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 ...

Cover Or Be Covered

World War II was over. The Armistice had been signed in Europe and in Japan. Hostilities had ceased. But, under the leadership of General MacArthur, the ...

It's About the People

Introduction

Recently our church softball thoroughly trounced our opponents. The game ended with what's called the mercy rule: when one team is ahead ...

Your Whole Life Matters to God

Introduction

I once read an article in the New York Times entitled "How the Worm Turns." The article focused on a group of scientists who spend ...

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 ...

A Man Like Us and a God Who Lives

Introduction

Elijah is one of the Bible's most dramatic characters, because he experienced the light of God's presence even when everything around him ...

Self in the Dirt: A Picture of Repentance

Text: 2 Corinthians 7:8–11
Topic: How repentance leads to revival

Introduction

The Bible teaches that God wants to revive us. But what is revival? Our ...

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 ...

Taming the Beast

Text: Genesis 4:1–16
Topic: How to battle envy

Introduction

A few years ago, two high school girls in California—well liked, talented and ambitious—attended ...

Redneck Christmas

Editor's note: The following monologue is delivered in character by a shepherd named Larry. There was a live nativity scene on stage for the Children's ...

Prepare for God's Visitation

Introduction

I have a friend named John who is a medical doctor. He was once making a commercial flight across the Atlantic Ocean, when a teenage boy who ...

You Can't Fool the Lord

Introduction

One of the ministers at this church the television show 24 because of the things that Jack Bauer never has to do: eat, charge his cell phone, ...

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 ...

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 Forgiveness of God

Introduction

"God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." He came in flesh to forgive us—to run down the road from heaven to earth and say ...

The Last Temptation of Christ

Text: Luke 4:1–14
Topic: Why the novel and film The Last Temptation of Christ are controversial

Introduction

I think we all know who the candidates ...

I Have a Dark Side I Must Understand

Introduction

Mark Twain once said, "We're all like the moon—we have a dark side." I think his analysis of human nature was right on ...

The Process of Transformation

Text: 1 John 3:1–10
Topic: How to attain holiness

Introduction

Imagine that you've been asked to write a book on marriage. Your publisher says, "We ...

The Truth About Forgiveness

Text: 1 John 1:1–10
Topic: Why we need forgiveness

Introduction

First John is a book of certainties. The word know appears frequently throughout its ...

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? ...

Why Jesus and No One Else

Introduction

In 1936, an advertising executive from Philadelphia, Philip Klein, founded the Friday the 13th Club. Its members are committed to defying ...

Our Great High Priest

Introduction:

During the administration of Abraham Lincoln, a small boy saw a grown man weeping in front of the White House. The little boy asked the man ...

When to Flee: No One Is Impervious to Sin

Text: Colossians 3:5-10
Topic: What to do when you encounter temptation.

In Focus on the Family we have a crisis number for pastors and Christian leaders. ...

The Girl Nobody Wanted

I'm going to read you a passage out of the Old Testament: Genesis 29. And one of the things we're struck with immediately is that the Bible is ...

Don't You Believe It! Our Lives Are Not Our Own

Introduction:

A new missionary recruit went to Venezuela for the first time. He was struggling with language and didn't understand a whole lot of what ...

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?

Introduction

The story is told of a man who visited a cemetery to leave flowers at the grave of his dearly departed mother. He couldn't help but notice ...

A Contrast of Thanksgiving

Introduction

It seems to me that appreciation is often related to contrasts. We are told the beauty of art is not just in color, but it's in contrast. ...

Hope for Those Whose Lives Were Ruined By Sin

This is the second week of our series called "There Is Hope for You." Last week I said that if you have been hurt in life, you can turn your hurts over ...

How to Defeat Sin's Stronghold

In this series called "Religion vs. Spirituality," Jesus emphasizes that a spiritual life is characterized not by the outward signs of religious behavior, but ...

The Process of Restoration

I was visiting a church in Denton, Texas, one Sunday evening, and the pastor concluded the service by saying, "We will now ask all of our visitors to ...

Winning the War On Sin

Today we are beginning a new series called "How Can I Be Good?" Now, if you were to ask yourself that question, which word would you emphasize? I ask ...

Make Up Your Mind to Be Holy

This is part two of a three part series called "How Can I Be Good?" This series examines three key verses in Romans 6-8. Last week, we looked at Romans ...

Don't Doubt God's Goodness

One of the more difficult responsibilities I have as the president of Denver Seminary lies in reading my morning mail. A few months ago I received a letter ...

Repentance

I am not wholly comfortable admitting this in many places, but since I trust you so completely, I will publicly confess that in my earlier days I was ...

Freedom

by John Stott

There are two reasons why I have chosen the topic of freedom. The first is that everybody is thinking and talking about freedom today, and ...

Repentance

John comes charging out of the wilderness to expose the coming Christ and to prepare hearts and souls to respond when Christ makes his first appearance ...

Why Christ Had to Die

Charles Haddon Spurgeon said that preaching is like throwing a bucket of water at a row of bottles. Some of the water goes in some of the bottles. But ...

Coming Clean

 

On September 17, the sovereign timing of God and the simple trust of a man converged. That Sunday I met a man who came forward after the service. ...

The Great Escape

Look in your Bibles at 1 Corinthians 10:13. Paul says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not ...

How to Triumph Over Temptations

 

Somebody will lay out something and tell you, "Don't touch it." Every one of us at one time has been in that situation. ...

Combining Conviction and Compassion

What does the Bible teach about homosexuality? Since I have been at this church, I have had to answer this question as well as a number of related questions ...

Perils of Money

Our lives revolve to a certain degree around money. In fact, I dare say there was probably not a day this past week when you didn't engage in some money ...

Blood in Bethlehem

Two weeks ago NPR carried a story about plans to spruce up Bethlehem, the dusty little Palestinian town of Jesus' Nativity. Tourists take the bus from ...

Four Ironies of the Cross

We all know what irony is. Some of it is bitter. Some of it is vicious. Some of it is funny. But at its best, irony has the capacity to clarify an incident ...

Sin 101: Why Sin Matters

I'd like to read you a quote from an interview with someone named Brian Warner:

Initially I was drawn into the darker side of life. But it's really just ...

Prone to Wander

One spring day, two friends set out on a canoe trip in the wilderness of Ontario. After paddling all afternoon the first day, they came to a portage, ...

The Contrast of Thanksgiving

Introduction

It seems to me that appreciation is often related to contrasts. We are told the beauty of art is not just in color, but it's in contrast. ...