Christ, Culture, and Abortion …
Sanctity of Life Sunday
Social involvement is demanded by a biblical orientation toward life.
Thank God for the Mercies of Christ …
Festival of Thanksgiving
Pity Not Them Who Rise With Christ …
Easter Sunday
Christ is alive and able to persuade you that he is true and the greatest treasure in the universe.
No Condemnation in Christ Jesus, Part 2 …
If you are in Christ, all of God's action toward you is almighty mercy and omnipotent assistance.
"Father, Forgive, For We Know What We Are Doing" …
Sanctity of Life Sunday
All Things for Good, Part 3 …
God takes the initiative to cause a person to love him, and he takes the initiative to keep them to the end.
The Absolute Sovereignty of God: What Is Romans Nine About? …
John Piper tells how Romans 9 changed his life and then discusses its overarching theological purpose.
The Fame of His Name and the Freedom of Mercy …
God chooses who will believe and undeservingly be saved, and who will rebel and deservingly perish.
Let Love Be Genuine …
You can be a liberal hypocrite, and you can be fundamentalist hypocrite. But love is not that way.
Gospel to the Nations, Generosity to the Poor …
Missions Week
In the Pits with a King …
Summer Psalms
Sunday Evening Message
We're made of the same stuff as the saints of old, and they help guide us so that we persevere to the end.
Make a Case for Your Hope …
The way to get ready to make a case for your hope is to get hopeful. Apply yourself to settling the questions of your own heart.
Simeon's Farewell to the World …
Sunday Evening Message
Jesus' birth brought a new era in the history of redemption, but one that is still in complete harmony with the old.
Be Filled with the Spirit …
The fundamental meaning of being filled with the Spirit is being filled with joy that comes from God and overflows in song.
Your Job As Ministry …
How you do your job is an essential part of Christian discipleship.
World Hunger and Us …
Witnessing physical hunger should cause the church to wake up to the worldwide ravages of spiritual starvation.
Exodus for All the Earth …
God shows great power on behalf of his people so that others might see and fear.
Jesus Is Precious Because His Biblical Portrait Is True, Part 2 …
If you ever meet a man who cares nothing for the praise and approval of men (Mark 12:14), but whose one controlling desire is to glorify God whom he loves with all his heart, believe that man. He is true.
Jesus Is Precious Because He Removes Our Guilt …
Turn away from all the intellectual, physical, and religious tactics the world uses to evade its guilt, and rest in Jesus.
Better Never to Have Known the Way …
The more you know of Christ and his way, the more severe your judgment will be for not trusting and obeying him.
Where Is the Promise of His Appearing? …
Confident expectation of a new world of righteousness empowers us to live for peace and purity in the present.
And All the Earth Shall Own Him Lord …
Festival of Mission
In order to be acclaimed Messiah and Lord, the Son of God had to come, defeat the enemy, and lead his people out of bondage in triumph over sin and Satan and death. And that he did on Good Friday and Easter.
The Just Shall Live by Faith …
Would I gain my life before a holy God if I died tonight? Am I ready to take my stand in the divine courtroom and hear the Judge pass an eternal sentence on me?
In Sync with the Gospel …
When you finally hear and believe the drumbeat of the gospel, the rhythm of your step changes. There is a life in step with the gospel, and there is a life out of step with the gospel.
I Do Not Nullify the Grace of God …
The transgression against God is to presume that you can climb your way up a ladder of morality into his favor.
For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free …
Your enjoyment of freedom is much more important to God than many of the day-to-day decisions that fill us with so much concern.
Saving Faith Produces Love …
Being a loving person is absolutely essential to being saved, because the faith which saves by its very essence works through love.
Conversion to Christ: the Making of a Christian Hedonist …
We live in a superficially Christianized society where thousands of lost people think they do believe in Jesus.
Worship: the Feast of Christian Hedonism …
When worship is reduced to a duty, it ceases to exist.
God's Covenant Through Moses …
What was freely given under Moses was purchased by Christ.
God's Covenant with David …
When God makes a covenant he reveals his own job description and signs it.
The Spirit Will Give Life to Your Mortal Bodies …
Easter Sunday
If the Spirit of God indwells you, God is going to raise you from the dead at Christ's second coming and give new life to your mortal bodies.
Camaraderie in the Fight of Faith …
All Christians must lay hold on eternal life by fighting the good fight of faith.
Preaching Practical Holiness …
Bethel Seminary Chapel
Twin Cities, MN
Job: Wrestling with Suffering …
Why did God prolong Job's suffering? Didn't his initial reaction prove his faith?
You Shall Worship the Lord Your God …
Worshiping God is the number one duty of every human being.
Why We Need a Savior: Captive to an Alien Power, by Nature Children of Wrath …
We were dead to God, enslaved to Satan, and were rightfully under the wrath of God. There was only one hope, and it was not in ourselves.
Why Hope? Grace! …
From beginning to end our salvation—our election, our calling, our faith, our sanctification, and our glorification—is a work of divine grace.
The Fruit of Hope: Boldness …
A great hope produces great boldness.
Make Your Mouth a Means of Grace …
Four kinds of rotten language, and a whole new way to think about words.
The Pleasure of God in His Creation …
God rejoices in his works because his works are an expression of his glory.
Risk and the Cause of God: Today …
It is the will of the Lord that we take risks for the cause of God.
The Greatness of God's Electing Love …
Have you learned the love of God in a way that makes you tremble?
Christian Unity and the Cross …
The cross undermines the deepest basis of disunity and lays a new foundation for unity.
Christ's Purpose in Evangelism …
God wants people who welcome his strategic interruptions and surprises.
Battling the Unbelief of Covetousness …
All covetousness is unbelief. Learn how to use the sword of the Spirit to fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life!
The Dangers of Following Jesus …
Maundy Thursday Communion Meditation
Jesus had love to suffer for us that we might have faith to suffer with him.
Manhood, Womanhood, and the Freedom to Minister …
Manhood and womanhood are most fulfilled when servant-hearted men lead God's church in ministry.
Triumphant Light …
The light shines in the darkness—Jesus shines, the gospel shines, the church shines—and the darkness will not overcome it.
The Authority and Nature of the Gift of Prophecy …
Prophecy is prompted and sustained by the Spirit and yet does not carry intrinsic, divine authority.
Did You Kill the Lord of Glory? …
Do you join God in his affirmation of Jesus, or do you stand against God in the life of Jesus?
You Have Filled Jerusalem with Your Teaching …
We are not big. But we are part of something big.
Overflowing Grace for All Who Believe …
The Conversion of the Chief of Sinners
God's design in converting Paul is to give you hope for yourself and for the people you want to see converted.
God: Refuge for His People, Exalted Among the Nations …
Meditations on Signifiance and Success
One of the reasons we invest our lives in some insignificant ways is that we never become still enough to let the great realities hit us.
God Justified the Ungodly …
Being justified means being forgiven, being reckoned righteous, being loved by God, and being secured by God forever.
Israel and Us Reconciled in One Body …
Jesus is the point in redemptive history where the true Israel becomes the church of Christ and the church emerges as the true Israel.
Being Pro-Life Christians Under a Pro-Choice President …
Sanctity of Life Sunday
How shall we obey God's command to honor the king—or the president, or the governor—when they promote dishonorable deeds?
We Had Boldness in Our God …
Boldness is necessary if we don't want our lives to be lived in vain.
Girding the Mind to Guard Your Hope …
Avoid what numbs your mind to God and stay sober for the sake of hope.
Christian Identity and Christian Destiny …
God made us who we are to show the world who he is.
Arming Yourself with the Purpose to Suffer …
The Great Commission will not be completed without suffering.
Fasting for the King's Coming …
Shall we long for the Christ less than Anna longed for him?
Summer Is for Seeing and Showing Christ …
Without seeing Christ, the burden to show him to others becomes slave labor.
The Value of Relationships …
Unfolding Bethlehem's Fresh Initiative #1
All Christian relationships have this as their goal: to help each other stay satisfied in God.
Let All Who Seek Thee Rejoice and Be Glad in Thee; Let Those Who Love Thy Salvation Say Continually, "The Lord Be Magnified" …
Commitment Sunday of "Freeing the Future"
Our joy in God is both our worship and our evangelism.
Our Captain Made Perfect Through Sufferings …
We are saved by Jesus' suffering because that is what will glorify God most.
When Is Saving Repentance Impossible? …
It is possible that we who believe we are chosen might slide into a slow process of hardening and fall away from Christ.
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.
Obey Your Joyful Leaders, Part 2 …
Part Two
Elders should see themselves as servants, and the church should have a bent toward trusting them.
The Treasure of Faith in the Life of the Church …
The great aim of our ministry should be the same as Paul's: to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of God's glory.
The Perils of Disapproving God …
Every form of evil ultimately comes from failing to know, approve, and love God above all things.
God Does Not Repent Like a Man …
God is able to feel sorrow for something he has predestined, in view of foreknown evil and pain, and yet still will to do it for wise reasons.
Embracing the Pain of Shame …
There is a kind of shame that you should not be ashamed of.
Does God "Visit the Sins of the Fathers on the Children"? …
Getting Serious about Education for Exultation
Great and lasting things are at stake for future generations not only because of what we teach, but also because of what we are.
Why I Do Not Say, "God Did Not Cause the Calamity, but He Can Use It for Good" …
We surrender our hope if we sacrifice our belief in the sovereignty of God over evil.
The Ripple Effect of the Word …
More Thoughts on Reading and Writing
Fresh statements of old truth are always needed, because without them people will read error.
"Fact! Faith! Feeling!" …
Testing a Common Slogan
Don't Play the Lottery for Me! …
Why Christians should never knowingly take money won by gambling.
Bethlehem's Position on Homosexuality …
Submission to God's authority implies these six beliefs about sexuality.
A Surprise Endorsement for Doctrine …
If we are not willing to get a high estimation of doctrine from Scripture, perhaps we can get it from George Barna.
The City of God and the City of Man: Recommended Reading on Christian Engagement in Culture …
Suggested books and articles on Christians and civic life.
