What if the gospel was your priority? What if you shared the Truth to those around you without holding back? Like Peter and John in Acts 4:13, E.V. Hill and S.M. Lockridge preached with confidence inspired by their passion for Jesus. What if we followed their example--and changed our world?
Katharina, the wife of Martin Luther, is one of the unsung heroes of the Protestant Reformation. She lived as a revolutionary role model for her time--and ours--devoted to her husband and family. She and Martin established a godly partnership for the Gospel, profoundly impacting the definition of Christian marriage.
Katharina, the wife of Martin Luther, is one of the unsung heroes of the Protestant Reformation. She lived as a revolutionary role model for her time--and ours--devoted to her husband and family. She and Martin established a godly partnership for the Gospel, profoundly impacting the definition of Christian marriage.
Discouragement is one of Satan's most powerful tools against believers and unbelievers alike. This was true of 18th-century English poet and hymnwriter William Cowper, whose life was riddled with bouts of severe depression and asylum stays. But the Lord used one such residency to reveal to Cowper the Truth of the Gospel. His life of struggle demonstrates several valuable truths for us today.
Jesus promised in Matthew 6 that God would supply all our daily needs and George Mueller took that promise seriously. His life became a stage whereon God would constantly display His faithfulness in unforgettable ways.
Spurgeon is often heralded for his flowery language and his rich commentary on the text, but it wasn't his ability to speak that made him a great pastor. It was his ability to listen. While other preachers turned to cultural and scientific experts for direction, Spurgeon held fast to the Spirit.
John Newton's conversion from a hated slave-trader to a beloved pastor is almost as astonishing as Paul's conversion from a persecutor to an apostle. Only God can write a story as wondrous as this.
Do you witness a riot every time you go to church? Are you threatened by angry mobs on a weekly basis? For us, that would be extreme persecution. For Hudson Taylor, it was just another day at the office.
His was a legacy of self-sacrifice and hers was a legacy of forgiveness. Together, they remind the Church that while the cost of discipleship is great, the reward is far greater.
Fanny Crosby is known for two things: her blindness and her remarkable hymns. But understanding how she endured her blindness and why she spent the latter part of her life writing hymns is where the real treasure is found.
In Extravagant Grace, Part 3 (Philippians 4:6–7), Stephen Davey teaches believers how to conquer anxiety through prayer and trust in God. He compares worry to a deadly anaconda that strangles faith, urging Christians to “be anxious for nothing.” Instead of allowing fear to consume them, they are to replace worry with prayer—bringing every concern to God with gratitude. Davey explains that worry pulls believers apart, while thankful prayer realigns their hearts toward God’s power and presence. The result is a supernatural peace that “guards hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,” a peace flowing directly from God’s own character. This peace doesn’t come from understanding circumstances but from trusting the God who controls them all. Through continual, thankful prayer, believers display the extravagant grace of God by living free from fear and full of peace.
In Extravagant Grace, Part 2 (Philippians 4:4–5), Stephen Davey teaches that believers are called to display grace in a disappointed and self-centered world through two qualities—a resolution to be joyful and a reputation for gentleness. Joy, he explains, is not dependent on circumstances but flows from the Holy Spirit, the gospel, and trust in God’s sovereignty—even in suffering. Gentleness, often misunderstood as weakness, is strength under control—a willingness to yield, be courteous, and respond to hostility with grace. Using vivid examples from history, culture, and personal experience, Davey challenges believers to demonstrate joy and gentleness as living testimonies of Christ’s presence. Because “the Lord is near,” Christians can embody supernatural calm and kindness, showing a frustrated world the reality of God’s transforming grace.
In his sermon on Ecclesiastes 12:1–8, Stephen Davey explains Solomon’s urgent call to “remember your Creator” while young, because ignoring God early in life leads to confusion in youth, misery in old age, and regret at death. Solomon describes aging with vivid imagery—failing eyesight, shaking hands, trembling legs, sleepless nights, fading voices, and diminishing desire—reminding listeners that physical strength inevitably declines. Davey emphasizes that these poetic pictures are not meant to discourage but to motivate believers to build a foundation of trust and obedience long before the hardships of aging arrive. Solomon then depicts death as sudden and certain, when the body returns to dust and the spirit returns to God for judgment. Davey concludes that life is fleeting, but remembering your Creator—walking with Him now—prepares you for every season of life and for the final awakening after death.
In his sermon on Ecclesiastes 7:1–14, Stephen Davey explains how Solomon shifts from raising life’s troubling questions to offering God-given wisdom for living well. Davey highlights four truths Solomon teaches: contemplate your mortality, because facing death cultivates serious thinking and a life of purpose rather than pretense; choose wise companions, since the rebuke of the godly is far more valuable than the shallow laughter of fools; cultivate godly character, resisting the pull of anger, corruption, impatience, and nostalgic fantasies about “the good old days”; and consider your Creator with humility, recognizing that God ordains both prosperity and adversity, the straight paths and the crooked ones, to deepen trust in Him. Davey concludes that Solomon’s inspired counsel urges believers to live with sober perspective, intentional relationships, steadfast integrity, and humble dependence on the God who shapes every season of life.
In Extravagant Grace, Part 4 (Philippians 4:8–9), Stephen Davey explains that a transformed life begins with a transformed mind. He contrasts the believer’s renewed thinking with the unbeliever’s darkened mind and challenges Christians to discipline their thought life through eight biblical filters—whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy. These qualities shape godly attitudes and actions. Davey warns that mental purity requires constant guarding and rejection of worldly influences, especially in a culture saturated with impurity. He urges believers to not only ponder these virtues but to practice them daily, promising that “the God of peace will be with you.” When believers fill their minds with truth and holiness, Christ’s character “shows through” their lives, reflecting His peace and presence to the world.
