A Rebuild in the Ruins

Introduction

(Read Amos 9:8, 11-15)

When I came to Wheaton, 45 years ago, downtown Wheaton was just one more struggling downtown in the Rust Belt. Carlson’s ...

It’s Time for a Fresh Start

Introduction: The Story

(Read John 21:1-14)

It was an early morning on the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee. A light haze of fog hung over the water making ...

The Gift of Christmas Light

Introduction

In his book Every Good Endeavor, Tim Keller explains the three elements of a story. He points out that a story begins when something knocks ...

Living Between the Tick and the Tock

Introduction

Before Tik Tok was a social media phenom, Tick Tock was the way old clocks sounded. Mechanical, wind up clocks sounded a TICK and then after ...

Grieve, Not as the World Grieves

Introduction

Some years ago, when I first heard the phrase “bright sadness” to describe the season of Lent, I loved the way it sounded, but ...

The Mighty Warrior Who Saves Moms

Introduction

We're going to land on Zephaniah 3:17 today, but we're going to take a while to get there, because we can't appreciate what's going on when ...

Empowered to Work

Editor's note: for needed context be sure to see Kim's first sermon on this topic, "Loving Our Work," available here.

Loving Our Work

Introduction

I want to fast forward to Revelation, and look at the last two chapters. Then we are going to backtrack to Isaiah 60. When we look at the ...

Created with a Purpose

Introduction

This is the first of a six sessions in our Living Free series. We're going to cover some foundational truths about God's purpose for ...

Recovering God's Freedom

Introduction

Last week we looked at God's original design for creation and humanity. We also talked about how sin disrupted God's plan. When we ...

One World, Two Realms

Introduction

In our first session, we identified God's original design for humanity, and we looked at what was lost because of the Fall. How did God ...

Understanding Power and Authority

Introduction

In this session, we're going to deal with the subject of the power and authority of Jesus Christ that's been given to us and the significance ...

Strongholds

Introduction

In this message we'll look at strongholds, the enemy's access points that can compromise God's power and purposes in our lives. ...

Generational Sins, Soul Ties, Curses

Introduction

In this last session of our series, we're going to talk about three subjects that bring a lot of questions and even opposition: generational ...

Liberation

Introduction

Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision, has a book called The Hole in Our Gospel. In this book he tells a remarkable story about a ...

Violation

Introduction

In our series called Restoration Hardware, last week we learned that the Cross of Jesus Christ is the hardware or the instrument that God ...

Decision

Introduction

For the last couple of weeks we have opened the front door wide open to the topic of reconciliation. Each week we've gone to the foot of the ...

Lost and Found

Introduction

Some of you may have heard of Anthony Bourdain. He has a reality show on The Travel Channel called "No Reservations." He's a chef who travels ...

Deep Clean

Whatever became of sin?

Some years ago a Harvard psychiatrist wrote a provocative book entitled Whatever Became of Sin? In it he expressed his fear that ...

Jesus, Lord of the New Creation

The first sermon in this series started exploring this passage by looking at how Jesus is the Lord of Creation. Part two is titled "Jesus is Lord ...

Jesus, Lord of the Cross

There are few more exciting units of the U.S. Military than the Combat Search and Rescue (or the CSAR). If you've seen the movie Black Hawk Down, ...

Heart Burn

The man's name was Toby. He was the youngest son of a lawyer from Cleveland who'd struck it rich and moved his family to the upscale community of Rancho ...

Heart Attack

If I asked you to take your finger and point to yourself, where would you point? Most of us, I imagine, would not point to our heads. That's interesting ...

Heart Scan

I'm going to talk today about the most important thing there is about you or me or anyone else we are ever going to meet. To get there, I want to take ...

Heart Ache

More than 3,000 years ago, near the city of Shechem, in the land we know today as Israel, an unknown seeker began digging a hole in the crusty soil where ...

Rediscovering the Sabbath

Introduction

While I was leading some pastor training in the Philippines, I broke the pastors up into small groups and had them share various things ...

The Critical Transaction

Most Broadway musicals begin with something called an overture. The writer of the musical tries, in the early moments, to give us some sense of all the ...

God's Protection and Delight

The Refining Love of God

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, ...

Image Management

Introduction

In her wonderful book Breathe, author Keri Wyatt Kent names four crucial commitments necessary to finding our way into a saner kind of life ...

You're Fantastic

Introduction

Of all the comic books turned into motion pictures of late, my favorite one is the Fantastic Four. For those not in the know, it is a tale ...

Trophy Kids

Introduction

When our eldest son was making preparations to start his freshman year of high school, I overheard him telling a classmate that he was planning ...

More Better

Introduction

On my way to work this week, I had this peaceful time to think as I drove. Actually, I had even more time than usual, because I was kindly ...

FSTR

Introduction

I've jumped into this series on inSanity not because I'm throwing stones, but because crazy has become the new normal for me. I feel like ...

I'll Stand by You

Introduction

So far in our series we've talked about three big ideas—love, joy, and peace. These Christ-like qualities offer a grand vision for our ...

Softening the World's Harshness

Introduction

Let's look at John 15:1-17 together. These are likely very familiar words. They're the words of Jesus on the last night of his time ...

Gentleness

Introduction

This is the seventh week we've been growing through our study of the fruit of the Spirit. This week we're going to look at gentleness. You ...

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 ...

A Brand New You

Introduction

I've got hundreds of things around the house that I would like to see made new—sofa cushions that have begun to sag, kitchen cabinets ...

The Shadow of Jesus

Introduction

Well over a hundred years ago, Robert Robinson wrote a hymn that resonates with many of us. One line reads like this: "Prone to wander, ...

Many Happy Returns

Focus: Though we break our promises to God, he offers forgiveness if we repent.

James Robert Carlton was a fairly successful businessman. His father had ...