I love this: “accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). When I was a kid, I memorized this verse in the King James Version as “rightly dividing the word of truth.” Actually, in the original Greek there’s just one word. It’s a compound word that means cut it straight. Don’t you love that [...]

The sum total of human opinion is often very inaccurate—and we are neither as bad as our critics say, nor as good as our fans say. I like to make scriptural lists…and the one I brought to church with me last weekend was this list of five biblical thoughts on public opinion.

Nothing stirs my heart about faithful service to Christ and His church more than a fresh account of God at work through the power of the Gospel. Watch the story below, shared in our services last weekend, and be encouraged.

Upon moving into our Elgin campus, we made an amazing discovery. In a random filing cabinet drawer buried beneath boxes and trash, we found a stack of paper three inches thick, bound together with rubber bands.

Contrary to popular opinion, God has done more than give us good news He wants to get out. He has given us a manner that must accompany every method and a rationale for that manner.

The single term that best describes the way God wants his gospel given is boldness. And because it’s translated various ways, even faithful students of Scripture might overlook its frequency.

Looking back, we can see that much of what went wrong with preaching at the end of the last century flowed from men determined to connect with their listeners. At the time, many preachers were understandably fed up with profitless Bible babbling that inflicts boredom on

You can’t fake glory. You can’t manufacture it, or manipulate it, or manifest it at will. Only God Himself can bring glory into a church, and when He does, communities get shaken and lives get changed, and the fame of Jesus Christ curls continuously upon the shore of human hearts

The New Testament knows nothing of an unbaptized convert. Jesus asked us to do two specific things—to remember His sacrifice with the bread and the cup, and to be baptized. I’ve been preaching verse-by-verse through the book of John in a study called Authentic Jesus. A few weeks ago the entire message was dedicated to [...]

Let’s grow in our capacity to discern. Make a note of these four myths attacking the church today. Some you might be aware of, others maybe not at all. They are messages crafted for itching ears that damn the souls of men.

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word!

This year at Harvest we’re walking verse-by-verse through the book of John. Last weekend’s teaching was on Christ’s first public miracle, at the wedding in Cana. And while God does not promise prosperity or healing in every circumstance (2 Corinthians 12:7), He does continue to work

While it’s exciting to hear what people have to say about the Bible, I don’t think there’s any better way to appropriately understand what we’re holding, than to look at what God’s Word has to say about itself.   “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is [...]

The Hebrew shalom is a universal greeting; it means “peace, a complete state of well being.” But the New Testament significantly expands the concept of peace.

Again, consider this amazing verse of Scripture that tells of Jesus Christ and what He came to accomplish. Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder:

I love my children, and they love me. I love my father, and I have always known his love. But hear this: No human can fill the Father hole in the human heart. A good father helps, but

Consider again Isaiah 9:6, overflowing with a richness of depth and dimension about our Savior Jesus Christ: “Unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given. And the government shall be

You know you’re talking to a wonderful counselor when they open the Scriptures and speak the Word of Christ into your life. Find people who will go against the grain of what you want (counseling to your flesh) and speak the Word into your life that you need.

Names are very, very important. When you call someone out by their name, it’s kind of a big deal. Calling someone by their name indicates that you know them—that you know who they are. There’s a connection that happens when you know someone by their name…and Jesus’ names are the most important of all.   [...]

Thoughts on preaching, continued…   3: You must be in God’s Word for yourself, every day. Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became for me a joy

Summer is prime time to bring our focus back to our families and strengthen them in the truth. If building your family on the truth were easy, everybody would be doing it—but many aren’t. Diligence and persistence are absolutely necessary. In the book of 2 Timothy, the apostle Paul was writing to a young pastor [...]

People often ask me if I have a life verse. If I do, it is Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart.” It’s kind of my testimony. I was going nowhere in a hurry and I found this [...]

Happy New Year! I just preached the first message of 2010 from Exodus 16. I challenged our church family to make a plan and spend time in God’s Word every day this year. I made a commitment to read through the whole Bible this year. And by God’s grace, I will! We need God’s Word [...]