Francis Chan - What will Heaven be like - Part II

Here is part 2 of Francis Chan's series, "What is Heaven like?" A great intro really sets up the message, and helps give us some perspective of our home away from home...

Here is the link!

Francis Chan - What will Heaven be like, part 1

I think you will be encouraged by this two part series of Revelations 21 by Francis Chan. He is passionate, practical, heart-felt and gospel-driven. A great sermon from a great man.

Click here for the link!

John Piper - The Triumph of the Gospel in the New Heavens and the New Earth

This message was given at the Gospel Coalition conference. It is strong, hopeful and passionate. Be encouraged.

Click here for the link!

How to listen to a sermon...

How to Listen to a Sermon
Understanding the Times
Derek Thomas

Sermons! They are the stuff of jokes! Like this on, which makes the rounds in different guises: “Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.”

Last Sunday evening I preached on that passage in Acts 17 where the Bereans are said to have “received the word with eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things [what they had heard paul preach] were so” (Acts 17:11). They knew how to listen to a sermon!

Which leads me to ask the question, How do you listen to a sermon? Or, perhaps better still, How should I listen to a sermon?

Interestingly, George Whitefield addressed this topic in the mid-seventeenth century in a sermon based on the words of Jesus in Luke 8:18, “Take care how you hear.”[1] I summarize (and, to be honest, update) what Whitfield said in six points:

1. Come out of a sincere desire to know what God has to say to you. Sermons are not for entertainment. They are to reform our hearts and teach us our duty towards God and men.

2. Give diligent heed to the things that are spoken. Listen as you would to the voice of your president in the Oval Office and remember, the King of Kings demands even more respect! The stuff of sermons concerns eternal matters and not just the things of this world.

3. Guard you heart against prejudice to the minister. Jesus could do mighty acts in Chorazin and Bethsaida because of their prejudice against him (Matt. 11:21). Even when ministers may urge something they themselves have not been enealed to do well, don’t refuse the urging on that account. If what they urge is biblical, receive as though Jesus were the one who spoke.

4. Guard your heart at over veneration of the minister. It was the Corinthian evil that they began to prefer one preacher to another openly with terrible consequences for the body of Christ. Though one may minister to you more than another, respect both for what God does through them to the body of Christ.

5. Make particular application to your own hearts of everything that is delivered. When our Savior spoke at the Last Supper that one of his own would betray him, all the disciples applied to his own heart, saying: “Lord, is it I?” (Matt. 26:22). Beware of that roving eye that says in a sermon, “That was meant for him” or “that was meant for her.”

6. Pray to the Lord, before, during, and after sermon. Pray that the minister might be endued with power, boldness to declare the whole counsel of God and not be intimidated by any. Even Paul needed prayer “that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph. 6:19-20).

Whitefield concludes: “If only all who hear me this day would seriously apply their hearts to practice what has now been told them! How ministers would see Satan, like lightning, fall from heaven, and people find the Word preached sharper than a two-edged sword and mighty, through God, to the pulling down of the devil’s strongholds!”

Check out the new Pick of the Week link!

You will notice a new addition to this newly formed and continually changing website. I have heard from a few people that it gets overwhelming seeing a new sermon every day to the point that you might just give up trying to hear any of them. First, I give a sermon every day to keep me in the word and also to give variety. I want to expose people to many different preachers. I am still experimenting with the best format, but I thought I would try a new addition where I highlight one sermon from each week. Is it the best sermon? I am not sure best is the right deterimination factor, but maybe it would be better phrased as a sermon that shouldn't be missed or a place to start... Let me know how else I can encourage you with some good sermons...

John Piper - Blessed are the Persecuted

John Piper is smokin' in a message with Heaven as the reason we suffer persecution. What a great message on why we suffer, how we should suffer and those who have suffered before us. The great thing about John Piper is that you can either read or listen to the sermons. Take a few minutes and encourage your hearts today.

Here is the link!

Steve Allen - To Die is Gain

I wondered how long it would be before I slipped one of my own sermons in... Well, I wonder no longer as I wanted to share one that I did a little bit ago at my church in Bellingham, Washington. This sermon was actually the first of three in a series (over 3 months:) on Philippians 1:21-24. I just listened to it again and was challenged again to live what I preached. I am no where near the quality or quantity of those whose sermons make this page weekly, but we all start somewhere. Thanks for your support of this blog and may we all live more each day like Heaven is real.

Here is the link! Just scroll down to Sunday, February 25 - To Die is Gain!

Randy Alcorn - Heaven

I have decided that this week will be about Heaven. All week, all Heaven. And we are starting off with Randy Alcorn who was the man who really set my life into motion with desiring to live with an eternal-minded mindset and life. He has a website dedicated to living for eternity - Eternal Perspective Ministries. He has several books, both non-fiction and fiction about Heaven. The most notable is a book appropriately titled "Heaven." I haven't chosen one message, but I have linked you to the audio page of his website with many different talks answering many different questions. I hope this will begin us aright and get our hearts and minds on things above.

Here is the website!