Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

What can the music of John Coltrane tell us about the relationship of  art to God, and of our own work in general to God?

We can all learn quite a lot from Coltrane, actually. And what we can see in his approach to his music applies not just to musicians and artists, but to us all.

In this open forum, 1) Tim Keller shares two things we can learn from Coltrane, 2) John Patitucci, a jazz bassist and composer, discusses Coltrane’s music, and 3) Keller and Patitucci hold a question-and-answer time with their audience.

This talk was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 9, 2007. Series: Redeemer Open Forums. Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:17-26.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

In Ecclesiastes, the author takes the position of a practical secularist. And he asks, “If this life is all there is, then is life meaningless?”

The writer says if this life is all there is, if there’s no God and no meaning that you have to submit to, then you’re free to construct your own meaning. And so, he sets out to build meaning by living a cause-based life, and then by living a pleasure and beauty-based life. When he finds those both to be meaningless and burdensome, he decides to create a work-based life, to let work and career be an organizing principle in his life.

In doing this, he finds three things: 1) that a life of work is not worth it, 2) why it’s not worth it, and 3) what is worth it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 23, 2003. Series: When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough. Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:17-26.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Today’s sermon comes from a series on the life of Jesus described in the gospel of Luke. Luke gives us many of Jesus’ teachings on what it means to be a disciple. In short, a disciple is one who applies the gospel to absolutely every single area of life.

In Luke 6, we learn about Sabbath rest. God gives us rest from our labors – it is a gift and a blessing. It is a way of keeping us healthy and protecting us from being overwhelmed by our work. God himself modeled it for us when creating the universe. Let’s look at it more closely: Why do we need it? Where do we get it? How do we do it?

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 23, 2003. Series: The Meaning of Jesus Part 2; Following Him. Scripture: Luke 6:1-11.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Consider how much of your time, how much of your life, is built around your work. Yet, so many of the books and materials that look at what it means to live as Christians only focus on our evenings and our weekends. How are we to be a Christian on the job?

We’re going to look at some basic principles of what God says we must do to approach our work and our jobs in a Christian way.

Looking at Ephesians 6, we see that this passage knocks down two false views of work: 1) that work is a curse and leisure is the meaning of life, and 2) that work is the meaning of life. And then we’ll see 3) how you get the power to transform your view and aim of work.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 3, 1991. Series: Work & Faith. Scripture: Ephesians 6:5-9.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Some of you may know I was actually a teacher at graduate school seminary for five years. Then I said, “Get me back in the ministry,” where there is no grading papers and no one knows whether people are learning or not. But the gospel changes everything . . . even education.

We’re looking now at the what’s, why’s and how to’s of education reform from a Christian perspective. 

To consider a gospel-centered view of education reform, 1) I’ll share two thoughts from C.S. Lewis, and 2) I’ll be joined by a panel of educators for a question-and-answer time.

This talk and Q&A was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 5, 2004. Series: Redeemer InterArts Fellowship.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

If you’re Christian, what is the rationale for being an actor? Why should Christians be actors? How should Christians who are actors or writers or choreographers or directors think about their faith and their work?

To answer that, we need to look at the power of stories, at why we connect with and are overwhelmed by strong stories.

Let’s consider 1) what a story is, 2) that we attach meaning by connecting things to a storyline, 3) that Christians can find elements of their story in almost any other story, and 4) why we need to understand our baseline cultural narratives.

This talk and Q&A was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 5, 2004. Series: Redeemer InterArts Fellowship.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

The gospel affects how you do your work, how you do your job, and how you pursue your vocation. But how? 

If we’re going to understand what Paul says in this passage, we need to look at 1) some background work and historical context, 2) practical principle number one, 3) practical principle number two, and 4) the power to carry them out.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 17, 2010. Series: The Gospel and the World. Ephesians 5:21, 6:5-9.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

How does the gospel affect your work? 

We’re in a series where we’re asking, “What happens when you take the gospel, the basic message of Jesus Christ, out of the church and into the world?” One of the things that happens is it affects the way in which you do your work. And there’s no way to see the Christian understanding of work without going to Genesis 1, 2, and 3.

I’d like to show you three things Genesis tells us about your work: 1) it gives you a vision for work, 2) it gives you guardrails for your work, and 3) it gives you a power to do your work.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 10, 2010. Series: The Gospel and the World. Scripture: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:2-17.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

When we talk about creativity, we mean artists of course. But we also actually mean entrepreneurs—whose creativity is as important to what they do as anything else. So thinking about creativity, what does Christianity have to say to it? The answer is a lot. 

Your deeper beliefs about the meaning of life and the world actually does shape your work. The Bible says the world was created, has fallen, is being redeemed, and is going to be restored. How does that affect or shape our creativity? 

The Christian understanding of creativity is that creativity is something you do 1) because you want to, 2) out of love, 3) in full knowledge of the risk and the cost, and 4) knowing that there will be satisfaction.

This talk and Q&A was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 16, 2010. Series: Center for Faith and Work.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

How can practicing the law be shaped by the Christian faith? And how can we reimagine lawyering?

If you’re reimagining the legal profession, you don’t want to just be a Christian who happens to also be a lawyer. You want the way you practice the law to be shaped by your faith. 

For this reimagining, we need to understand three things from Christian theology: 1) that every human being is called to be a gardener, 2) that the law is a form of gardening, and 3) that you need to figure out your own idols.

This talk and Q&A was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 2, 2007. Series: Center for Faith and Work.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.