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
How We Come to Know Sin …
The law teaches us that it is God's desires, not our own, that are the measure of right and wrong.
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.
Jesus Is the End of Ethnocentrism …
Racial Harmony Sunday
With Jesus came a radically new way of defining the people of God: all who have faith in the Messiah.
"Father, Forgive, For We Know What We Are Doing" …
Sanctity of Life Sunday
All Things for Good, Part 2 …
A call to follow Jesus in the risks of love no matter what it costs.
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.
The Goodness and the Groaning of Growth …
Thoughts on Bethlehem's Future
Churches move forward by grace in the midst of great inadequacy.
Predestined for Adoption to the Praise of His Glory …
Reflections on Being Adopted by God and Adopting Children
We must understand and enjoy our own adoption before we can properly grasp what it means to adopt another.
Do Not Be Conformed to This World …
The Indigenous and Pilgrim Principle of Christian Living
What is the balance between being in the world and yet not of the world?
Using Our Gifts in Proportion to Our Faith, Part 1 …
The Gift of Prophecy
Honoring the Biblical Call of Motherhood …
A Tribute to Ruth Piper
Motherhood is the life-on-life transmission of a God-centered, Christ-treasuring worldview.
Is There a “Lord’s Day”? …
Setting apart a day of rest testifies to a self-reliant world that our work does not save or define us, Christ does.
Ten Aspects of God's Sovereignty Over Suffering and Satan's Hand in It …
Desiring God 2005 National Conference
Suffering and the Sovereignty of God
Delighting in the Law of God …
Summer Psalms
Sunday Evening Message
God Created Us for His Glory …
What is God's goal in creating and governing the world? How can I bring my life into alignment with that goal?
Sky Talk …
Summer Psalms
Sunday Evening Message
What are some practical steps that we can take to stay alive to the beauty of God's world?
What We See When the Spirit Reigns: Love …
If we are unmerciful, unforgiving people, if we hold grudges or cherish resentments or plan revenge, then what we are saying in effect to God is, "This is the way I prefer life to be." And so he will give us what we have preferred at the day of judgment; no mercy, no forgiveness, but only vengeance. If Christ has not changed us (and I don't mean perfection, but only significant change), then probably we have never known him.
All the Prophets Proclaimed These Days …
Since the first Christmas we have been living in the last days.
Is There Good Anxiety? …
Bethel College Chapel
Twin Cities, MN
Alone in a Big Church …
A Call to Small Togetherness
God designs human support to sustain his children's faith and to lighten the burdens they bear in the service of love.
Christmas as the End of History …
Celebration of Christmas
Christmas marks the arrival of the end of history, which will soon be consummated by Christ's second appearing.
Let the Young Speak …
There is no necessary connection between age and wisdom, or youth and folly. Wisdom comes from the Lord and is offered to all ages.
Call Me Husband, Not Baal …
The point of Hosea is that God exalts his mercy by not giving up on his promiscuous wife.
The Law Does Not Annul the Promise …
It would be terribly wrong to say that the Mosaic law was opposed in its teaching to the Abrahamic covenant.
The Happiness of God: Foundation for Christian Hedonism …
God is a perfect Christian Hedonist. It makes him happy to be God and to show us mercy.
Missions: the Battle Cry of Christian Hedonism …
The challenge is great. God is greater. The rewards are a hundred times better than anything the world can offer.
Christ Conceived by the Holy Spirit …
The Holy Spirit may be shy, but he is also omnipotent.
A Pastor's Role in World Missions …
Bethel Seminary Chapel
Twin Cities, MN
Let Us Walk in the Light of God …
If we are not walking in the light, we have no warrant for believing that our sins are covered.
Love One Another for Love Is of God …
The evidence of being indwelt by the Spirit of God is the experience of loving Jesus the way the Father loves him.
Job: Reversal in Suffering …
What God is after in all his dealings with his children is a brokenhearted joy that trusts like a little child in God and returns good for evil.
Called According to His Purpose …
No promise in all the world surpasses the height and breadth and weight of Romans 8:28.
The Beatitudes and the Gospel of the Kingdom …
The powerful mercy of the kingdom has already come in Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Our Hope: The Appearing of Jesus Christ …
The blessed hope of all who believe is the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Do you eagerly await the coming of Christ?
Preparing to Receive Christ: Something More Than Flesh and Blood …
To recognize and receive Christ for who he really is, God the Father must reveal it to you.
The Pleasure of God in the Good of His People …
God does not do you good out of some constraint or coercion. He is free! And in his freedom he overflows in joy to do you good.
Barnabas: The Goodness of Great Faith …
Consider the outcome of Barnabas' life and imitate his faith.
Let None Be Faithless to the Wife of His Youth …
Don't back out on your commitments, don't marry an unbeliever, and don't divorce your covenant wife.
Let God Be All in This Building! …
It's the absence of the centrality of the biblical God in all of life that is leading to the collapse of our civilization.
The Great Invitation: Come! Drink! Eat! Live! …
Don't let the advertisements for the world drown out God's invitation to heaven!
Battling the Unbelief of Impatience …
God says he will bless us if we wait patiently for him.
Do Not Say, "I Am Only a Youth" …
Youth is no excuse for not venturing something great for God.
All the Promises of God Are Yes in Christ …
Are you living in the fullest enjoyment of God's YES to you in Christ Jesus? Have you said yes to all of God's YES to you?
Jesus Is Alive to Serve …
Easter Sunday
Jesus died to meet your needs. He rose to meet your needs. He reigns to meet your needs—and make you happy in him forever.
Jesus' Name Made This Man Strong …
The Father is the ultimate source of all healing. Through Jesus the Father does his healing will.
Six Gifts of the Resurrection …
Easter Sunday
The greatest news in all the world is in order to make you happy and glorify Jesus, God raised him from the dead to reign forevermore.
Christ's Power Is Made Perfect in Weakness …
The market wants power to escape weakness in leisure, but Christianity offers power to endure weakness in love.
The Straight Paths of the Lord …
God is not aloof or passive or indecisive. He is a searching and saving God, a God on a mission.
Behold, I Make All Things New …
God wants us to have assurance that no matter how much evil and suffering and futility we see now, he will make all things new.
How the Saints Minister to the Body …
Love abounding in knowledge and discernment is what builds Christ's body.
A Model of Covenant Exhortation …
Don't get into people's lives only when things are falling apart; get in when things are going well and help each other keep that course.
The Prayers of the Saints and the End of the World …
No believing prayer is in vain. Ever.
The War Against the Soul and the Glory of God …
The two greatest issues in life are how the soul of man might not be destroyed and how the glory of God might not be belittled.
How Elder-Shepherds Prepare to Meet the Chief Shepherd …
When the Chief Shepherd comes, he is going to call elders to account and say, "Did you feed my sheep?"
The Greatest of These Is Love: An Introduction to the Series …
God is love. The implications of this for the way we live are big.
The Happiest Days of Heaven …
Jesus is the seeking heart of God going out after sinners and winning our repentance.
The Son of Man Came to Serve …
At the end of this season, receive the best present imaginable: Jesus giving himself to die for you and serve you.
He Sat Down at the Right Hand of Majesty …
Easter Sunday
We owe our purification to Jesus and we owe our being to him.
When Does God Swear? …
God swears by his own name in order to give his people unwavering confidence in his promises.
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.
The Place of Preaching in Worship …
Why is the proclamation of the Word so prominent in corporate worship?
Why God Inspired Hard Texts …
What are some implications of the fact that God has founded Christianity on a book that has difficult passages?
We Exult in God Through Our Lord Jesus Christ …
The biblical portrait of Jesus must be the essential content of your joy in God.
Righteous Job and the Rock Star …
What is the Almighty that we should serve him? Good question, depending on the tone of voice.
Whence and Why the Earthquake in Turkey? …
When love has wept and worked, it must have some answers. Not all the answers, but some.
The Overflow of Easter …
A Whole Theology of Resurrection in One Chapter
In just one chapter Paul outlines a whole theology of the resurrection.
How Open Theism Helps Us Conceal Our Hidden Idolatries …
If we deny God's power over evil and suffering, do we deny his wisdom?
If Christ Predicted War, May Christians Pray for Peace? …
God ordains that some wars happen. Ours is to pray that justice, peace, and the proclamation of the gospel prevail.
God Is Not Boring …
God is worthy enough to inspire an infinite number of new and imaginative expressions of his beauty.
What Unites Us in Worship at Bethlehem? …
What are the essentials of worship that go deeper than style and form?
Why Vote If You Are Disillusioned? …
Our calling in this world is not to wait for the arrival of the perfect, but to pick our way through the thicket of flaws.
How to Pray for the Pastoral Staff …
Eight gifts to ask God to give to your church's leadership.
What Is the "Bad Eye" in Matthew 6:23? …
If your emotions are drawn more by material things than by Christ then you probably aren't seeing the beauty of grace.
