A sermon without the gospel is like a boat without water. It may sound and look good, but you’re going nowhere. The gospel is what separates Christianity from just good advice. I was reminded of this recently when I heard a veteran pastor preach. His sermon style was great. His illustrations were on point. But…
I love Christmas time. I love the cold weather, Christmas shopping, Christmas music, mall Santa’s, Christmas movies, and of course the presents! But I have to admit that the thing I that love the most about Christmas is the lights. Every year my family and I have a tradition of bundling up in the car,…
On Friday, December 20, 1974, Chris Carrier was a 10-year-old boy living in Coral Gables, Florida. He was on his way home for school when his life traumatically changed forever. A man abducted Chris, stabbed him several times with an ice pick, burned him with cigarettes, shot him in the head, and left him to…
How often do we let fear stop us from telling people about Jesus? We fear being judged, appearing rude, or upsetting them. So we pretend everything is alright. We keep the gospel to ourselves. But deep down, we know they are headed for disaster. It’s a lot like the true story of King Gustav Adolphus…
Why do we cling so tight to our sins? We know it is hurting us. We know it is slowly destroying us. We have been warned. The problem is not a lack of information. For some reason, we would rather die than change. Thom Rainer tells the following story of a man who refused to…
Why did Jesus endure great pain and suffering on the cross for you and me? Why didn’t he save himself? He could have. With one word, Jesus had the power to come down from that cross if he wanted to. The soldiers even dared him to do it. So what compelled him to persevere in…
The gospel changes the way Christians think about death. Jesus took the punishment that we deserved. For all followers of Christ, death has lost its sting. It is not the end, but the beginning. In his book, Christ-Centered Preaching, Bryan Chapell shares the following illustration: As he drove his children to his wife’s funeral Barnhouse…
Years ago, I brought a group of high school students to a Christian conference in California. The first night, hundreds of high schoolers packed into the gymnasium to worship God and hear a message from the guest preacher. The preacher took the stage and gave a compelling sermon about how much we should love people….
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