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Sermons on Lent


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Preaching on Lent? Browse these sermons to find fresh ideas.

The Healing Power of No
The Healing Power of No

Introduction

What is a two-letter word that we often don’t like to hear? It is a word you have probably used on your kids, maybe a word ...


Practicing the Christian act of nay saying.


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The Cleansing God
The Cleansing God

Introduction

Phones are a huge blessing in the realm of communication. We can talk to someone who lives thousands of miles away and it is like they are ...


3 false understandings we need to repent of.


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Return of the King
Return of the King

Introduction

When was the last time you couldn’t wait for something to happen? During the summer of 2020, my wife, Sierra, and I could not wait to ...


Jesus is the King we’ve been looking for.


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Our Very Lives Are at Stake
Our Very Lives Are at Stake

Introduction

Someone is trying to get inside my head. You think I’m crazy? Well, let me tell you this: someone is trying to get into your head, too. ...


Practicing the embodied spiritual practices of fasting, praying, and giving.


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Grieve, Not as the World Grieves
Grieve, Not as the World Grieves

Introduction

Some years ago, when I first heard the phrase “bright sadness” to describe the season of Lent, I loved the way it sounded, but ...


The Bright Sadness of Lent is the hope of once again being close to God.


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How to Live When You Learn You Aren’t a Super-Hero
How to Live When You Learn You Aren’t a Super-Hero

Introduction

I’ve been a pastor for over 27 years, but during that time I’ve always worked as a low-level, volunteer superhero. This is true. ...


In the midst of life’s woundability, what is your foundation?


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Cursing the Tree and Curing the Temple
Cursing the Tree and Curing the Temple

Introduction

When the emergency room staff at a Rhode Island hospital viewed the scans of this 86-year-old man, they discovered a blood clot, a hematoma, ...


Jesus demonstrates through two action parables that he came to restore us to right relationship with God and with each other.


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Paying Attention to God
Paying Attention to God

Introduction

The Christian life is about a muscle. Simon Vay said that the only way we can love people is if we know how to pay attention. The most generous ...


God’s invitation for us is to hear his voice, trust him in the valley, see his beauty, and receive his love.


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The Crack in Creation
The Crack in Creation

Introduction

(Read Mark 5:21-43)

Perhaps Jairus had taken his eye off of his little daughter for just a moment, never thinking she'd go near the edge of ...


Our response to evil, pain, and suffering can be a corridor through which you receive Jesus.


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Freedom from Lust
Freedom from Lust

Introduction

The voices of lust are varied—young and old, male and female, single and married—but all of them are strained, brittle, and sad. ...


What we were made for, what we long for, is something greater.


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Anger Mis-Management
Anger Mis-Management

Introduction

If pride is the most subtle of the seven deadly sins, anger is the most obvious. For one thing, it's visible. The other sins are internal—lust, ...


What you do with your anger will either be helpful or hurtful.


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It's Not About Me
It's Not About Me

Introduction

"What is it, Doc? What do I have? What's wrong with me?"

It's a question we all ask ourselves from time to time. When we ...


When we remember who we are before God and in Christ, we're freed.


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A Good Friday Intervention
A Good Friday Intervention

Introduction

One of my favorite Chicago landmarks is the iconic breakfast destination known as Ann Sathers, on 909 West Belmont. Ann Sathers is a good ...


Jesus intervenes for us—and satisfies us.


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R-Rated: Rated R for Redemption
R-Rated: Rated R for Redemption

Introduction

(Read Joshua 2:1-20)

In 144 AD, the church father Marcion was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, Italy, because he held ...


God can redeem any person out of any situation.


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Temptation
Temptation

Introduction

One of my favorite father-son stories in Western literature has to be story of Pip and Joe Gargery in Charles Dickens' novel, Great ...


It's a lie that you are fatherless; God will feed you, lead you, and abide with you.


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The Ultimate Challenge
The Ultimate Challenge

Introduction

A few years ago a representative from Teach America paid a visit to one of the premier university campuses—Duke. Teach America ...


Jesus challenges the dominant myths of our culture as he call us into his version of the abundant life.


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The World Is in Trouble
The World Is in Trouble

Introduction

What's wrong with the world? That's a question that many people are asking, and there's no shortage of answers being given: the ...


The gospel exposes our desperate need before God.


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The Spiritual Disciplines You Didn't Choose
The Spiritual Disciplines You Didn't Choose

Introduction

There are two kinds of spiritual disciplines but today I want to talk about the kind that we understand less and that we struggle with more. ...


God wants to move us from a place of rebellion and resignation to acceptance and joy.


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The Discipline of Communal Examination
The Discipline of Communal Examination

From the editor

Next week we start to roll out all of our new Easter sermons, but seeing as many congregations have just begun observing the Lenten season, ...


In the life of the church, communal examination is just as important as self-examination.


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Lent: Preparing Our Garden for Growth
Lent: Preparing Our Garden for Growth

From the editor

Despite its rich history in the church, many of us don't observe Lent. Maybe it's time to reconsider. As Skye points out in his ...


Lent is a time to remove obstacles and dedicate ourselves anew to growing in Christ.


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Check Your Bags

Introduction

In his best-selling book Halftime, Bob Buford tells a story that is reminiscent of the encounter we read about in our text from Matthew's ...


When Jesus asks too much


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The Agony of Victory

Introduction

Some years ago a 14-foot bronze crucifix was stolen from Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas. It had stood at the entrance to that cemetery ...


Through the rejection of the cross Jesus is exalted as king


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Wasted on Jesus

Sermon One

Valentine's Day is tomorrow and I'm jittery. I love my sweetheart—no doubt about that—but I confess that Valentine's Day gives me ...


The cross calls us to worship in ways others would call waste


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The Dinner Guests of God

Sermon Two

Mary Poplin, professor of education and Dean of the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University, attended a Methodist church ...


How Communion searches and strengthens our hearts


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Where the Battle Is Fought

Sermon Three

Here's a surprise: Most incompetent people don't know they are incompetent. In fact, researcher Dr. David A. Dunning of Cornell University ...


At the hour of crisis, our hope is in prayer


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Blasphemy!

Sermon Four

Years ago Bill Hybels told about seeing a newscast of a big Vietnam veterans parade in Chicago. Part of the commemoration was a mobile Vietnam ...


For our sake Jesus accepted the charge that cost him his life


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The Faces of Failure

Sermon Five

There was a clip on the sports last night that was painful to watch. College basketball between Memphis and Louisville, championship game—the ...


Peter, Judas, and Pilate demonstrate different ways to fail in faith


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The Agony of Victory


Through the rejection of the cross Jesus is exalted as king


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Which Watchers?

Sermon Seven

Robert Russell, pastor of Southeastern Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, told about sitting behind a 5-year-old boy at their church's ...


Christ's Resurrection calls us to believe


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Caution!

I suppose a mysterious, strange, unsettling story might just as well be mysterious and strange and unsettling from the very beginning. After all, the ...


We mustn't become so familiar with God that we “tame” him and begin to treat him disrespectfully.


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