, disturbing, and surprising ...

Big God/Little God

Introduction

When our first child was quite small, we used to ask her, "Laura, how big are you?" She wasn't even a year old—couldn't even hardly ...

Simeon: A Song of Hope

Introduction

In the 1960s, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted a famous experiment that has come to be known as "The Marshmallow Test." Groups of 4-years ...

Angels: A Song of Peace

Introduction

We've been looking at Christmas songs preserved for us in Scripture. Some, like Zechariah's song last week, are completely foreign to most ...

Solomon's Wish

Introduction

If you could wish for anything in the world, what would it be? Some people wish they had different abilities. Others wish for a change in ...

Putting the Kingdom First

Introduction

In an article entitled "A new kind of urban Christian," Tim Keller argues that "Christians should be a dynamic counterculture. ...

David's Last Words

Introduction

A life is a terrible thing to waste. In his life saving book, Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper recounts a story his father often told in ...

Long Live the King!

Introduction

According to ancient custom, the death of a ruler is greeted with the following words: "The king is dead; long live the king!" This may seem ...

A Royal Conspiracy

Introduction

The right to rule as king has been the occasion of many bitter conflicts. Often brother has fought against brother to wear the crown, forcing ...

A New Name for Philadelphia

Text: Revelation 3:7–13
Topic: We have a new name, and we're going to live in a new city that cannot be shaken.

From the editor

Like Dave Stone of Southeast ...

All God Does Is Good

From the editor

Chuck's sermon is an excellent example of a sermon that sharpens the way we read the Bible. Notice how Chuck challenges us to take the ...

You Go Your Way; I'll Go God's Way.

Introduction

Many people who study the times say that there isn't much we can trust today. Andy Crouch put it this way in Christianity Today:

The emptiness ...

What Have We Done?

Introduction

After the Chicago Cubs lost their 96th baseball game in 2006, manager Dusty Baker, was called in to meet with the general manager. We all ...

Comfort for the Troubled Heart

Introduction

The Allies had planned Operation Overlord for years, amassing vast armies, an incredible navy, and enough arms to release Europe from the ...

The Promise of Better Days

Introduction

As a 5th grader at Cornelia Elementary School in Edina, Minnesota, I always felt sorry for a fellow student named Gary. With his high squeaky ...