A Better Covenant

Introduction

These Jewish Christians, who've grown up under the law, but now they've come to trust Christ are facing possible persecution ...

Divorce and the Seeds of Resurrection

Blessed Forever

Introduction

In his book Leaving Home, Garrison Keillor tells a fictional story about a family from Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. Grace Tollefson married Alex ...

The House God Built

Some years ago friends gave me this extraordinary book, Churches, about the architecture of great churches. I'm partial to country churches, but the beautiful ...

Flood of Judgment, Flood of Grace

There's a song children learn in church about Noah's ark and the flood. It goes something like this:

The Lord said to Noah, "There's going to be a floody, ...

The Scarlet Letter

Introduction

Today we're continuing to look at the Ten Commandments. We've seen that this isn't easy material. These commands are anything but sugarcoated. ...

Looking in the Mirror

From the editor

Mother's Day is this Sunday (May 10), and should you decide to offer a message for the occasion, you might get a few general ideas from ...

A Passion for God's Covenant

If you knew of something that shattered dreams, that generated overwhelming stress in people's lives, that would induce in them panic attacks and even ...

Radical Intimacy

Introduction

In this series, we're going to wrestle with very difficult story—the story of David. But I promise that as we allow this story to tell ...

Driven to Community

Introduction

In his book Bowling Alone, Robert D. Putnam writes

Before October 29, 1997, John Lambert and Andy Boschma knew each other only through their ...

Solomon's Wish

Introduction

If you could wish for anything in the world, what would it be? Some people wish they had different abilities. Others wish for a change in ...

Putting the Kingdom First

Introduction

In an article entitled "A new kind of urban Christian," Tim Keller argues that "Christians should be a dynamic counterculture. It is not enough ...

David's Last Words

Introduction

A life is a terrible thing to waste. In his life saving book, Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper recounts a story his father often told in ...

Long Live the King!

Introduction

According to ancient custom, the death of a ruler is greeted with the following words: "The king is dead; long live the king!" This may seem ...

A Royal Conspiracy

Introduction

The right to rule as king has been the occasion of many bitter conflicts. Often brother has fought against brother to wear the crown, forcing ...

All God Does Is Good

From the editor

Chuck's sermon is an excellent example of a sermon that sharpens the way we read the Bible. Notice how Chuck challenges us to take the ...

Remember Who You Are

Introduction

The Woodley family has a number of family picture albums. Each picture album contains an assortment of photos of people that matter to 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Pledging Love

Introduction

We have been learning how to deal with difficult people from the story of Saul and David. Today we come to the central theme of the whole ...

Giving Thanks for God's Enduring Love

Introduction

I want you to imagine a special, highly festive event. Psalm 118 was written for such an occasion. It began with a blare of trumpets, the ...

Call Me at Midnight

Introduction

Whether our "family" is a group of close friends, a bunch of kids running around the house, or a husband and wife alone, I think it is fair ...