The first gospel sermon was preached to an audience that had more personal connection to the events of the gospel than any audience since. They were eyewitnesses or near-witnesses of the birth, the ministry, the crucifixion, and the reports of the resurrection. Peter preached by the…
Chapter two of I Timothy governs two aspects of congregational life: prayer and the conduct of women. Both are anchored in theological claims rather than mere convention. Prayer for all men — including kings — is grounded in the universal saving will of God and the…
Chapters four and five of I Timothy are a preacher’s handbook: how to identify and resist false doctrine, how to invest personal time and energy, how to set an example in the right areas, how to handle reproof without offense, and how to care for widows…
The rich fool was successful by every external measure. He was a failure at the only measure that counts. His five mistakes — disregarding God, selfishness, equating himself with a beast, planning to live without work, and expecting a soul to thrive on temporal things —…
This parable is usually preached for comfort — “even one talent is enough to be faithful” — and that comfort is real. But the outcome of the parable is not comfort; it is judgment. The one-talent man is the cautionary center, not a reassuring footnote. The…
James’s one sentence — “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14) — contains within it both the greatest urgency and the most clarifying perspective…
The New Testament is the inspired Word of God because Christ, who possessed all authority, delegated it to the apostles, and the Holy Spirit guaranteed the accuracy and completeness of their record. Some people accept the Old Testament as inspired by God but hold the New…
“It is well to tell the sick of a physician; the poor of riches; the dying of life; the lost of a Savior; and the impenitent of hell.” The opening line is exactly right. This is not a subject a preacher enjoys. But silence on hell…
The Christian home is God’s nursery and training school — the first and most influential church any child will ever attend — and its success depends on parents who are Christians first and children who are taught to obey God through obeying their parents. God established…
God has always required His people to give; since we own nothing but merely steward what is already His, the Christian gives himself first and then his means — liberally, freely, willingly, as he has prospered, regularly through the church and as need arises among men….