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 ...

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 ...

The Agony of Victory

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 ...

From Here To Eternity: Getting Your Spiritual Life in Order

I changed long distance carriers a few weeks ago. I've never considered choosing a long distance carrier a particularly sentimental decision—basically ...

The Heart of a Servant

Introduction

We're in the final week of a series called Fuel for the Soul. We've been talking about things you can do to turbo-charge your spiritual life—to ...

A House on Hope Street

For many years John Cox and his wife, Wendy, did their best to provide a home for themselves and their three daughters. He was an itinerant youth minister, ...

Anakin's Choice

The TV makeover craze began a few years ago with a couple of shows that promised to transform ordinary looking people into beauty queens and chick-magnets. ...

Setting Sail

You know, I really don't understand myself sometimes. I want to do what's right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly ...

The Great Reveal

It's the most dramatic moment in any makeover show. It's the reason the participants endure 3 months of surgery, workouts, coaching, and separation from ...

Lectio Divina

A few months after I became a Christian, my youth pastor taught me a method of Bible study that has provided the foundation of my spiritual life ever ...

Path of Preparation

Introduction

One of the great tragedies of this century is the number of high-profile people who have professed faith in Christ and suddenly found themselves ...

Walking in Wisdom

Introduction:

I love the story of the young man of 32 who had been appointed president of the bank. He'd never dreamed he'd be president, much less at ...

The Heart of Worship

We're in a series called "Soul Survivor." It's about getting through life with your faith intact. In week one we talked about having assurance of your ...

Spiritual Priorities

About 15 years ago Robert Fulghum captured the hearts of millions of readers when he wrote his personal credo in a few short paragraphs. It was called ...

A Team of Leaders

I once heard a Baptist preacher say, "There are two things I would never want to be: the front pew of a Baptist church or the third verse of a Baptist ...

Plan BE

Last week we examined the seemingly impossible command to "imitate God"—and we saw that we imitate God by walking in love: showing forgiveness, ...

Stay In the Game

Anyone who has heard me preach more than a few times knows that I love a good comeback story. I love to read stories or watch movies or witness real-life ...

A Half Time Talk

Several years ago, my sons and I were watching the Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers in the playoffs. At halftime the Bills were down 35-3 and their ...

Getting Focused

For the past two weeks I've talked about the change that occurred in Peter's life. He went from being failure prone, impulsive, and brash to ministering ...

What Do You Think?

Here's a question many people wrestle with: Can a person change? I mean really change—stop being one way and start being another. I'm not talking ...

Dare To Be Different

We've just begun a new series from 1 Peter called "InCourage." It's about bold living in tough times. The purpose of this series is to encourage you ...

From Here to Eternity: Getting Your Spiritual Life in Order

I changed long distance carriers a few weeks ago. I've never considered choosing a long distance carrier a particularly sentimental decision—basically ...

Life in the Penalty Box

I'd like to just read an excerpt of someone who wrote to me from out of state and addressed the letter to me personally.

He said, "I'm 31 years old." ...

Spiritual Growth—My Job or God's?

Whose job is spiritual growth? Psychologists say one of the primary causes of conflict in households involves dispute over what's generally called division ...

Which Rung are You On?

I went to a restaurant, a type of place. As we were eating, this girl comes out with a bucket of Thousand Island dressing. She's coming out of the kitchen ...