Christians love to quote this idea when they see someone they love, a family member or a friend, just overwhelmed with life. When finances or health problems or something in their personal life is just more than they can handle, they're [...]

The former pastor was letting me have some of his old books. A few weeks ago, I was in the basement of a guy who used to be a pastor, rummaging through box after box after box of the books that he used to use when he was in ministry. As we went [...]

Have you ever felt like you just had to say something? When you witness someone doing something that you know is dangerous; going down a dark, difficult, and sinful path and you know to say something would be complicated and hard and difficult and [...]

That was the question that everyone was asking 2,000 years ago on that first Palm Sunday and it was the right question: Who is that? Who is this Jesus? And it's the right question for us to ask even today. Whether you're living in the [...]

And if you want self-control in your life, if you drink too much or you get angry too quickly, then get a group. Let us help you connect with other Christians who can know you and pray for you. They can encourage you, they can hold you accountable, [...]

So if there is one prayer that I could pray and I would be guaranteed that God would answer yes, this would be my prayer: "Father, bless me with less me". In fact, if there's one prayer that I could pray for you, for us, for our [...]

I mean, who of us gets better at anything without correction, without guidance, without more than just a pat on the back? Sometimes maybe a kick in the pants? I mean, if you're going to be a good athlete, you need a coach who's going to [...]

This little Lego guy with the nice hair? This is you. And this little green Lego square is your upcoming year. These are all the places where you're going to go, the people you're going to talk to, the ways you're going to spend your [...]

The word depression actually comes from a Latin word, depressio, and it literally means to press down on something; and if you have battled depression or walked with a loved one who has, you know what that's like. like all the optimism just [...]

If you compare the 2000 census to the 2010 census here in our county, the overall population has increased by about 10 percent. And yet, most churches haven't increased by 10 percent. In fact, most churches haven't stayed even. I found out [...]

And wouldn't you love to have the kind of faith that is so enamored, infatuated and impressed with God that you could get through seasons of life and moments like that with the kind of joy and peace that you would love to have instead of this [...]

There were people who went to church and they prayed the prayers and they read their Bibles at home and then one day, things changed. There were kids who sat in these same chairs, they went to these same churches, and they said they believed in [...]

What do you think makes a relationship amazing? The University of Georgia has a theory to answer that question. A few years ago, the University did a survey of about 500 married people. The study found out in their interviews that if a couple spent [...]

And if you consider yourself a church person or not so sure about church person, every Sunday kind of church person, zero experience in church kind of person, I think the church is going to burn down when I walk in kind of person, we want you to [...]

Today, here's what I want to do. I want to walk you through this epic section of the Bible and I don't just want to read to you the words and I want to explain to you what these words mean because I'm convinced that if you get this, [...]

If you think about your words, your choices, your relationship with alcohol, your romantic life, your financial decisions, the things you do for God, the temptation you either resist or fall into, how do you do it? In other words, I'm asking [...]

And if you're the kind of person who loves someone that isn't so sure about God or the Christian faith or the claims of Jesus, this is an answer I don't want you to miss. It turns out when you do good, when you do the hard thing, [...]

When you took your limited valuable time to be here today, I bet you came to church hoping for something encouraging, something inspiring; this pick me up that's going to kick you off through the week and fuel up your heart and your soul to [...]

But before you end that thought with a period, let me pose a question to you: Have you ever seen anyone in any area of life achieve the highest level of excellence without organization? When it comes to education, athletics, music, or just raising [...]

Did you know in the history of Time of Grace, our media ministry partner, every month pretty much they have this little book that you can get and for the past 18 years, 18 times 12, the number one best-selling book that they have ever had is that [...]

Did you know in the history of Time of Grace, our media ministry partner, every month pretty much they have this little book that you can get and for the past 18 years, 18 times 12, the number one best-selling book that they have ever had is that [...]

I hate the morning. I'm not sure how God wired you, but I can stay up at night and read books and grow in my faith. But the morning it's just not my thing. My wife wakes up and she runs five miles and she reads her Bible and she gets [...]

I have always been a lover of Broadway, just the way I was raised. My mom, my dad, my older brother took me to shows, "Phantom of the Opera," "Les Mis," "Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". I heard the songs, [...]

Apparently I can be kind of a jerk as a dad. That's what some people say when I tell them this story. Now, whenever my daughters and I go to the store and of course, they want to walk up and down the toy aisles, they'll always ask me the [...]

I have a confession to make. I get a little bit infatuated with celebrities. I don't mean like creeping outside of Justin Bieber's window kind of infatuated. I haven't done that in months. My wife says that I get a little bit [...]

Every man desires to be happy. That's what one of the most famous Christians in the last 2000 years said. Around the year 400 AD, Saint Augustine, a name you may or may not have heard of, said that every man, in fact, every person desires to be [...]

A few weeks ago I asked our church a pretty dangerous question. The question was, if youvhad to give yourself a grade, how would you grade your prayer life? Now some people told me that was a dangerous question because you know grading anything of [...]

Fifty-nine percent of the time the word "give thanks" or "praise God" shows up, it's in that book. And so I asked myself, well, why would that be? Why in this part of the Bible would it say, "give thanks, give thanks, [...]

A few years ago, my wife and I saw the amazing Broadway musical, Dear Evan Hansen. I'll show you the picture. There's me and Kim standing just outside of the theater and we were about to experience one of the better Broadway shows that we [...]

A lot of us need a message that's for messed up people and maybe you do, too. Maybe you're listening to this message at home, feeling lonely, because you messed up your relationship. Maybe you know the feel of a prison mattress because [...]

Now if you were God, that kind of life would be easy. With your infinite power and control, you could snap your fingers and make that happen but do you know the problem? Do you know the major historical problem with giving someone a life that good? [...]

In Philippians 4, the apostle Paul says, "Do not be anxious about anything". In 1 Peter 5 the apostle Peter says, "Cast all your anxiety on God". Don't keep any of it in yourself or in your heart. So Jesus and his closest [...]

I'm almost 40 now and I've learned that no matter how much I plan, how often I pray, how hard I try, at the end of the day there is so little that I can control. Like my daughters. My two daughters are so out of control. I don't mean [...]

Has someone that you know that isn't a Christian, ever wondered why you do the things you do? Like, maybe you go to church when they sleep in, and they kind of feel bad for you. Or you give some of your money or volunteer your time to help a [...]

I'm standing in the old city of Jerusalem. It's a bright, beautiful day. It's also a busy day. It's a Jewish holiday. So if you hear cars and children and horns and motorcycles, don't panic, that's just life in the big [...]

Sometimes you don't really understand what Jesus taught, until you stand in the place that Jesus stood. And that's how I feel today. Now, I'm standing in front of a beautiful church, on the Mount of Beatitudes. This is the place where [...]

I am standing here at Magdala, the home of Mary Magdalene, and the site of one of the incredible archeological finds of the past 20 years. Back in 2009, archeologists found, just 12 inches below the surface of the soil, this. A first century [...]

I'm so grateful for what happened here. And you should be too. I'm standing, right now, on a sunny, beautiful day in the city of Jerusalem, and just behind me is the Temple Mount. Before the Romans ripped down every stone, that is where [...]

The other day, I had an unexpected conversation about gender with the three most important females in my life. It was just a regular night in the Novotny household. I grabbed our Time of Grace devotional book and my wife cuddled up with our two [...]

Guys, the calling that God gave you is in an incredible picture of a rib. Men, do me a favor for a second. Put your pens down and I want you to touch your ribs for a second. I want you to think about how it feels, how it's made, and what it [...]

Do you care about God and gender as much as I do? To be honest, I hadn't given it that much thought until just over 10 years ago when the gender of my child was revealed; my wife Kim and I had decided to make it a surprise. So on that [...]

I'm standing here in beautiful Nazareth. It's an amazing day in Israel and this is an amazing place. Just behind me is a massive basilica called the Basilica of the Annunciation. And many people believe this is the place where the angel [...]

Are you a sinner? Me too. Do you have any friends? Me too, I think. But if you're a sinner and you have friends, do you know who calls Himself your friend? Jesus. I'm standing here in the town of Capernaum where Jesus lived during His [...]

I'm standing here in front of the ancient synagogue of Magdala. It's the home of Mary Magdalene. A place in Galilee where Jesus certainly was preaching and teaching the Kingdom of God 2,000 years ago. And as I'm walking around these [...]

I'm standing here today, on the Mount of Olives and I'm thinking about people. Really different kinds of people. And behind me, you can see really powerful, passionate symbols of different religions and beliefs that exist here in this [...]

So here I am, sitting among the ruins of Caeserea. If you don't know the story, Caeserea is a famous city that Herod the Great, the king who tried to kill Jesus, built right on the Mediterranean Coast. And so many things in the book of Acts [...]

So when you feel like your faith isn't what it should be, when you feel like you don't have everything you want to, spiritually, you can turn to Jesus. and he proclaims, he preaches good news for people just like you. Wow! We are here! [...]

And when Jesus thinks about you, he says the same thing, "I know him. I know her". Wow! We are here! Jesus was here, not around here. But here. Earlier this year, I got to explore Israel. I'm sitting, literally, in the place where [...]

In fact, he prefers it that. That you offer him nothing. That you open up your hands and say you need his grace and mercy every day. Wow! We are here! Jesus was here, not around here. But here. Earlier this year, I got to explore Israel. I'm [...]

Children of God is what we are, even though we don't deserve to be them. Wow! We are here! Jesus was here, not around here. But here. Earlier this year, I got to explore Israel. I'm sitting, literally, in the place where Jesus' feet [...]