Archive for the ‘Audio’ Category
Resources for Teaching about Hell
The doctrine of Hell is perhaps one of the most difficult in all the Bible. And it is a great sticking point for critics of Christianity, particularly in a post-modern culture that vehemently rejects the very notion of judgment. And quite frankly, it troubles many Christians as well. How can a God of love condemn people to eternal torment? I know I’ve wrestled with the tension myself. Yet the Scripture doesn’t leave much wiggle room. As emotionally appealing as universalism or annihilationism might be, such positions just don’t square with the clear teaching of Scripture. Yet how do we preach Hell? How do we communicate this doctrine to an unbelieving world? Many pastors aren’t sure, and so they simply don’t preach or teach on Hell at all. But this won’t do. Jesus spoke frequently about the reality of final judgment, and the New Testament authors were just as direct. If we intend to preach the whole counsel of God’s truth, we’re going to have to grapple with (and be bested by) the Word of God at this point.
If this is a doctrine you’ve been struggling with, or one that you’ve avoided preaching on because you can’t figure out how not to sound like an angry fundamentalist, I’d encourage you to get a copy of James’ recent sermon on Hell. Powerful stuff. Not only will it help you think Biblically about this important doctrine, but it also provides a good preaching template. Additionally, I recently gave a lecture entitled “The Difficult Doctrine of Hell” at one of Harvest’s monthly Apologetic forums. The focus of my lecture was on how Christians can communicate the Bible’s teaching on Hell to a secular world that finds the very idea of judgment and Hell offensive.
2008 Straight Up Conference Pics and Sermons
This most recent Straight Up Mininstry Leadership Conference was perhaps the best one yet (at least in my estimation). What a privilege to have C.J. Mahaney, John MacArthur, Dave Stone and Joe Stowell with us. We even had Bob Kauflin lead in worship for a session or two. We’ll be hosting some video from the conference in the weeks ahead, but for now, here are a couple of links where you can view some pics and listen to the main sessions .
2008 Conference Quick Links
Sermons I Photo Galleries
Hey! Free Sermon from the Straight Up Conference!
OK, so the Straight Up sermons are always free. Just trying to spice things up a bit.
The Straight Up Ministry Leadership Conference began in 2003, calling pastors and ministry leaders to take their eyes off themselves and to turn their hearts and minds back to Christ. The conferences provides a place for pastors to connect with Christ through dynamic preaching and worship, and to connect with other pastors and Christian leaders who are fired up about what God is accomplishing in the local church. Here’s a sermon from a past year’s Conference. You can download more sermons from Pastor James at our preaching page. NOTE: To download in IE , right click on “download” and choose “save target as…”
God Energizes Preaching
James MacDonald: God Energizes Preaching I download I
