Sermons by Tim Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC and NY Times best-selling author of ”The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.” For more sermons and resources, visit www.gospelinlife.com.
Paul says you have to work the gift of salvation into every nook and cranny of your life, and that you do that through spiritual disciplines. That’s how you change. But the modern mind finds some of these disciplines more appetizing than others. The idea of meditation is sort of cool. But obedience? That’s not very appetizing. And yet, this discipline tells us that you don’t get changed unless you’re willing to come in under the authority of God. Let’s look at what Psalm 119 shows us about 1) wh...
For the first time, in Mark 15, we have Jesus in front of the political establishment, the Roman state. So we have to ask the question, “What is the relationship of Jesus to politics, of Christianity to the government?” Pilate asks three questions. He asks Jesus, “Are you king of the Jews?” and, “Why aren’t you fighting back?” Then he asks the crowd, “What shall we do with the king?” The answers to these three questions are a lens by which to explore the relationship of Christianity to politics....
The word “blessed” in Hebrew is much richer than it is English. It means total fulfillment and well-being. How do we get that? The answer in Psalm 1 is that blessedness comes to a person who has learned to meditate on the law of the Lord. That’s an enormous promise. So let’s ask ourselves what we can learn about meditation, which is one of the disciplines by which we work grace into every nook and cranny of our lives. Psalm 1 teaches us four things about meditation: 1) the promise of meditation,...
You can’t escape the city anymore. Technology means the kids in the farmlands of Iowa are getting immersed in the culture that’s formed in the cities. The problems of cities dominate the regions and societies in which those cities exist. But as we see in Genesis, the city is a fundamental part of the human condition. And the Bible has some profound things to say about how Christians should understand the city. In Genesis 10 and 11, we learn three things: 1) the need for cities, 2) the problem we...
The story of Noah and the flood is about the fact that God is committed to creation, and he’s ready to give new beginnings. He’s ready to give a second chance. In Genesis 9, God says to Noah and his family the same thing he said to Adam and Eve. In some ways, it gives more detail into what kind of life we’re called into. In a sense, he’s saying, “You’re not really living a fully human life unless you maintain three great relationships.” He’s calling us into 1) a relationship with the earth, whic...
Some of you are thinking, “The idea of divine judgment is upsetting, outdated, and irrelevant.” My goal is to respectfully show you that you’re absolutely wrong on all three counts. The story of Noah and the flood is about divine judgment. And if we look at three things being taught in it, we’ll understand the meaning of judgment. And we’ll see what a difference these three things make for our lives. We’re taught here about 1) the violence of man, 2) the pain of God, and 3) the solution to both....
It’s fratricide, it’s brother killing brother, it’s a sensational story—the story of Cain and Abel. People call this the first case study of murder, but I think that’s missing the point. It’s actually the first case study of life east of Eden. In Genesis 4, we see three realities are always present in every day, every part of life east of Eden. It shows that in every aspect of life you always have three things operating: sin, grace, and the possibility of salvation. Let’s look at what this teach...
The Western romantic idea of human nature was that we’re inherently good. But the problem is over the last century, we’ve discovered that oppression and evil have not gone away but rather have erupted with ferocity over and over again regardless of social and political arrangements. This has created a crisis for the modern secular person. But the book of Genesis not only accounts for what we see, but also gives us enormous hope that there’s something that can be done about it. Let’s look at what...
Earlier in the twentieth century, the intellectuals of the Western world said it was our society and our institutions that were making us bad. If we changed them, then we’d get rid of atrocities, evil, war, racism, and poverty. But it hasn’t worked. More and more, the Western world is looking back at Genesis, and I believe if you’re smart, you will too. In Genesis, we can see how sin and evil came into the world, and we can see the results. What we have here is a diagnosis and then what God show...
At street level there’s still this saccharine view that human beings are basically good and our problems come from our environment. But the Western intellectual world is beginning to see evidence that there’s something inherently evil and violent in us. And if that’s true, there’s almost no hope. But if you look at Genesis, you have the only hopeful answer for how evil got here: it’s not natural, and therefore, there’s something you can do about it. The Bible says Adam and Eve lost their oneness...
We are created for relationship. One of the key differences I hope to show you between the biblical idea of God and other alternative views of God is in this whole idea of relationship. Genesis 1 shows us three things: 1) why we need relationships, 2) what kind of relationships we need, and 3) the key to getting relationships. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 29, 2000. Series: Genesis – The Gospel According to God. Scripture: Genesis 1:26-...
The book of Acts is all about the earliest Christianity. It shows us something about the character of the earliest Christianity, especially about where the church got its power. The book of Acts, but also the Bible in general, is bound to surprise you. No matter what your culture or what your class, no matter what conceptions and categories you come to the Bible with, it will smash some of them. This story in Acts about Philip and the Ethiopian is the same way. It will show us the inclusivity of...
Something is going on with work in our culture. We’ve lost our rhythms of work and rest. And work is becoming a crisis issue. In Genesis 1 and 2, work and rest come up in the very beginning of creation. This tells us that understanding work and rest is at the very essence of living a human life. Let’s look at what this says about 1) what we’re called to do (which is work), 2) how we’re called to do it, and 3) what we need in order to do it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redee...
If you live in North America or Europe, the question almost everyone has in mind when they read Genesis 1 is “How?” They ask, “How did it happen? How long did it take?” But how questions aren’t as important as why questions. What you really need to know about this world is why did God make it? What is it for? Why do we feel the way we feel about it? How do we live in it? Let’s look at what Genesis teaches us about 1) how the world began, but most importantly, 2) why the world began. This sermon ...
This episode explores spiritual warfare from Ephesians 6:14-24, focusing on the Christian's defense against evil. It details when to 'put on the armor of God' (before battle), what it means (internalizing faith), and how (through truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and prayer). The sermon emphasizes fighting evil with good, mirroring Christ's love and forgiveness.
The devil. Spiritual warfare. In Africa, Latin America, Asia, most places in the world, the idea of spiritual warfare—of a conflict between spiritual good and spiritual evil—is not an unusual concept. Many people in many parts of the world think this helps make sense of reality. But here in the Western world, we find it a foreign concept. Let’s look at this passage on spiritual warfare, and let’s notice 1) whom we fight, 2) what we fight, and 3) how we fight. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timo...
What it means to be a Christian is to be theologically driven—it means stuff about the cross, and grace, and redemption. And all those things have an effect on how we live in every area of our practical lives. It’s helpful to look at the big picture and to see how Christ really is Lord of every area of life. In Ephesians 6, two of those areas are laid out for us: work and family. Let’s take a look at this under these three headings: 1) Jesus and your work, 2) Jesus and your family, and 3) Jesus ...
Ephesians 5 is like a fair number of people in New York City. It’s both rich and famous. Because it’s so rich, you could work through it word by word and get quite a bit out of it. But it’s also advantageous to do what we’re going to do, which is to fly over the whole thing. In this way, we’ll get a panoramic view of the immense biblical wisdom on this subject of marriage. What we learn about marriage here is 1) what it is, 2) what it does, 3) what it needs, and 4) what it shows. This sermon was...
Christianity is not just a vitamin supplement. It doesn’t just come into your life and give you a little boost to live a better form of the life you’re living. It’s a sweeping revolution that affects every part of you. In Ephesians 5, we have a long passage on what it means to live the Christian life. And it’s not that we live in a certain way and, therefore, become Christians. It’s that we become Christians and, therefore, live in a certain way—because we’re saved not by what we do but by what ...
We all want to change. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t say, “I really need to change.” And one of the greatest things about Christianity is Christianity gives you the resources to change. Jesus Christ was born into this world to give us second birth. The idea of being born again means radical change. Often we don’t quite know how change actually happens. But Ephesians 4 gives four concrete principles for how the gospel helps us change. What does change mean to Christians? It means you have to 1...
In Ephesians 4, we find a pretty remarkable argument. The argument has three parts. The flow of the argument is that even though we have the life of the trinity in us, we live in spiritual immaturity until we’re willing to do the hard work of developing and creating unity in the church. Let’s take a look at each part: 1) the life of the trinity, 2) we live in spiritual immaturity, and 3) do the hard work of developing and creating unity in the church. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Kell...
