Christmas Presence

Introduction

I invite you take a moment, in this busy season, to just breathe. Be present in this body, in this moment, in this place, with these people. ...

Few to Many

Introduction

In April 2013, an article in the USA Today Money section reported that Apple's stock has been struggling. According to the article, "The ...

Taken Up Into Glory

Introduction

In this series we have been walking in the footsteps of Jesus during his final days on earth. I have sought to employ the metaphor of being ...

Receiving Power

This sermon is part of the “More Than a Holiday” sermon series. See the whole series here.

Introduction

We’re in the fourth week of our ...

What Does This Mean?

I hope the Book of Acts is easy for you to find because you’ve got your handy dandy Acts bookmark with you. This is not just a bookmark; it’s ...

Free!

I used to think I needed a personal trainer, someone who'd get me to the gym and make sure I exercised regularly, someone who would put me through ...

Glorify God in Your Body

Introduction

As we have seen through looking at the early Christians in Corinth, we see that so much of what they dealt with is the same thing that we ...

Jesus Is Our Only Refuge

Introduction

One of the things I find surprising about Joel is he doesn't really talk about the first coming of Christ. What he does talk about is ...

Empowered to Work

Editor's note: for needed context be sure to see Kim's first sermon on this topic, "Loving Our Work," available here.

Authentic Faith

Introduction

In this series, we're going to be looking at 1 and 2 Thessalonians. These letters will emphasize two perspectives: They put a laser focus ...

When the Spirit Comes with Power

Introduction

Acts 2 brings us to an event that most of us are relatively familiar with—Pentecost. The drama we are dealing with here in these verses ...

Immersed in the Life of God

The story behind the sermon (by Kevin Miller)

When I first read this text, I thought it was simple. The text is short, only 8 verses, and Mark is clear, ...

Experiencing the Holy Spirit

Introduction

My name is Francis, and I was a pastor in Southern California for about sixteen years at a church that I planted. About a year ago, I moved ...

The Birthing of a New Humanity

Introduction

I am captivated by the conversation between Jesus and a rabbi named Nicodemus. It is located in John, chapter 3. In this text, we find one ...

How a Servant Thinks

Introduction

Today I want to talk about how a servant thinks. Let's read Luke 17:5-10:

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" And the Lord ...

Falling Madly in Love with God

We'll be looking at Ephesians 3:14-19 today. Paul says, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and ...

Heart Murmur

In our lesson from Matthew 25 today, Jesus tells us a parable that is likely to be a bit disturbing to most of us if we really examine our lives in light ...

An Empowering Presence

Introduction

Some years ago I had a conversation with a guest after one of our services. It was her first or second time at our church, and she offered ...

An Unstoppable Force

Introduction

Last week we learned that the Church was meant to be a life-changing community, where people are transformed by their encounters with God ...

Buying Friends

Have you started your income taxes yet? I started working on mine this week. I pulled up my computer records and looked at my general spending categories. ...

Who Cares?

Introduction

Luke is one of the two New Testament writers who deals at length with the fundamental crisis of the early church, and that was the departure ...

Return to Power

Introduction

We talk a lot here at New Life about the kingdom of God. The reality is that the kingdom of God comes first in the lives of God's people. ...

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 ...

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 ...

When the Seeds Come Up

Introduction

Someone hearing for the first time that the dead will be raised—physically—from the grave could easily picture something from ...

Guide

Click here to listen to the audio.

The story behind the sermon (from John Ortberg)

I have grown to love the theme of God's guidance. This is a chance to ...

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 ...

The House of Prayer

Introduction

"My temple should be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." That stands as one of the harshest indictments ever uttered ...

What Do Christians Think About the Holy Spirit?

From the editor

Tim Peck acknowledges that any discussion of the Holy Spirit has a certain mystery to it. After all, Jesus himself compared the Spirit ...

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 ...

The Colorful Creator

Introduction

I grew up in a family that never had a color television set. All the ballgames and TV shows—including the "Colorful World of Disney"—were ...

Keep the Dust off the Highchairs

Text: Luke 2:52
Topic: Why the young people of a church are important

Introduction

I once attended the funeral of a relative of mine. The service was at ...

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 ...

Body Life

Introduction

That the church is the "body of Christ" is more than simply a figure of speech. The church is the chief means by which Christ works today; ...

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, ...

Beyond Comfort

Introduction

Where do you turn for comfort when you encounter loss, pain, or disappointment? Some people turn to food. For some reason, certain foods—like ...

Unbreakable?

Introduction

M. Night Shyamalan's film Unbreakable begins with a train wreck. Everyone on board is killed—over a hundred people—except for ...

Above All Earthly Powers

Introduction

Martin Luther's famous Reformation hymn, "A Mighty Fortress," is about the triumph of God over all the attacks of Satan, including his attack ...

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, ...

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 ...

How to Live Beyond Yourself

Introduction

I don't know if you are like me, but I imagine you are. I imagine there are times in which you feel boxed in by life; not only by what others ...

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 ...

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 ...

Who Can Take It?

Introduction

Ezekiel 2:2 says: "As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me." The voice of this prophet, ...

Getting to Know Your God

Introduction

Well, here it is, a Sunday morning in the lazy heat of summer, and you could be sleeping in, working on your golf game, biking on the Prairie ...

How Does the Trinity Work?

Introduction

I want to begin our discussion of this difficult question about the Trinity not with intellectual speculation about how God is three and yet ...

A Prescription for Burned Out Christians

Introduction

A man went to the doctor complaining of fatigue. He described how he just felt burned out all the time. The doctor asked him to try to identify ...