Christian Unity and Politics: Why Both Parties Are Wrong

Introduction

My aim in part one of this series was to show how the two truths of baptism—dying with Christ and rising with Christ—correspond ...

In the Image of God

Introduction

I grew up in a small community. As a teenager I can remember jokes being told on the school playground about people based on the color of ...

Free to Stay

Introduction

(Read Acts 16:16-34, Psalm 97, Revelation 22:12-21, John 17:20-26)

Happy Ascension, everybody. Actually, Ascension Day was Thursday, so I'm ...

National Reflections

Introduction

This past week, our elders met to pray and talk about our church and the level of churning in our nation these days around issues of political ...

God Hasn't Turned His Back

Back Story to the Sermon

(Editor's Note: Preaching Today asked Pastor Dan Meyer to tell use the reason he decided to speak about the shootings that took ...

America: It's Time for a New Song

Introduction

We all stand privy to the tragic and horrific developments of the shootings in Louisiana, Minnesota, and Texas. Unfortunately, it's not the ...

Family Matters

Introduction

Colin Smith suggests a number of common, but faulty, metaphors for the church. He says the church can be viewed as a gas station—a place ...

Let the Dividing Walls Come Down

Introduction

If you have your Bibles, I invite you to join me as I read Ephesians 2:11-22. Paul writes,

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles ...

Unity in the Cross

Introduction

There was once a man in San Francisco walking along the Golden Gate Bridge, and he saw a second man about to jump over the edge. He stopped ...

The Lasting Marriage

Introduction

In 25 years of pastoral ministry I've done close to 200 weddings. I always spend several hours with these couples trying to prepare them not ...

Heroes

You may be familiar with the St. Crispin Day speech in Shakespeare's Henry V. King Henry is rallying the ragtag army—stirring them to fight a seemingly ...

If Jesus Lived in My Neighborhood

Introduction

Mark 10:35–45 offers several reasons why we should be servants in our community, in our work environment, and in the neighborhood in ...

Love in Spite of Differences

Every sailor could agree on one fact. Had it not been for the captain, they never would have survived. The storm came suddenly, and in a matter of moments ...

The Ultimate Community

Introduction

The story is told of three men, all in the New Testament, who were born blind but who had been healed miraculously by Jesus. These men heard ...

Messiah's Community

Introduction

Years ago a small-town newspaper carried a letter sent in by one of its subscribers. She had gotten a thank-you note from her grandson after ...

When the Roll Is Called Down Here

Introduction

I hope you will not feel guilty if your heart was not all aflutter during the reading of the text. It's not very interesting. It's ...

How to Glorify God When We Disagree

The story behind the sermon (from Steve Mathewson)

A sermon series on the Book of Romans brought me to this text. The first challenge I faced was the sheer ...

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 ...

Life Together

Introduction

The first week we moved into the small town where I served as pastor, my wife Jane and I decided to take a walk down Main Street. We immediately ...

Love Does Not Boast

From the editor:

Over the next few months, PreachingToday.com is going to run an entire transcript series from Haddon Robinson on 1 Corinthians 13. The ...

Two Bad Examples

Click here to listen to the audio.

The story behind the sermon (from Mark Buchanan)

This sermon came near the end of a 10-week series on the letter to the ...

The Peace Keeper

Introduction

A man is shipwrecked. He spends months alone on a desert island. Finally, a passing ship sees him and sends a boat in to rescue him. When ...

United

Introductory remarks from Mark Buchanan:

This sermon fell mid-way through a seven-part series on Ephesians, entitled "A Church for the World: Paul's Letter ...

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 ...

Calling on Family Support

Introduction

A mother entered her daughter's bedroom one afternoon and saw a letter on the bed. With trembling hands, she read:

Dear Mom, It is with much ...

Brokers of Truth and Love

From the editor

We would probably all agree that conflict resolution is necessary, but incredibly tricky. Emotions trump reason, stubborn loyalties trump ...

The Real Scoop on the Lord's Supper

Text: 1 Corinthians 11:17–34
Topic: How to approach the Lord's Supper in a worthy manner

From the editor

When was the last time you preached about the ...

Church: The Message of 1 Corinthians

From the editor

In this sermon, Mark Dever offers a bird's eye view of one of Paul's longer letters, helping the audience hang their hats on a few critical ...

Older People: The Future of Our Church

Introduction

On October 29, 1998, the space shuttle Discovery launched with a seven-member crew. One of them, John Glenn, was 77 years old. John Glenn ...

The Problem of Growth

Introduction

The map of global Christianity our grandparents knew has been turned upside down. At the beginning of the twentieth century, only 10 percent ...

Don't Go To Church!

Introduction

D. L. Moody was visiting a prominent Chicago citizen when the idea of church membership and involvement came up.

"I believe I can be just as ...

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. ...

Peace in the Church

Introduction

When I was a pastor in Arizona, there were two men in the church who were greatly admired. They were both successful businessmen who desired ...

The Christian Subculture: Righteous or Rubbish?

Introduction

As believers, we sometimes feel pressured to act in certain ways, fit in with certain norms, or participate in certain activities. The pressure ...

Working Out the Working In

Introduction.

Let's suppose that our music minister Daniel and I get together for lunch to talk over some of the special services we're planning this month. ...

Down the Ladder to the Highest Place

Introduction

Editorial note: Sunukjian uses a six-foot stepladder as a prop throughout this sermon. References to the prop will be noted in the text in ...

It's Not Thinking Less of Yourself; It's Thinking of Yourself Less

Introduction

A few years ago, one of my students was speaking to our class about his denominational background. He told the class that the average church ...

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 ...

Releasing Resentment

Text: John 21:15–22; 1 Corinthians 13:5
Topic: How we forgive those who hurt us

Introduction

It may have been King David's lowest moment: His son Absalom ...

What Do Men Want? What Do Women Want?

Introduction

When the Bible describes how the world was created, it uses the word good a lot. It says, "God created light" and "saw that the light was ...

Mind Renewal

Text: Romans 12:1–8
Topic: How to reclaim community in the church

Introduction

Something that has become very popular in today's media-crazed society ...

The Right Way to Handle Church Conflict

Introduction

I am by nature an idealist. I start almost everything in life by thinking about the best-case scenario. As a young man, I had a best-case ...

What's Driving You

Introduction

I've always enjoyed reading the stories of successful people and finding out what it is that makes them tick. What I find completely amazing ...

The Walls Come Tumbling Down

Introduction

Tim Kimmel, in his book Little House on the Freeway, writes about the Japanese occupation of Korea shortly after the turn of the century. ...

The Worthy Walk

Introduction

John Huffman, in his book Who’s In Charge Here? tells about Robert Wilson, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. One of Dr. Wilson’s ...

"Trinity": The Christian Name for God

Sermon One

Introduction

Over the next few Sundays we'll explore a concept of God unique to Christian spirituality called the Trinity. It's ...

The Art of "Hanging Out"

Introduction

One of my favorite movie scenes occurs in City Slickers, when Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner have a heart-to-heart conversation. Reiner tells ...

How to Improve Your Standard of Living

Introduction:

Today's message should come with a warning. Caution: This passage requires no interpretation. Peter writes Chapter 3 in a way that makes ...

The Sociable Outcast

Jesus did not fit very well into the society of his day. If you wanted to describe him in sociological terms, you might say he was an "outsider." ...

A Spirit-Filled Church

Introduction:

The text before us is one of the most fascinating passages in the New Testament, because it interweaves the mystery of Christ and his body—his ...