What Would Jesus Say When the Dow Drops 700 Points?

From the editor

What would Jesus have us do in the midst of economic crisis? Mike Woodruff offers answers to that question that push us to gain new perspectives ...

Mary: A Song of Trust

Introduction

A lot of people travel at Christmas. During this time of the year, many of us would like to be with family to celebrate, so we load up the ...

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 ...

Our Hungry Hearts

Introduction

Have you ever used an image to help motivate you? To help you clarify what and who you want to become? An image can be an object or can come ...

In God We Trust (Though We'd Rather Pay Cash)

Introduction

Have you ever felt really anxious and stressed? If I don't accept this offer, then …. If my child doesn't get into the right ...

In the Father's Arms

Text: Job 36, 38
Topic: How a Christian should respond to suffering

From the editor

As you read Jill Briscoe's sermon, notice how she takes a classic story-story-story ...

Asleep at the Wheel

From the editor

Chances are, you've probably preached the story of Jesus calming the storm. The account is recorded in three of the four Gospels (Matthew, ...

Living on the Edge of Whatever Happens

From the editor

One of the great joys in preaching is when you know you have something special to offer. Perhaps it's a particularly well-crafted thesis ...

Jesus and John—Together to Trust

Text: Assorted texts from the Gospel of John
Topic: A probing question for Christ-followers

From the editor:

John is one of the more intriguing people ...

Ready or Not, Here I Come!

From the editor

Simply put: it's easy to mess up a difficult passage like Luke 21. You may find yourself applying something regarding Jerusalem's ...

Trust Me

From the editor

As Marshall indicates in his introduction, few people ever rummage around in the final few chapters of Genesis. But the final events recorded ...

Cross at God

Introduction

For the longest time, I hoped that my brother, Jeffrey, would return to the Christian faith. He once was an active Christian, but something ...

Finding God in Desperate Places

Introduction

I'd like to write a book someday called Desperate Places: How God Shines Through Our Weakness. These desperate places are places of weakness, ...

Doubters Anonymous

Text: John 20:19–29
Topic: Dealing with doubt

Introduction

"He is risen": it's the heartbeat of the message of the Christian church. These three English ...

The Danger of a Strong Faith and a Weak Theology

Introduction

Jessica Ann Liberger was a 5-week-old baby girl who made it into the nation's press. Jessica came down with pneumonia, and her father, John ...

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 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, ...

The Miracle of Christmas

Introduction

In Luke 11:33–35, Jesus says, "Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live in wide-eyed wonder and belief, your body ...

Secrets of Financial Contentment

Introduction

When I was a kid, my dad told me two stories all the time.

In the first one, a couple goes to Harvard University and asks to see the president, ...

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 ...

Doubts in Belief

Introduction

I once participated in a very interesting conversation. A group of sixteen evangelical pastors, who believed the Bible and had good ministries, ...

Facing Off Without Falling Apart

Introduction

In Acts 4 we witness an epic battle between a David-like underdog and a behemoth giant. In one corner you have two unschooled, unimpressive ...

Life on Wings

Introduction

The biblical image of the kind of life Christians are called to live is, "The way of an eagle in the air." I have lots of experience with ...

Sense Out of Nonsense

Text: Luke 24:1–11
Topic: How to make sense of chaos and suffering

Introduction

Ancient sailors puzzled over why some of their colleagues who sailed ...

How Should a Pastor Think About His People's Giving?

Introduction

When I mentioned the title of this sermon to a group of pastors at our monthly denominational meeting, it elicited considerable response. ...

All I Really Need to Know I Learned by Suffering Triumphantly Until I Died

Introduction

In All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Robert L. Fulghum writes:

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do ...

Where's the "Gift Return" Receipt?

Introduction

Let's suppose there's a small town on the edge of Iraq, near the Saudi border. Let's call the town Mosel. It's a small community with no other ...

A Win-Win Situation

Introduction

Every so often we find ourselves in a win-win situation. No matter which way it goes, we come out ahead.

For example, at school we decide to ...

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 ...

The Lord Is My Shepherd

Introduction

I don't know much about sheep. I was born and raised in the suburbs, and we didn't have sheep. In fact, they were probably illegal. ...

Things I'm Glad I Don't Know

Introduction

I once heard R. C. Sproul conduct a question-and-answer session during which he gave a delightful answer to a very complicated question: "The ...

Worship or Worry?

Introduction

There's an old Greek proverb that says, "The bow that is always bent will soon break." What that proverb seems to be implying is that the ...

God Remembers

Introduction

In the 1960s Jim "Wrong Way" Marshall was a member of the "Purple People Eaters," the fearsome defensive unit of the Minnesota Vikings football ...

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: ...

Eliab's Story

Introduction

My name is Eliab. All my life I wanted to be famous. My ambition was to have my life engraved in the memory of my people. But you don't even ...

Inquiring of the Lord

Introduction

I want to read to you an obscure little verse from an obscure part of the Old Testament. Very few people know this story, but it has a lot ...

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 ...

Back to Reality

Introduction

Do you know what it is like to have a mountaintop experience and then come down hard when necessity forces you to get back to reality? Maybe ...

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 ...

Dream Child

Introduction

A man shared with me that for years he went to church and watched as the advent candle was lit by these beautiful families, so well-dressed ...

The Valley of Death's Shadow

Everyone walks through valleys.

Donald Barnhouse was the pastor of Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church when his wife died and left him with young ...

My Name Is Harbona

My name? Harbona. My job? The title depends on what country you're in. In Britain, I would be called a personal valet. In America, I would be a male private ...

A Mind-Expanding Faith

Introduction

Some time ago, my wife got me a unique birthday present: a ride in a hot-air balloon. We went together to the field where all of the hot-air ...

Can Jesus Trust Us?

Introduction

The year was A.D. 155, and persecution against Christians had swept across the Roman Empire and come to the city of Smyrna. The proconsul ...

Don't You Believe It: There's No Such Thing as a Little White Lie

One Sunday, a minister said to his congregation, “Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. In preparation for that message, I’m asking all of ...

How God works his plan for your life

Introduction

Psalm 138 contains a verse that absolutely thrilled me the first time I heard it. And today, all these years later, I'm still enthusiastic ...

Show Me

Introduction

In the United States, each of the 50 states has a nickname. Florida is known as "The Sunshine State." New York is called "The Empire State." ...

Encouraging to the End

Introduction

This past week, my dad was in a serious car wreck. He was t-boned by a small car, and his pickup rolled over three times and landed in a deep ...