Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

We’re looking at one of the more well-known parts of Matthew 11. If you’re looking at Christianity, this is a matchless summary. Jesus calls out to those who are burdened and weary, and he gives an invitation to find rest in him. He says, “If you are weary and if you are burdened, you haven’t really yet understood the greatness of what I offer.” 

We’re going to look at two things in this passage. First of all, Jesus gives us an analysis: we all have restlessness and we’re all yoked to something. Then he offers to give us certain things in their place instead. He offers himself; he offers himself as the yoke; and he offers himself as rest.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 13, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus, Part 1: His Teaching. Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30.

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.

Matthew chapter 11 begins with John the Baptist sending a message that reveals John is struggling with who Jesus is. All of Matthew 11 is a response to John the Baptist’s question. Jesus doesn’t say something like, “John, you’ve misunderstood me.” No, instead, he says “John, the things I claim and the things I am are much more outrageous than you have even heard. Let me show you just how outrageous and how offensive I really can be.” 

Jesus makes some of the most outrageous and the most offensive statements that have ever been made in verse 27. He says that he is the only way. This claim that made the people of Jesus’ day struggle is also the thing that makes us struggle. Let’s look at what this deeper claim is, why you should believe it, and how you should use it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 6, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus, Part 1: His Teaching. Scripture: Matthew 11:25-27.

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 Matthew chapter 11 John the Baptist is struggling with the identity of Jesus. He sends a message and he says, “Are you really who you claim to be?” The rest of the chapter is Jesus’ answer to that question. The contemporary relevance of a chapter like this is so amazing and so obvious, because Western civilization is filled with people just like John the Baptist. People who are filled with doubts and questions about Jesus. 

Jesus gives us two important things to do in his response. First of all, he says, “Use the magnitude of my claims, the greatness of who I claim to be, to knock yourself out of the deadly middle.” And secondly, “Turn it on yourself and use it to make yourself a little child spiritually.” Let’s look more closely at what the deadly middle is and then how to do this.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 29, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus, Part 1: His Teaching. Scripture: Matthew 11:18-27.

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.

This passage is part of Jesus’ response to John the Baptist who was struggling with doubts about the identity of Jesus. It is so relevant for today because many of us may have similar questions or doubts about Jesus. We may be in a similar situation as John the Baptist. In Jesus’ response, we find answers to that unbelief. 

Let’s look at three wonderful things about unbelief that Jesus teaches us in this passage: the power of unbelief, the character of unbelief, and the solution for unbelief.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 22, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus, Part 1: His Teaching. Scripture: Matthew 11:16-24.

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 theme of forgiveness is something that’s in so much of opera, theater, and literature—because it’s a very important issue in human living. So our theme comes in the form of a question: should we always forgive?

Forgiveness is always easy when you’re asking someone else to give it. And it’s always hard when someone’s asking you to give it. A lot of people have problems with forgiveness. They say forgiveness seems to make light of what was done wrong, or they say they can’t forgive unless the other person asks for forgiveness. But if you look at the whole story arch of the operas, you know that whenever people fail to forgive, bad things happen.

This Open Forum, with a talk and open mic Q&A, is specifically designed for skeptics or those wrestling with the claims of Christianity. We’re going to discuss 1) whether we should forgive, 2) what it means to forgive, and 3) where we might get the resources for it.

This talk was given by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 1, 2013. Series: Redeemer Open Forums. 

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.

Why is it that we celebrate Christmas with gift giving? We don’t do that at Easter. We don’t do that at Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July. At anniversaries and birthdays, we give one person gifts, but at Christmas everybody gives everybody gifts. Why? I’m not actually looking for a literal answer. I’m asking as a rhetorical question, “Why is it that everybody gives gifts to everybody else at Christmas?” 

I’m here to say it’s profoundly appropriate, because it gets at the theological heart of Christmas: that Jesus Christ is the only human being who wasn’t just born but was given. 

Everyone who knows something about the Bible will say that 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is the longest, most involved, and explicit passage in all of the Bible on the subject of generosity. We’re being told 1) there’s a problem with regard to giving and generosity, 2) what will happen if we don’t solve that problem, and 3) how we can solve it.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 13, 2015. Series: What We Are Giving: The Dynamic of Grace. Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:8-15; 9:6-12.

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.

We’ve been looking at Christian practices, or spiritual disciplines, by which our character changes. Now, instead of looking at one practice, we’ll look at how a number of practices come together to create one particular character quality: self-control. 

A self-control problem is when you’re doing something you desperately want to stop, but can’t. There are the classic addictions like drinking and drugs, spending and gambling, overeating and undereating. But we shouldn’t think of self-control just in those terms. We also have trouble controlling our tongues, our thoughts, our time, and our emotions. Because all of us have some problems with self-control, we had better figure out what to do about it. Otherwise, our problems with self-control will strip us of our careers, of our relationships, or even of our physical lives. 

These two passages from 1 Corinthians 9 and 10 are Paul’s insight into what the Bible says about self-control. We’ll start to make progress if we grasp three things: 1) the centrality of the heart, 2) the power of the gospel, and 3) the endurance of Jesus.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 15, 2008. Series: Practicing The Christian Life. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:23-27; 10:11-13.

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.

We’re in a series on Christian practices. We believe certain things, but those beliefs don’t necessarily change our lives unless we instill those beliefs into our hearts through Christian practices, through spiritual disciplines. 

Let’s look at a Christian practice, a spiritual discipline, that you probably don’t think of as a spiritual discipline. It’s the practice of hospitality. All through the Scripture, hospitality is extremely important. It’s a sign of spiritual maturity. If you put the word “hospitality” into a search engine right now, almost all the first things that come up will be vacation resorts or Martha Stewart entertaining where everything is perfect. But actually, that’s almost the opposite of what the Bible means by it.

In Hebrews 13, we’re going to look at 1) the principle behind Christian hospitality, 2) the promise of Christian hospitality, and 3) the impetus for Christian hospitality.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 8, 2008. Series: Practicing The Christian Life. Scripture: Hebrews 13:1-14.

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.

Many people believe God is real and God loves them. That belief ought to make you more secure, happier, and more humble. But beliefs don’t automatically turn into changed thoughts and feelings and behavior. Beliefs have to be turned into changed character through Christian practices, through spiritual disciplines. 

Over the next three sermons we’re going to look at different aspects of community-building. The importance of Christian community is masked when we read the Scripture. Because we are Americans, in many cases we’re individualistic, and we tend to read the Bible through individual lenses. Also, the English language doesn’t have a second person plural pronoun. So when we read the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says “you must do this,” we read it as how God wants us to behave individually. Actually, almost all the pronouns in there are “you all”—they’re plural. What Jesus is saying is “I want you to be part of a community like this.” 

Let’s begin looking at the importance of Christian community. From Romans 12, I want to pull out three things we’re going to learn about community: 1) the family nature of Christian community, 2) the graciousness of it, and 3) its ultimate source.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 25, 2008. Series: Practicing The Christian Life. Scripture: Romans 12:9-21.

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.

We’re in a series on Christian practices. Beliefs don’t automatically produce a changed life. Beliefs have to be turned into changed character through Christian practices, through spiritual disciplines. 

We’re going to look now at a Christian practice that never stands on its own. Rather, it happens within the other practices. When we get to Galatians 6:1, it says Christians shouldn’t hold one another accountable without examining themselves. But what are we examining ourselves for? The answer is here in Galatians 5. We’re supposed to be examining ourselves in order to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit, spiritual fruit. Otherwise, the Christian practices can just become mechanical. 

It’s important to say, “What are we doing in our Christian practices?” We’re supposed to examine, look for, and cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Let’s look at this very famous passage under three headings: 1) the necessity of spiritual fruit, 2) the cultivation of spiritual fruit, and 3) the root of the spiritual fruit.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 11, 2008. Series: Practicing The Christian Life. Scripture: Galatians 5:16-26.

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.