Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

What if I told you there was a process and no matter how much you blew up your life, if you used this process, there would be a way to come out the other side whole?
Well, here it is. It’s what the Bible calls repentance. You say, “You mean just saying I’m sorry?” But that reveals you don’t understand the power of this kind of prayer. This kind of prayer, if you do it in an ongoing way, will finally enable you to change deeply from the inside out. 
Looking at Psalm 51, we’ll see 1) what one thing must you stop doing, 2) what two things must you start doing, and 3) where you get the power to do those two things.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 2, 2014. Series: The Prayer of Prayers. Scripture: Psalm 51:1-19.
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 need every bit of help we can get to learn to pray, “Thy will be done,” because we’re going right into the teeth of our culture. 
The essence of American culture is the belief that the more free we are to decide for ourselves, the happier we’ll be. But Jesus Christ says every time you pray to God, you need to say to him, “Thy will be done.” That goes right against probably everything you’ve been taught in our culture.
To understand this phrase, we need to see that when Jesus himself prayed it, he was in the midst of terrible agony. Let’s reflect on 1) the magnitude of that agony, 2) the immediacy of that agony, and then 3) how that helps us understand what it means to pray, “Thy will be done” in a life-transforming way. 
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 19, 2014. Series: The Prayer of Prayers. Scripture: Matthew 26:36-46.
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.

What does it mean to pray, “Thy kingdom come”? 
Jesus gave us his instruction on how to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, and it’s filled with concepts you need to know from the rest of the Bible. There are two places—Matthew 5 and Luke 6—where Jesus tells us a lot about the kingdom of God and the blessedness of the kingdom.
I want to show you 1) what the kingdom of God is, 2) what it’s not, 3) what it’s like, 4) how you enter it, and 5) how that relates to prayer.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 12, 2014. Series: The Prayer of Prayers. Scripture: Luke 6:20-26, 46-49.
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.

Hallowed is an old English word that means to treat something as sacred. It means to be captivated, astonished, melted with grateful joy for who God is and what he has done. 
For many years, I felt I didn’t know how to praise God, because nobody ever gave me specifics. As we look now at one phrase in the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed be thy name,” we’ll look at five aspects that are all needed if we’re going to praise.
There are five aspects to praise and adoration: 1) thinking, 2) expressing, 3) appraising, 4) beholding, and 5) resting.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 5, 2014. Series: The Prayer of Prayers. Scripture: Psalm 63:1-11.
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.

What does it mean to pray, “Our Father”? It’s much more complicated than you think. 
Everything Jesus Christ came to do—the reason he came, the purpose of his salvation—was that we might receive adoption. We can pray “Our Father” because we’ve been adopted into the family of God. 
Let’s look briefly at 1) the gift of adoption, 2) what it means to be adopted, 3) the reason we can be adopted, and 4) how it applies to prayer.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 28, 2014. Series: The Prayer of Prayers. Scripture: Galatians 3:26-4:3.
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 going to deal with the brutal realities of life, the writer of Hebrews says you have to have shepherds in your life.
Hebrews is written to people whose lives are filled with problems. And here, in the last passage of Hebrews, the writer tells us if we’re gonna make it, we have to have shepherding in our lives. 
The text tells us 1) our insulting need for shepherds, 2) the surprising identity of shepherds, and 3) the secret power of the shepherds.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 8, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 3:13; 10:24-25; 13:17-25.
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 you embrace God by faith two things come into your life: a transforming power and a deep tension. It’s a duality. If you try to resolve the deep tension, you lose the transforming power. 
The writer of Hebrews says the great believers in history were resident aliens on earth. In Greco-Roman society, a resident alien was a permanent resident but not a citizen. That is the tension that anyone who wants the transforming power of God must live with.
If we want to understand the message, we need to see four things we learn in this passage: 1) there are two cities, 2) each city has a conflict with the other, 3) only one city is for the other, and 4) how to become citizens of the one city that’s for the other.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 1, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 11:13-16; 13:10-16.
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 in Hebrews seems like an anti-climax. Throughout the book, the writer gives us something to help us face the brutal realities of life. But then, Hebrews 13 seems different. At first it looks like a to-do list, like miscellaneous ethical prescriptions, but that’s wrong. 
This is not an anti-climax. What we’re being told is that we’ll never make it in life without being deeply embedded in a robust community of people who have experienced the grace of God.
This passage tells us about 1) the importance of that community, 2) the intensity of the community, 3) the openness of the community, and 4) where we get the power to create it.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 24, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 12:28-13:9.
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.

Hebrews was written to people who have been shaken by life. Difficulties and sufferings have shaken them to the core. 
The writer is trying to help them find ways to face the brutal realities of life, to stand solid when everything around them is falling apart. In Hebrews 12, we have the climax. The writer pulls together all of the threads and says, “In an unstable world, here is how you can live an unshakeable life.”
This passage depicts 1) the shakable life, 2) the unshakeable life, and 3) how to receive that unshakeable life.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 17, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 12:18-29.
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.

There’s never been a culture with a lower pain threshold than ours. There’s never been a culture that gave us fewer resources for dealing with the brutal realities of life and death than ours. 
The writer of Hebrews wants his readers to understand how to become the kind of people who can cope with the brutal realities of life. To a great degree, the climax of his argument is here in Hebrews 12.
We’re taught here 1) life is a race, 2) why to run the race, and 3) how to run the race.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 10, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-13.
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.

Hebrews is written to help us have what it takes to face the difficulties of life. And in chapter 11, we’re told one of the keys is to be people of faith. But what is faith?
In our cultural moment, conservatives see faith as a moral virtue, while liberals see skepticism as a mark of intellectual maturity. As usual, the Bible’s understanding of faith is much more nuanced, much more sophisticated and complex, than either of those views. 
Life-transforming faith, according to this text, has four aspects: 1) it’s rational, 2) it’s personal, 3) it’s foundational, and 4) it’s graceful.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 3, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-10, 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.

The book of Hebrews is written to people who are so beaten down with troubles that they’re ready to give up. 
The writer is trying to give the readers what they need to handle the brutal realities of life in this world. In Hebrews 11, he gives us something that helps us handle anything. 
If you have it, you can handle absolutely anything life throws at you: 1) what is it? and 2) how do we get it?
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 27, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 11:32-40.
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 modern people hear that God requires blood to turn aside his wrath from sin, it sounds offensive. It sounds disgusting, primitive, obscene. 
Christianity has sometimes been called the religion of the slaughterhouse. It doesn’t seem to be what we need in a world that’s filled with blood and violence. But Jesus saves through his blood. And the book of Hebrews says there’s power in the blood. 
Without the shedding of blood, Hebrews says we wouldn’t know three things: 1) the depth of our problem, 2) the power of God’s solution, and 3) the extent of the transformation that can happen to us.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 20, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 9:11-14; 10:11-18.
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.

Jesus Christ did not come to start a new religion. He didn’t come to start the best religion. He came to end religion.
Every religion has its extremists. Religion causes an enormous amount of conflict and strife in this world. What are we going to do about it? To embrace Jesus Christ is to end religion, is to move away from all religion. 
There are two things Hebrews 8 tells us: 1) Jesus came to end all religion and, 2) therefore, Jesus came to give us a radical new covenant relationship with God.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 13, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 8:1-2; 7-13.
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.

To be able to handle life, there’s nothing more practical than to know that Jesus is your advocate.
This isn’t just an abstract doctrinal issue. Because this whole book of Hebrews is written not as a theological treatise, but as a piece of intense pastoral counseling. 
So let’s ask three questions: 1) why do we need an advocate? 2) how is Jesus Christ the advocate we need? and 3) what difference will it make in your life if you receive him as such?
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 6, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 7:18-27.
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.

The book of Hebrews is telling us we’ll never make it through life without counseling—daily counseling.
A main theme of Hebrews is that life in this world is a journey, spiritually speaking, through a wilderness. In verse 13, it says the only way we’re going to get through it is with this little word: the Greek word, parakaleō. It’s often translated as encouragement, but it comes closest to what we today would call counseling. 
Let’s ask the text these questions: 1) why do we need counseling? 2) what kind of counseling do we need? 3) who can give it to us? and 4) how do we receive it?
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 27, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 3:12-13; 4:14-5:7.
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.

Hebrews is written to first-century, urban people who are so weary with troubles and difficulties that they’re in danger of giving up. What do they need? 
It’s pretty obvious from this passage what the writer is trying to get across: because eight times in eleven verses we see the word “rest.” It’s not just a crucial message for them, but for us too. We live in a culture that’s probably more in need of this message than any other culture in history. 
This passage shows us 1) the importance of rest, 2) the two levels of rest, 3) the ordeal you need to go through in order to get rest, and 4) the author of rest.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 20, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 4:1-13.
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.

The book of Hebrews is written to a group of urban, first-century Christians who were struggling with fear and discouragement because their lives were so filled with troubles. 
The question this book asks is if God loves us so much, why are our lives so hard? In almost every passage, the answer it gives is that fear and discouragement can be dealt with by looking at Jesus. 
Hebrews 2 says if you really want to deal with fear and discouragement in your life, you need to see that Jesus is 1) the king who gets involved with us, 2) the captain who faces death for us, and 3) the brother who is proud of us.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 13, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 2:5-18.
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 God is so committed to our joy and our glory, if he loves us so much, why is our life so hard? 
That’s what the book of Hebrews is about and the answer, in a nutshell, is life is a journey. It’s a journey from weariness into rest. It’s a journey from alienation into the presence of God. It’s a journey from isolation into the city of God. And the only way you’re going to get home is by fixing your eyes on Jesus. The whole idea of Hebrews is you don’t get home through bursts, through sprints, but in a sustained, long-term way. 
In Hebrews 1 and 2, we learn what Jesus has to do with this question: 1) what he brings, 2) why he brings it; and 3) how it can change our lives.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 6, 2005. Series: Christ: Our Treasury (The Book of Hebrews). Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:1-4.
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.

Psalm 126 has always helped me. It has never filled my soul with glory. It has always made me quiet and reflective. Because it’s a perfect overview of the emotional life that the life of faith brings.
You’re going to weep. In this world, you will weep. But how are you weeping? What are you doing with your sorrows? They need to be sown. They need to be invested. They need to be planted, in a sense, or they need to water.
Psalm 126 tells us 3 things about how we’re supposed to address our sorrows: 1) it tells us to expect weeping, 2) it tells us to expect new kinds of tears, and 3) it tells us to sow our tears. 
But let me say there are three principles: 1) the life of faith is a life of both rejoicing and weeping, 2) the life of faith is a life of greater rejoicing and greater weeping, and 3) the life of faith is a life of interdependent rejoicing and weeping.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on July 13, 1997. Series: Happiness and Weeping. Scripture: Psalm 126.
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.