Liberation

Introduction

Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision, has a book called The Hole in Our Gospel. In this book he tells a remarkable story about a ...

Lost and Found

Introduction

Some of you may have heard of Anthony Bourdain. He has a reality show on The Travel Channel called "No Reservations." He's a chef who travels ...

God Is Present and Powerful

Introduction: Our struggle with sin

We've been trying to renew together our vision of who God really is. Everything good in life flows from the person ...

Defiled and Cleansed

Introduction

Today we're going to look at Numbers 5:1-10. This chapter is easy to outline because of the phrase that is repeated three times, in verses ...

The Price of Pride

Introduction

You've probably heard the expression, "Into every life, a little rain must fall." I was reading an article about a movie star who was having ...

Getting Out

Introduction

I want us to look at the account of the crossing of the Red Sea. You might call it the climax or epitome of Exodus. It's hard to overstate ...

Danger! Worship in Progress

My hometown, Britton, South Dakota, celebrated its 125th anniversary last weekend on the 4th of July. The population sign on the edge of town says 1,328, ...

Deep Clean

Whatever became of sin?

Some years ago a Harvard psychiatrist wrote a provocative book entitled Whatever Became of Sin? In it he expressed his fear that ...

Community: The Context for Change

Story behind the sermon (from John Ortberg)

I am a huge N. T. Wright fan, and I think some of his material on the role and destiny of human beings is a ...

Jesus Christ: His Human Nature

"The gospel of God … regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendent of David …" (Romans 1:3).

Paul says, "Jesus Christ is ...

Looking Up to Heaven

A shattered Colossus

The poet Percy Bysshe Shelly tells of meeting a traveler from an "antique" land who describes the ruins of a great statue in the desert. ...

The Judgment of Grace

Chapter five of Daniel addresses the question of what would happen if you gave a party, and God crashed it. Nebuchadnezzar was no longer on the throne. ...

The One That Got Me

Introduction

Let me begin this final sermon in our series with our Scripture text:

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, ...

The Deep Truth

Introduction

Back in 1899, four reporters from four different Denver newspapers didn't have a story for the morning paper. They decided to make up a story—to ...

I'll Take What You Have

Introduction

We're continuing our series on the Ten Commandments, and this morning we come to the eighth one: "You shall not steal." It's amazing how creative ...

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. ...

Making Parents Weighty

Introduction

We've been working through the Ten Commandments and today we come to the fifth one: "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God ...

Murderers and the Murdered One

Introduction

We're in our sixth week in our series on the Ten Commandments and today we're talking about the sixth commandment, Deuteronomy 5:17: "You ...

The Name

Introduction

Today we're on our third sermon in a series on the Ten Commandments. Imagine if everybody on the planet obeyed the Ten Commandments. In a ...

The Right God, the Wrong Way

Introduction

Last week we began a series on the Ten Commandments. We saw that the Ten Commandments weren't given as a requirement for salvation, but rather ...

God Only

Introduction

This morning we're beginning a series on the Ten Commandments. These are familiar to just about everybody. Well, sort of. I heard about a ...

Rediscovering the Sabbath

Introduction

While I was leading some pastor training in the Philippines, I broke the pastors up into small groups and had them share various things ...

Forgiven, Forgotten

Introduction

Guilt runs rampant in the body of Christ. Though you already know you often feel guilty, it's important that we say it, because you would ...

Right Smack in the Middle of Sin

Introduction

Every single one of us has had those times when we have not looked forward to seeing particular people: a disappointed mother or disgusted ...

A Heartbeat from Disaster

Introduction

In this particular passage of Scripture, the nation of Israel, to the north, has fallen so far from God's desire and purpose that he has ...

It Doesn't Sting Anymore

Introduction

Tony Campolo, at the end of a sermon titled, "The Year of Jubilee," tells this story:

I went to my first black funeral when I was 16 years ...

Not in Vain

Introduction

I was talking to a friend the other day. "I know you aren't much of a churchgoer," I said, "but I'd like to invite you to church this Sunday ...

Learning from Tiger Woods

From the editor

In late November 2009, a series of events led to a bevy of stories about infidelities on the part of golf's greatest player, Tiger ...

Raw Ugliness

Introduction

On one level, this is a brilliant story handed down to us by a brilliant storyteller. This is a gripping, plot-twisting, edge-of-your seat ...

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 ...

Why Are You Angry?

Text: Genesis 4:1-12
Topic: How to overcome anger.

From the editor:

Here's a great sermon from one of our featured preachers, David Anderson, that is sure ...

When Sin Creeps In

From the editor

If you remove the first three chapters of Genesis, anything goes. So much foundational theology is packed into those seminal verses. One ...

Forgiven and Forgotten

Text: Hebrews 10:1-18
Topic: The effectiveness and scope of Christ's forgiveness of our sin

From the editor

As Brown points out at the very start of his ...

The Lostness of Humankind

Text: Romans 1:18-25Topic: A look at mankind's journey through rejection, separation, domination, and condemnation—and his opportunity for redemption ...

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Introduction

"No one ever told me that grief felt so much like fear." That is how C. S. Lewis begins his book A Grief Observed, a compelling account of ...

A Brand New You

Introduction

I've got hundreds of things around the house that I would like to see made new—sofa cushions that have begun to sag, kitchen cabinets ...

Jesus Face to Face

Introduction

If you had the opportunity, who would you like to meet face to face? Is it someone living? Someone who has already died? A celebrity? Nobility? ...

What if it's true?

Introduction

Several friends were talking in a restaurant when the conversation came around to dying. They asked each other what they would like to have ...

On the Cross

Introduction

A.D. abbreviates the Latin words "Anno Domini," which means "Year of Our Lord." Our calendars are all dated by the birth ...

Crown of thorns for the King of Kings

Introduction

It's almost Easter, but do you remember Christmas? We heard the joyous story that starts on the first page of the New Testament. Matthew ...

The Greatest Trial Ever Held

Introduction

It was a long and difficult night. Jesus' best friends abandoned him. One of his closest colleagues committed suicide. Police arrested ...

Moving Towards Reconciliation

Introduction

Victor Hugo's novel, Les Miserables, is a story about Jean Valjean, who was sentenced to a nineteen-year prison term for stealing a loaf of ...

Openness

Introduction

I don't know many people who want to come to the end of their lives and say, "I never made an impact on anything or anyone?but I'm okay with ...

Angels: A Song of Peace

Introduction

We've been looking at Christmas songs preserved for us in Scripture. Some, like Zechariah's song last week, are completely foreign to most ...

A Bleeding Hearts Club?

Introduction

Suppose someone were to describe you as "a bleeding heart?" How would you feel about that? That expression is often attached to ...

The Heartbreak Gospel

Introduction

Last week we began our study of the Beatitudes: Jesus' intriguing list of people who are blessed and well-off. Suppose we were to come ...

It's No Mistake

From the editor:

One of the more important things you can do for your listeners—both believers and nonbelievers alike—is to find an appropriate ...

King Me!

Wait for the Morning

Introduction

Right after the Virginia Tech University massacre, the worship leader at a community worship service turned to this text. On behalf of those ...

Annihilate the Amalekites

From the editor:

One of the chief hang-ups people have with God is the wrath he pours out in the Old Testament. How can a loving God call for the slaying ...