The birth of John the Baptist was great, but the birth of Jesus Christ was infinitely greater. John prepared for salvation, but Jesus purchased it.

David Mathis | Scripture says elders should be “able to teach” and “sober-minded” — but why? The two correspond to a pastor’s most important tasks: feeding and leading.

David Mathis | How do you need God’s help this Advent? What need seems most pressing? Press into the message of Christmas, and you’ll find hope and help in time of need.

David Mathis | What does Christ call church leaders to be and do? Like him, they labor heartily and happily, not for selfish gain, but for their people’s joy.

David Mathis | What is Christian faith? Hebrews 11 not only answers the question but tells us what faith feels like, and how it leads to obedience, and living as exiles in this world.

David Mathis | To read the Bible is to read the very words of God. Do we grasp the significance, the reality-shaking impact, of this seemingly simple truth?

David Mathis | Good pastors are not naive: ministry comes with many costs. Even so, Christ has not called us to an impossible, joyless task. The cross proves otherwise.

David Mathis | Some may not think of David, the shepherd king, as particularly masculine, but Scripture paints him in a far more manly and glorious light.

When Jesus asks the Pharisees how David calls the Messiah “Lord,” they refuse to answer. What made that seemingly simple question so incendiary?

John Piper | God is. No reality is more mind-boggling, more valuable, more life-altering, more electrifying than the absolute being of God.