Jesus sent the seventy to proclaim that the kingdom of God had come near. The harvest was plentiful, but the laborers were few.

This sermon from Luke 10:1–16 calls believers to preach the kingdom, endure hardship, and serve the King with surrendered lives. The message remains unchanged: Jesus is Lord, salvation is in Him alone, and all people must come and worship the King.

Jesus gives sobering warnings in Mark 9:38–50. Do not hinder those whom God is using. Do not cause little ones to stumble. Do not let anything in this world draw you into sin.

This sermon considers the seriousness of sin, the reality of hell, and the call for God’s people to live as salt in the world.

In the parable of the two sons, Jesus exposes the danger of saying the right thing while refusing to obey. The issue is not religious appearance, but whether the heart is truly submitted to God.

This sermon from Matthew 21:28–32 calls sinners away from empty words and toward faithful obedience to the King.

The disciples wanted to know who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus answered by placing a child before them and teaching that unless they turned and became like children, they would never enter the kingdom.

This sermon from Matthew 18:1–4 considers the necessity of humble repentance. Before asking who is great in the kingdom, every sinner must ask whether he has entered the kingdom through Christ.

Jesus commands His people to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. In a world filled with anxiety, earthly priorities, and kingdoms of our own making, Matthew 6:33 calls us to reorder our hearts under the rule of God.

This sermon considers how seeking the kingdom first redirects our attention, shapes our pursuit of righteousness, and teaches us to trust the Father’s provision.

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. In Matthew 5:17–20, Jesus teaches that God’s kingdom, God’s Word, and God’s righteous standard stand forever.

This sermon considers the perfection required to enter the kingdom of heaven and the good news that Jesus fulfills the law’s demands for all who are saved by Him.

When Jesus began to preach, His message was clear: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The coming of the kingdom is good news, but it is also a summons. The King has come, and sinners are called to turn from sin and self and submit to His righteous rule.

This sermon from Matthew 4:17 considers repentance as a word of confrontation, action, and truth. The warning is urgent, the way of salvation is singular, and the hope of the gospel remains: repent and be saved.

John the Baptist had one message for the crowds: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" In this sermon on John 1:19-34, Pastor Ben Smith examines John's testimony of who Jesus is. John pointed to Jesus and declared two essential truths: Jesus is the Lamb of God, and Jesus takes away your sin. The wait is over. The promise has been fulfilled. Behold the Lamb of God.

Salvation is not determined by man's worthiness but by God's authority. It is impossible for sinful man, blind in sin, to receive and believe on Jesus for salvation. But God, rich in mercy, grants with His power and authority, by grace alone, for sinners to receive and believe in faith on Jesus and to become children of God. From beginning to end, salvation is entirely the work of God—a truth that brings both humility and unshakable hope to all who trust in Christ.

In these final two verses, Paul gives two commands and a closing blessing of grace. Guard the truth entrusted to you and turn away from anything and everything that distracts you from faithful obedience.

What does it mean to be rich?

The meaning of being rich is a complicated question. Though you may be rich compared to others, you may struggle to pay your bills. You may have a high income but great debt.

1 Timothy 6:2-10 instructs Christians who are poor how to live and relate to wealth. In verses 17-19, the Bible instructs wealthy Christians how to use their wealth for God's glory. In this passage, the rich are those whose wealth is such that they are not concerned with their basic needs and can afford comforts and pleasure beyond basic needs.

Christians with earthly riches are warned not to put any hope in their riches but to hope in God alone, trust in God's provisions, and use what they have for God's glory.

In the concluding words of 1 Timothy, Paul addresses Timothy as a man of God. From this passage, the Bible commands Christians to be set apart for God and called to faithful obedience because God is worthy of all the glory and honor.

Does the pursuit of worldly gain drive you, or are you driven by growing in godliness? This passage does not teach that Christians cannot have wealth or do well in this world. The issue at the heart of this passage is what drives your heart, what motivates your life, and what you see as the greatest value. Those captured and controlled by worldly things will be driven and motivated by worldly gain, but those who are servants of Christ will be driven and motivated by godly gain.

You might expect the cost of receiving the gift of atonement provided by the eternal Son of God to be high and costly. You might expect the requirements for exchanging your sin for the righteousness of Christ and being made heirs with Christ, adopted as children of God, to be complicated and difficult to achieve. However, in simple language, the Bible declares that to be saved from your sin requires the confession of Jesus as Lord and the belief that God raised him from the dead.

The instructions of 1 Timothy 4 are addressed to Timothy and his church pastoral leadership. At first reading, it may seem that verses 6-16 relate only to overseers' leadership, preaching, and teaching ministry of the church. Though these instructions are addressed to the overseer, they relate to the whole church in understanding proper biblical training, personal holiness, and the church's public worship. These instructions to the overseer help the church understand what should be honored and celebrated in the leadership of the overseer, the importance of personal holiness, and what should be honored in their public assemblies.

God inspired Paul to warn the church of demonic spirits that are working to deceive and lead some away from the faith. This danger remains a clear and present danger to the church today. Paul identifies the threat and then instructs the church to recognize and defeat these lies.

The sad reality of the present-day church culture is the lost understanding of the church's witness to God's truth and the hope of the gospel. Every faithful church and every church member should be living witness in their community to the truth of God and the hope of the gospel. This is the heart behind Paul's instructions in 1 Timothy 3:14-16. This passage teaches who has authority over the church, its purpose, and its message.

For all the advancements in modern media, the most effective marketing approach has remained unchanged since the creation of time. The most effective and powerful persuasive tactic is personal testimony. It is helpful to hear about all the features of a product and how it could improve your life. However, what will draw your attention and acceptance toward purchasing something is when someone you know says, I use it; it helped me; you should use it too.

In this passage, Paul declares that the primary purpose of Jesus coming in the flesh to earth was to save sinners. In making this point, he shares his personal testimony of salvation, his sin before Christ, and the grace that he has now received. Through his testimony, we see the common depravity all experience, the hope of salvation through Jesus, and the testimony and worship that follows.

No matter how far a child has wandered or how great a child has rebelled, godly parents do not give up hope that God will draw them back. No matter how long it has been, godly parents continue to call on the Lord to rescue their child and take every opportunity to speak the truth to their child.

This is the heartbreaking intensity with which Paul writes this passage. He loved the church at Corinth. He considered them his children in the faith. And he is brokenhearted that they may be led astray by wicked men. And so, he contends for them by preaching the truth in love.

It is good and helpful for you to think about and work out issues of theology and doctrine. Those under the Lordship of Jesus rightly desire to be as obedient to His word and faithful to His commands as possible. Therefore, those who are disciples of Jesus spend their lives working out their faith and striving to understand God's word better. And yet the saving gospel is not complicated or hard to understand. Sometimes faith to believe is difficult, but understanding it is not. This is the beauty of God's grace; salvation is found through faith, by grace simple enough for a child to understand, powerful enough to save the most wicked sinner.