Facing Temptation

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

Introduction

We are in the second week of our Advent ...

Facing Up to Depression

Back Story to the Sermon

Editor's Note: Matt Woodley had a chance to interview Mark Meynell about preaching on depression. This interview provides ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

More Better

Introduction

On my way to work this week, I had this peaceful time to think as I drove. Actually, I had even more time than usual, because I was kindly ...

FSTR

Introduction

I've jumped into this series on inSanity not because I'm throwing stones, but because crazy has become the new normal for me. I feel like ...

God Is Strong—Am I?

From the editor:

Here's another great sermon from one of our featured preachers, Francis Chan. A few noteworthy items: Just below this editor's ...

Courage

Introductory remarks from Mark Buchanan:

"Courage" was the third week in a 10-week series on Philippians entitled I Can Do Everything: Paul, Jesus, the ...

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 ...

A Strange Résumé

Introduction

It's the most dreaded question of the job interview, and when the time comes, you can't seem to push the words out of your mouth. "Tell me," ...

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 ...

Lessons from Lepers

Introduction

We often look at thanksgiving backwards. We think of thanksgiving as thanking God for something that has happened to us already. The real ...

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 ...

Warriors on Their Couches

Introduction

The account of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 begins this way:

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David ...

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 ...

All I Really Need to Know I Learned by Suffering Triumphantly Until I Died

Introduction

In All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Robert L. Fulghum writes:

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do ...

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 ...

Costly, Messy, Beautiful Obedience

Introduction

The key word in the title of this message is "obedience." When I did a Google search on obedience, the most popular sites fell into two categories: ...

The Glory and the Muck

Introduction

A few months ago, I officiated my father-in-law's funeral. We arrived in Fresno and prepared for the first official gathering—the viewing. ...

The Second Extreme: Contempt for the Lost

Introduction

I've got good news, bad news, and hard news.

The good news: The best argument for God is the church. Everyday, God becomes accessible to a ...

An Attitude of Gratitude

Introduction

Not long ago, as I was talking with one of my teenage sons, he recounted an experience he had on a commuter train outside of New York City. ...

Those Who Rise

Introduction

The story is told of a farmer's donkey who stumbled into an old, dry well. For hours the animal cried piteously as the farmer tried to sort ...

Why Is There So Much Suffering and Evil in the World?

Introduction

Here are two photos, both showing scenes from two earthquakes of similar magnitude that happened within just days of each other just last ...

When the Going Gets Tough

Each one of has, at one time or another, played Tug-of-War. You know the game; you have a long rope, with one team on this end and one team on that end, ...

What God Doesn't See In You

In the 16th chapter of Samuel we read the story of how David was anointed king. God spoke to Samuel, the prophet, saying...

(v. 1) I am sending you ...

Crisis Management

Everybody likes to cheer for the underdog, don't they? People love to see someone beat the odds and beat the "giant". Whether it's Indiana ...

Harassed but Hopeful

Introduction

On November 14, 1999, thousands of churches around the world observed the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. This day ...

How to Keep UP in a DOWN Economy

Introduction

Recent downturns in the economy and corporate crime have resulted in lower pay raises, loss of jobs, loss of stocks, and nationwide hiring ...

Resilient Living

Since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C., I have heard the same word used to describe our nation, our economy, our people. The word ...

An Olive Grove Called Gethsemane

Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ opened Ash Wednesday to sold-out audiences in more than 3,000 theatres across the nation, bringing in about ...

What to Do When You've Blown It

Today we're going to look at a story about a man of God who "blew it" in a big way. He committed sins that you simply wouldn't expect a good man to ...

Dealing with the Distractions of Day-to-Day Life

We're in the third week of a series called "24/7"; it's about practicing the presence of God in your life throughout the day, all day, every day, seven ...

When The Going Gets Tough

Each one of has, at one time or another, played Tug-of-War. You know the game; you have a long rope, with one team on this end and one team on that end, ...

Power Over Temptation

After Jesus was baptized, Matthew tells us that he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Today we'll look at how Jesus ...

Overcoming Discouragement

Life is hard. Life is a battle. Saint Paul says we struggle in life, not just against the world and the flesh, but against invisible powers that struggle ...

Dealing With Discouragement

As you review the great names and personalities of the Scriptures, you become aware very quickly of the fact that almost all of them knew, at one time ...

Life: Where's the Beef?

Introduction

Is there any cuter commercial than the one for Wendy's with the old lady who asks a simple question: "Where's the beef?" ...