So … What’s the Plan?

Introduction

Last November I had the opportunity to register for classes for the January and Spring terms. Before I registered, I looked at what classes ...

Anguish in the Garden

Introduction

We have left the upper room where Jesus has identified the one who will betray him as he reclines at a table to celebrate Passover and institute ...

The Test

Introduction

Elie Wiesel, the great Jewish writer known best for his writing about the Holocaust, wrote many other things as well, including Messengers ...

Take Me to Your Leader

Let's look at today's text together:

Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount ...

Jesus Christ, Our Lord

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in ...

Lifestyles

Introduction

A group of scientists got together who wanted to win the Nobel Prize. They thought, What can we do that's never been done? How can we use ...

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. ...

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 ...

The Blessed Limp

Introduction

A blessing is a mysterious thing. In her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gilead, Marilynne Robinson's narrator is an elderly pastor named John ...

Total Freedom

From the editor:

Here's another great sermon from one of our featured preachers, John Ortberg. This is actually John's message from Palm Sunday (2009). ...

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 ...

Focus

Introduction

There's good news and bad news about our gospel passage. First the bad news: this is one of the most difficult, disturbing, and surprising ...

The World's Greatest Talk: Choices

From the Editor:

Just below, you'll find a few introductory remarks from Ortberg about his sermon. With that in mind, there really doesn't need to be much ...

Solomon's Wish

Introduction

If you could wish for anything in the world, what would it be? Some people wish they had different abilities. Others wish for a change in ...

Putting the Kingdom First

Introduction

In an article entitled "A new kind of urban Christian," Tim Keller argues that "Christians should be a dynamic counterculture. It is not enough ...

David's Last Words

Introduction

A life is a terrible thing to waste. In his life saving book, Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper recounts a story his father often told in ...

Long Live the King!

Introduction

According to ancient custom, the death of a ruler is greeted with the following words: "The king is dead; long live the king!" This may seem ...

A Royal Conspiracy

Introduction

The right to rule as king has been the occasion of many bitter conflicts. Often brother has fought against brother to wear the crown, forcing ...

King Me!

Trust Me

From the editor

As Marshall indicates in his introduction, few people ever rummage around in the final few chapters of Genesis. But the final events recorded ...

It's Not How You Start; It's How You Finish

Introduction

I once read an article that listed some of the greatest comebacks in sports history. The list included the 2004 American League Championship ...

The Miracle of Christmas

Introduction

In Luke 11:33–35, Jesus says, "Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live in wide-eyed wonder and belief, your body ...

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 ...

Paying Your Dues

Introduction

How many of you would say, "The truth is, I really am more clued in than my boss"? Who would say, "My boss, my company, my manager, my supervisor, ...

The Lord Is My Shepherd

Introduction

I don't know much about sheep. I was born and raised in the suburbs, and we didn't have sheep. In fact, they were probably illegal. ...

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 First Extreme: Conformity

Introduction

We have already met Jonah, a scowling, spiteful little man in a chronic state of bellyache. The meaning of his name—"dove"—just ...

What God Wants from You More Than Anything Else

Introduction

What does God want from you? What does he expect? Do you know?

That's a question that every person has to answer. Because if there is a God—and ...

The True Spirit of Christmas

Introduction

In one Peanuts comic strip, Lucy was saying that Christmas is a time for kindness and a time to forgive one another. Charlie Brown says: "Why ...

Taking God as your partner

Introduction

A little more than 300 years ago, a middle aged man named Nicholas Herman entered a monastery in France and lived the remaining 30 years of ...

A Spirit-Filled Workplace

Introduction

In Walt Disney’s fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the little men march off to work each morning singing, "Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off ...

Hilarious Hupotasso

Introduction

This is a hot button issue: the woman's role in church and family. Feelings are running high, and we all bring a certain bias with us.

First, ...

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Introduction

I had originally announced that I would be speaking today on the Christian's relationship to government, but in recent days the Lord has put ...

Rediscovering Marriage

Introduction

I think we'd all agree that marriage has fallen on hard times these days. They tell us that the number of people getting married has declined ...

Grace Under Fire

Introduction

When I was young, I used to love reading comic books. Not only did I enjoy comics, I used to enjoy looking at the advertisements in the ...

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 ...

A Spirit-Filled Church

Introduction:

The text before us is one of the most fascinating passages in the New Testament, because it interweaves the mystery of Christ and his body—his ...

A Spirit-Filled Marriage

Introduction:

John Maxwell gave his congregation an article entitled "The Ideal Wife." Under the subtitle "What Every Man Expects," it said: "Always beautiful ...

God's Design for Marriage

I saw a cartoon some time ago in which a preacher had prepared the pulpit area like a fortress. He was peering through the crack of a machine gun nest. ...