They Gave It Their Best Shot—In Vain …
When it looks like he is buried for good, Jesus is doing something awesome in the dark.
Would You Accept Execution for Being a Christian? …
Can you honestly say with the psalmist, “the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life”?
Do You Ever Fast for More of God’s Power? …
The absence of fasting probably means the absence of deep longings for God’s power. And the absence of deep longing is one reason he waits to bless us.
Dream with Us About Taking Our City for God …
What unique things would your city contribute to the cause of Christ if his Lordship were established more fully there?
Summer Faithfulness Is Better Than December Desperation …
How to Have a Clear Conscience on Vacation
Happiness In Being Loved, and Loving In Being Happy …
The church gets its greatest spiritual advantage when its elders are leading with joy.
An Open Letter to a Friend in Heaven …
John Piper commemorates the life of an elder at Bethlehem who went to be with Jesus.
Be Wise, Buy the Summer Moment, Season with Salt …
What does it mean to let our words be "seasoned with salt"?
Talking to Your Tears …
When there is work to be done and you are sad, do it with tears, trusting that there will yet be a harvest of joy.
Charles Wesley’s Radical, Fruitful Risk …
A story of taking risks for Jesus, then seeing the remarkable results.
Consequences of Forgiven Sin …
We must not equate forgiveness with absence of painful impact.
What Keeps Me Going …
John Piper's life as a pastor hangs on his people's firm and growing stand in the Lord.
Why Does Bethlehem Exist? …
What I Said at the Leadership Retreat
Bethlehem exists to reassert God’s rightful place in all of life.
Abortion, Rescuing, and Your Action …
It is not a crime or sin to trespass in order to save a human life.
Urban Dreams and Bondage Breaking …
Broken societies are the kind that Jesus came to claim and heal.
For Men Only …
Playing, Planning and Paradise
Satan loves it when men drift and coast and let their lives be molded by the whimsical pressures of every day.
Not Just a Successful Church …
An Invitation to More
Why pray? Because God aims to make us co-victors with him.
"Safe Sex" Is the Slam-Dunk of the Devil …
Sin has a very high price tag. And it isn’t worth it.
Violence, Ugliness, and Thanksgiving …
If we do not believe we are deeply indebted to God for all we have or hope to have, then the very spring of gratitude has gone dry.
Soundbites from the Battlefield …
Sixteen quotes to motivate and make ready your heart for missions.
12 Reasons for Christmas …
Twelve arguments from the New Testament for why God became flesh.
Remarkable Answers to Prayer …
Getting Ready for Prayer Week
Prayer is like marriage. It should be a mix of both discipline and spontaneity.
Trembling With Joy Over My Escape …
Is trembling joy a fitting way to end the year?
The Imperfections of Good People …
How do we not resist imperfections when the Bible says, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”?
A Prayer Jesus Would Not Answer …
If the answer to our prayer doesn't come as we want, let us not assume that the Lord has no affection for us nor any tugs to do what we want.
God’s Invincible Purpose: Foundations for Full Assurance …
Lenten Sermon Series
Open Letter to the Star Tribune …
John Piper challenges the inconsistent reasoning of a pro-choice editorial.
Magnificent Manumission …
The whole concept of slavery as we know it is blown out of the water when God becomes the “Slavemaster.”
Why God Is Not an Abomination to Himself …
Meditation on Proverbs 17:15
How does the gospel avoid contradicting God's righteous standards?
The Fruitful Tree …
In Memory of Dr. George Henry (Noël's Father)
Reflections on Psalm 1 and Joshua 24:15
No tree was ever meant to be / A never-ending shade for me / Or you. Save one: where Jesus died / With bleeding branches spread as wide / And far as faith for sinful men.
Does God Have Civil Rights? …
Los Angeles, the 14th Amendment and God
Until God is given his rights, no human rights will have significance beyond convenience.
When a Friend Takes a Wrong Turn …
The Bible teaches that hell is everlasting torment, not the loss of existence.
A Million-Dollar Love Affair …
One test of our love is the way we support the ministry financially during the summer.
What Is a Christian? …
Christianity is not merely believing a set of ideas about Christ’s love. It is an experience of being constrained by that love.
How Can Elsie Run? …
It is possible for the sick and aged to win the fight of faith because it is a fight against lost hope, not against lost health.
Changes Are in the Wind …
A New Fall Focus on Being the Church
What does it mean to be the “church of God”?
Back to School: A Biblical Perspective …
The business of education is God’s business. To ignore him in it is to be profoundly uneducated.
A Preaching Plan for the Fall …
On Being the Body of Christ
Living Supernaturally As the Church of Christ …
We must seek to experience supernatural power daily in order to be the church.
Should Colleges Indoctrinate? …
Indoctrination is not the only alternative to faith-weakening education.
One Issue Politics, One Issue Marriage and the Humane Society …
Being a “one issue voter” does not mean that only one issue matters. It means that some issues matter enough to disqualify a person from public office.
"Render to Caesar the Things That Are Caesar’s" …
Beware of rendering too much to Caesar the way Pilate did (John 19:12). And when you render to Caesar do it only “for the Lord’s sake.”
Some Wonderful Words of Fear …
17 verses about fearing the Lord.
A Guide for Gift Buying (and Happiness) at Christmas …
Three guidelines for considering the relationship between wealth and happiness.
Has the Church Been Disarmed by the World? …
Has the church come to depend on the world for too much of our education, leisure, entertainment and interpretation of current events?
"If Anyone Hears My Voice and Opens the Door I Will Come in to Him and Eat with Him" …
Prayer Week ‘93
5 ways for focus on God during prayer week.
Pray for the Pastor's Conference …
John Piper introduces the subject and speakers for the sixth annual pastors conference.
Between Resignation and Triumphalism …
Neither resignation nor triumphalism is a safe place to live and minister.
Teenage Resolutions: For Mom and Dad …
16 resolutions for maintaining a healthy relationship between child and parent.
Does Unconditionality Conceal the Remedy? …
There is a precious experience of peace and assurance in the Christian life that is not unconditional.
Contracts, Covenants, and Self-Deification …
The person who pleases God makes a covenant, knowing that it may hurt to keep it, but does not change.
How Dangerous Is Our Faith? …
If unstable people are often drawn to religion as a way of expressing their moral delusions, it may not mean that true religion is the problem.
On the Way to Criminalizing Christian Truth-Telling …
Protecting persons with “preferences” should not automatically mean protecting them when they perpetrate their preferences.
Resolutions on Growing Old with God …
Eight resolutions for an aging saint.
An Open Letter to Naegle Signs …
7 reasons why sexually stimulating advertisements are destructive to society.
"The Righteous Are Bold As a Lion" …
A New Sermon Series
"Praying the Vision" …
Two Summer Dreams Take Shape, Part 1
What might God do when the whole congregation says, “Seeking the Lord in prayer is so important that we will give it prime time on Sunday morning, and not just a little sandwich slot on Wednesday evening”?
"The Gate Is Open" …
Two Summer Dreams Take Shape, Part 2
What kind of event could we invite people to that would not be too “churchy,” but would be a gateway into all the good things that “church” really means?
Legal Killing, Illegal Maiming …
We do well not to kill unborn human beings created in the image of God when they only lack time or air.
The William Carey Wild Card …
The William Carey Wild Card is a challenge to think in a radically heaven-focused way about your treasure.
The Iris by My Walk …
Thoughts on God’s Direct Involvement in Creation
God means for the beauty of every individual plant to be an occasion for our worshipping his specific creativity.
Does It Pay to Visit Vermin? …
Jesus did not say, “True religion is converting orphans," but “True religion is visiting orphans.” Results are God’s business. Obedience is ours.
All God's Commands Are Possible with God …
Christianity means that deep, fundamental change is possible, no matter your background.
Fireworks and Full Moon: A Parable …
Meditations from the Curb
Should we wonder at all that humans are oblivious to the glory of God when there are such clear parables of our blindness built into everyday experience?
Where Does Christian Living Come From? …
It is remarkable that again and again the apostle Paul confronts failure to do what’s right with failure to know what’s right.
It Is Great Gain to Die …
Five Reasons Why
What Will It Be Like at the Judgment? …
Supplement to August 1 Sermon
What about the New Covenant promise that God will not remember the sins of his people? Will they be remembered at the judgment day?
What to Do When You Have Made an Expensive Mistake …
On Swearing to Your Own Hurt
Where do we get the strength to follow through on commitments that cost us?
Do You Want to Make This Statement? …
God loves it when his people praise his Son in public.
A New Sermon Series Begins …
John Piper announces a sermon series on 1 Peter.
Join the Life Chain Again This Year …
Do you have a plan to do something for the children who cannot speak for themselves?
Why Being Truth-Driven Is So Crucial …
Our concern with truth is simply an echo of our concern with God.
Praying for What Cannot Fail …
We pray, not because the outcome is uncertain, but because it is certain.
How Do You Obey the Command to Be Born? …
The call of God creates what it commands.
A Gift to You from CHEF …
What’s that? And who’s Jon Bloom?
John Piper introduces the Christian Hedonism Expansion Fund (CHEF) and its mission.
An Amazing (Unused?) Means of Change …
The ability to think is a gift from God and an immensely powerful means of our becoming what we ought to be.
When Words Are Wind …
In grief and pain and despair people often say things they otherwise would not say, and we should not reprove them.
Let's Find "Grace for a Well-Timed Help" Together …
Hebrews 4:6 reminds us to seek God not only for the kind of grace we need but also for the timing of it.
Can We Give $300,000 in Six Sundays? …
From a human perspective 5000 people could not be fed from five loaves and two fish. But that was not Jesus’ perspective.
How I Was Moved to Tears …
What prayer commitments might God be nudging you to make?


