Becoming a Child with God

Introduction

Ruth and I were visiting in California some years ago when our eldest granddaughter was three. She climbed up on the bed at 6:00 A.M. in the ...

Speed Dial

Introduction

Jesus had some very specific things to say about prayer, and often they're different than some of the things we've been raised thinking about ...

Doubters Anyonymous

Introduction

"He is risen": it's the heartbeat of the message of the Christian church. These three English words are translated from one Greek word, egeirō, ...

The Uncomfortable Truth of Easter

From the editor:

At the 2008 National Pastors Conference in San Diego, Preaching Today got to interview N. T. Wright about his book Surprised by Hope and ...

The Use of Money

From the editor

From time to time, we like to feature a classic sermon from a celebrated preacher of old. Bill White, a frequent contributor to PreachingToday.com, ...

Jesus and John - Together to Trust

Introduction

The year was 155 AD and the place was Smyrna, in the Roman province of Asia. There was a new wave of persecution that was sweeping against ...

Knowing Even A Snail's Pace

 

If I tell you I am going to do something quick as a wink, how fast is that? Do you know how fast a wink is? If I say, "I wouldn't do that for ...

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, ...

Yet Will I Praise Thee

Introduction

Have you ever asked God questions and felt you haven't received a good answer? I heard about a little boy once who said to his father, "How ...

The World's Greatest Step

The story behind the sermon (from John Ortberg):

For Easter I wanted to present some of N. T. Wright's material on the Resurrection. I love his work on ...

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 ...

Application

Introduction

Today we're going to be looking at the Book of James—incredibly practical and poignant letter for the spiritual life. This is the final ...

Canonization

Introduction

We're going to be looking at Revelation chapter 22 today, and I want to talk about a very significant and serious decision that was made in ...

Inspiration

Introduction

The Pony Express was created in 1860 to move mail across the United States from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California (2,000 miles ...

Who Can We Trust?

From the editor:

Here is another sermon from one of our featured preachers, David Anderson. Anderson uses the story of Samson and Delilah to explore issues ...

Divine Revelation

Introduction

We've been in a series called "Can Smart People Believe in God?" Last week we had Dallas Willard with us to answer some tough questions, and ...

Asking the Tough Questions

Introduction

We're in the series called "Can Smart People Believe In God?" and we're thinking through some really important issues. Today we'll be talking ...

Without Knowledge We Perish

The story behind the series (from John Ortberg):

This series actually was inspired by Dallas Willard's book, Knowing Christ Today. The title of the series ...

Death Is Life

From the editor:

Easter draws closer and closer (April 4), and we're here to help out with sermon ideas to inspire you in your own preaching. This week ...

Worth Your Attention

From the editor

More helpful resources for Easter! This week we're featuring a message from Mike Woodruff, pastor of Christ Church Lake Forest in Lake ...

The Last Enemy

From the editor:

This week we continue to roll out great Easter resources to help inspire ideas for your own preaching. Below is a sermon by Donald Sunukjian ...

Easter: The Benefits Package

From the editor:

This week we are featuring Leith Anderson's Easter sermon from 2009 to help inspire ideas for your own sermon for Easter 2010. As you ...

If God Is Great, Where Is He in World of Suffering?

Introduction

Of all the reasons for rejecting the claims of Christianity, the one most frequently offered comes in the form of a question: "If God is so ...

If God Is Great, Where Is He in a World of Suffering?

Text: Matthew 27:27-46
Topic: Dealing with the reality of suffering

From the editor

Easter really isn't that far away—April 4, 2010—so we'll ...

What Do Christians Think About Jesus?

Introduction

From the standpoint of world history, Jesus Christ looms as the most incredible and significant person who's ever lived. Yale historian ...

Worship and Love

Text: Malachi 1:1-5
Topic: The first steps toward restoring right worship

Click here to listen to the audio.

The Story Behind the Sermon (from Steve Mathewson)

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: ...

Let's Get This Straight

Introduction

The first thing I noticed about our story today was the stories on either side of it. When we last saw Jacob, he finally had been reconciled ...

The Blessed Limp

Introduction

A blessing is a mysterious thing. In her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gilead, Marilynne Robinson's narrator is an elderly pastor named John ...

Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God

Introduction

Jacob was facing the biggest crisis of his life. Esau, the twin brother he had conned out of both birthright and blessing, was coming his ...

Journey Mercies

Introduction

Unless you go to the theater regularly, you may not be used to thinking of stories in terms of acts. But most of the stories you read, or ...

Good Riddance

Introduction

"Isn't there somewhere else you're supposed to be?" Has God ever said that to you? God seems to be saying that a lot around here lately. He ...

The Really Good Shepherd

Introduction

According to the United States Social Security Administration, Jacob was the number one male baby name for the year 2007. In the Bible the ...

The Messy Family of God

Introduction

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." So reads the first line of Leo Tolstoy's famous novel, Anna ...

A Fine Mess

Introduction

What a great promise from God: "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go." We talked about this great promise in the last sermon—a ...

The Voice from the Top of the Stairs

Introduction

There's a story oft-told on the Internet—true or not, I don't know—about Susan, a 34-year-old woman who lost her sight due to ...

Odd Man Out

Introduction

Some wedding requests pose a dilemma for pastors. Most of us will not officiate at a wedding between a believer and an unbeliever, believing ...

The Strange Blessing of God

Introduction

Do you live a blessed life? I did a Google search on the phrase, "I live a blessed life." I stumbled upon one guy who wrote, "I live a blessed ...

The Stew Is Divine

Introduction

Jacob, at 130 years of age, stood before Pharaoh, the great ruler of Egypt. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac. He was ...

Facing North When the Market Goes South

Text: 1 Kings 17:7–16
Topic: Claiming God's promises in the midst of hard times

From the editor:

Though many experts believe we've entered an economic ...

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 ...

Welcome to the Pearly-Gated Community

Introduction

In the first sermon in our series, I talked about the primary person we will get to see in heaven: Jesus, face to face. Now I want to talk ...

Jesus Face to Face

Introduction

If you had the opportunity, who would you like to meet face to face? Is it someone living? Someone who has already died? A celebrity? Nobility? ...

Trusting in God's Process

Introduction

Coco was a pit bull mix, just barely one year old. As a puppy she was dumped on the freeway and rescued by a teenager who handed her off to ...

Freedom

Introduction

In the summer of my 11th year of life, I learned the power and joy of surrender. It happened in Minnesota at the Edina community swimming ...

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 ...

Faith in Tough Times

From the editor

I'm confident we all would agree that 2008 was a tough year: war, a tumbling stock market, natural disasters, the continued threat of terrorism, ...

When You Really Want to Quit

From the editor

We all struggle with the reality that sometimes bad things happen to good people. Adding to our inner turmoil is the reality that sometimes ...

God Is Big Enough to Comfort My Suffering

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 ...