Series: The Great Sermons Series

What Made Paul Washer’s “Shocking Message” So Very Shocking?

Today I am kicking off a new series of videos I’m calling The Great Sermon Series. The premise of the series is finding and examining modern-day sermons that the Lord has chosen to use in unusually significant ways. What we will find, I think, is that the Lord uses sermons to save, stir, and edify his people–and that sometimes he does this through unexpected messages and messengers. The series begins in 2002 in Montgomery, Alabama, with Paul Washer’s “Shocking Message.” …

Why John Piper’s “Shells” Illustration Transformed a Generation

If you were one of the 40,000 students at the Passion One Day conference in Memphis, Tennessee back in May 2000, just one little word may well have changed your life. You know the word, don’t you? Shells. Yes, shells. Seashells. It was the most memorable illustration and the most powerful sermon from one of the most influential Christian leaders of our time. And it is the subject of this second entry in the Great Sermons Series. (Click here for the first entry in …

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Matt Chandler’s Radical Reminder that “God Is For God”

It takes two ingredients to deliver a message that really sticks. It takes the right message and it takes the right time. Matt Chandler’s 2012 sermon “God is For God” is an example of this kind of timely message. When I announced this Great Sermons Series, it did not take long for a whole lot of people to ask for it to be included. So here it is: Matt Chandler’s Radical Reminder that “God Is For God.” This video is brought to …

How R.C. Sproul Blessed the Church by Preaching the Curse

It was the 2008 Together for the Gospel Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. This was the early days of this movement called The New Calvinism and this conference was meant to introduce all of these enthusiastic young Calvinists to the old guard, to those few men who had been faithfully preaching these truths for many, many years. It was only right that R.C. Sproul was there, it was only fitting that he was asked to preach. And did he ever! His …

How John MacArthur began (and ended) His 42 Year Journey

On June 5, 2011, John MacArthur completed a remarkable feat. He finished his 42-year journey of preaching through the New Testament verse-by-verse. In this episode of the Great Sermon Series, we will examine how John MacArthur began with a sermon that would prove to set the stage for the next 42 years of his ministry at Grace Community Church. Let’s take a closer look at what makes this first sermon so memorable. This video is brought to you in part …

Why the Best Missions Sermon Is All About God’s Sovereignty

David Platt’s sermon at the 2012 T4G conference is one of the most powerful calls to the nations in the last twenty years. What made it so compelling? The title of the sermon says it all: “Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions.” It’s the next entry in the Great Sermon Series. This video is brought to you in part by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. You can download a free book from Southern and learn more about training for …

The Message That Moved the SBC

Just a little over thirty years ago, the fate of the SBC hung in the balance. It seemed as though it was going to adapt to the times and embrace theological liberalism, just as countless denominations had done in the U.S.. But at the 1985 SBC Convention in Dallas, Texas, a 75-year-old minister stepped to the podium and decided to take a stand. His message is the next entry in the Great Sermon Series. This video is brought to you …

The Joel Osteen Sermon that Changed Oprah’s Life

This marks the final entry in a series of videos I’ve very much enjoyed putting together: The Great Sermon Series. And for this last video we are going in a different direction by looking at a not-so-great sermon. Joel Osteen’s “The Power of I Am” may be the most popular sermon on YouTube, but it’s also got to be the worst. (Written by Tim Challies & Joey Schwartz; produced by Thaddeus Maharaj) Transcript Tim: In this video series, we’ve been …