January
Passion for the Supremacy of God, Part 1 …
Passion
Austin, TX
Building a God-Focused Ministry …
Passion, Leaders Seminar
Austin, TX
Passion for the Supremacy of God, Part 2 …
Passion
Austin, TX
"Please Feed Me More!" …
The Cry of Dying Faith
If you are dissatisfied with your Christian courage, joy, and purity of heart then you should check the way you are feeding your faith.
Purified to Serve the Living God …
How can people destroyed by their sin draw near to a perfect God?
Some Questions to Ask When Considering a Job …
Twelve questions and the Scripture passages that prompt them.
Be Strong and Fervent in Spirit in the Cause of Truth and Life …
Sanctity of Life Sunday
Boredom with Christ is blindness. Open your eyes and let him inspire in you a new passion for the cause of life.
How the Called Receive an Eternal Inheritance …
How is the New Covenant like a last will and testament?
The Origin of Calvinism …
The Bible, for Calvin, was above all a witness of God to the majesty of God. This led inevitably to what is the heart of Calvinism.
February
Triumphantly Encouraged: The Privilege of Ministry, Part 1 …
Desiring God 1997 Conference for Pastors
Triumphantly Encouraged: The Privilege of Ministry
The Divine Majesty of the Word …
John Calvin: The Man and His Preaching
1997 Bethlehem Conference for Pastors
Triumphantly Encouraged: The Privilege of Ministry, Part 2 …
Desiring God 1997 Conference for Pastors
Triumphantly Encouraged: The Privilege of Ministry
Triumphantly Encouraged: The Privilege of Ministry, Part 3 …
Desiring God 1997 Conference for Pastors
Triumphantly Encouraged: The Privilege of Ministry
Devoted to Discipline and Doctrine …
Desiring God 1997 Conference for Pastors
Triumphantly Encouraged: The Privilege of Ministry
Triumphantly Encouraged: The Privilege of Ministry, Panel Discussion …
Desiring God 1997 Conference for Pastors
Triumphantly Encouraged: The Privilege of Ministry
World Evangelization: God's Priority for Pastors …
Desiring God 1997 Conference for Pastors
Triumphantly Encouraged: The Privilege of Ministry
Loving the Second Coming and the Assurance of Salvation …
Do we long for Christ's return or are we anxious that it might interrupt our worldly plans? Eternity hangs on this question.
Please Pray for Me as I Write …
A glimpse into what books John Piper aimed to complete, with God's help, on his 1997 writing leave.
March
The Pleasure of God in Peacemaking …
Peacemaker Ministries Keynote Address
All the Angels Are Coming with Him …
Have you ever wondered what joy and hope sustained Jesus in his horrific hours of suffering?
Let Us Draw Near to God …
Palm Sunday
Drawing near to God is the heart of the gospel, and we are called to embrace it with informed zeal.
Executive Pastor: What and Why? …
Having an Executive Pastor seems like an ideal way of unleashing the ministries of the church and maximizing the contributions of each pastor.
What Jesus Built by Rising from the Dead …
Easter Sunday
April
What is a “Root of Bitterness”? …
A "root of bitterness" is a person who has a wrong view of eternal security.
Consider Each Other How to Stir Up Love …
Consider others—study them, know them, figure them out—to the end that you stimulate them to love and good deeds.
What Does the Slaughter of the Amorites Mean? …
God’s dealing with Israel was unique in redemptive history. The church cannot presume to imitate everything they did.
Woe to Those Who Trample the Son of God …
Threatening judgment is an effective (and biblical) way to motivate people.
“There Was Much Water There” (in Minneapolis) …
Why a Series on Baptism?
Five reasons why Pastor John is going to preach a sermon series on baptism.
May
I Baptize You with Water …
The Baptism of John
What was significant about John's baptism, and how does it relate to the way we baptize today?
How Old Is Infant Baptism? …
What do the biblical references to "households" being baptized mean?
Lutheran, Episcopal and Catholic Views of Infant Baptism …
Summaries of how three major traditions view and practice infant baptism.
The Supremacy of God in Preaching …
Christian & Missionary Alliance General Council
Milwaukee, WI
The Supremacy of God in Prayer …
Christian & Missionary Alliance General Council
Milwaukee, WI
The Supremacy of God in Missions …
Christian & Missionary Alliance General Council
Milwaukee, WI
June
Problems with Inclusive Language Translations of the Bible …
Certain editions of the Bible risk letting contemporary cultural pressures distort the original meaning of Scripture.
When God’s Will Is That His Will Not Be Done …
Meditations on 1 Samuel 2:22-25
Sometimes God ordains that sin continue for holy and just reasons, which is not sin on his part.
Is It Right to Say, “If I’d Prayed, He Might Have Been Saved?” …
When God predestines someone's salvation, he usually predestines a human agent too.
The Faith of Noah, Abraham, and Sarah …
Installation of Chuck Steddom As Minister of Worship and Music
Saving faith isn't merely the one-time act of receiving Jesus. It goes on trusting him.
How Dispensable is Gender? …
Twenty five questions about the significance of gender in the Bible.
The Hope of Exiles on the Earth …
God honors faith and obedience by using all of his wisdom, power and love to turn that kind of life into one of great joy.
July
Enjoying God and the Transformation of Culture …
The Jonathan Edwards Institute Conference
Annapolis, MD
The Unashamed God …
Meditation on Hebrews 11:16
Two things make God unashamed to be called our God: that he has prepared something great for us, and that we desire it above everything else.
A Mind in Love with God …
The Jonathan Edwards Institute Conference
Annapolis, MD
August
Cherishing Truth for the Sake of Love …
There is a biblical order to truth and love: truth first.
What? Me Hostile to God? …
Meditation on Colossians 1:21-22
Most people imagine God to be the way they want him to be, which seldom includes the possibility that they might be his enemy.
Running with the Witnesses …
Be encouraged by the thousands of saints who have finished the race and testify, "It can be done! By faith it can be done."
The Painful Discipline of Our Heavenly Father …
God is not an ER doctor who only repairs our hurts; he is a master surgeon who plans our hurts in order that he might do us greater good.
Fail Not to Obtain the Grace of God …
Knowing that God's discipline is for our good helps us press on in faith.
September
A Hunger for God …
Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer
A Hunger for God …
Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer
“Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger of a homesickness for God” (p. 17).
News! News! News! …
We need joyful, breathless news-bringers, not just intelligent news commentators.
You Have Come to Mount Zion …
Obedience is not our way of getting God to do something. It is how we act when we trust that God is already working for us.
Why Worship and Ministry Fridays? …
Ten reasons to set aside a Friday night each month for corporate worship.
Small Group Life in the Power of God's Promises …
The promises of God are the key to love and victory over sin. But we need people in our lives to "encourage us day after day" with those promises.
Celebrating Two Concurrent Decades of Faithfulness to Youth and Adults …
A celebration of the ministries of David and Karin Livingston and Brad and Cindy Nelson at Bethlehem Baptist Church.
Be Strengthened By Grace …
How can I find and keep the strength I need to obey God's commands?
What If Our Dying Is Discipline? …
Meditation on 1 Corinthians 11:29-32
Sometimes God takes a sinning saint because he loves him too much to let him go on in sin.
Let Us Go with Jesus Bearing Reproach …
Christians have a hope that frees them to move toward need, not comfort.
October
Obey Your Joyful Leaders, Part 1 …
Spiritual leaders are to keep watch of the word, of Christ, of themselves, and of their people.
The Pistol Star and the Power of God …
Meditations on Science, Sight and Divine Splendor
The cosmos exists to help you know God, the Maker. And the main message is that he is very great and that we are very small.
Obey Your Joyful Leaders, Part 2 …
Part Two
Elders should see themselves as servants, and the church should have a bent toward trusting them.
Find a New Way to Love …
God is wakening people to the astonishing reality that they can be different and better in the way they love others.
It's All the Work of God …
Christians are secure, not because they are strong, but because God is sovereign and faithful to his new covenant promises.
World Missions: The Purpose, the Promise, and the Price …
"All the nations" is an essential component to the purpose, the promise and the price of world missions.
World Missions and the End of History …
Missions Week
The price will be high, but God's promise that the gospel will spread to all nations will be fulfilled by his omnipotent hand.
Her Body, Her Self, and Her God …
The biblical goal of a woman’s life is not to find the ultimate expression of self—whether in body or character—but to express the greatness of God.
November
Don't Go to Church! …
Corporate worship will be at Bethel on Sunday so that all of Bethlehem can gather in one place to give thanks to God for the past year.
Men at War: Pursuing an Undistracted Passion for God, Part 1 …
Bethlehem Baptist Church Men's Retreat
Twin Cities, MN
Men at War: Pursuing an Undistracted Passion for God, Part 2 …
Bethlehem Baptist Church Men's Retreat
Twin Cities, MN
Who Was Jesus' Grandfather? …
Apparent contradictions in the Bible—such as the genealogies of Jesus—have possible and plausible solutions.
All of Life as Worship …
God is worshiped when we seek to express and increase our satisfaction in all that he is for us in Jesus Christ.
December
The Enormous Ignorance of God …
When God Doesn't Know the Future Choices of Man
Bodies, Breakfast and the Marriage Bed …
Meditation on Daily Worship
You are always in a temple—your body. Therefore, always worship.
Darwinism and Christmas …
When humans celebrate Christmas, is it essentially the same as ants doing some instinctual dance?
Summary of the Sovereignty of God in Salvation …
The "Five Points" of Calvinism
Magnifying God with Money …
How can money be used to worship God?
Desire Starters and the Night of Prayer …
If your desires are weak, here are thirty four desire starters.
