Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

A Society of Suffering

February 1, 2021

The book of James is called Wisdom Literature in the New Testament, which means that the book is very practical. It has a high view of God’s law and an ethical focus that runs throughout each chapter. 

We’re considering the question, “What’s the vision of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York?” Let’s look at three things we learn from this passage in James about the topic of suffering: what we face, how we can face it, and who we face it with.

This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 22, 2009. Series "The Gospel in Community: The Book of James". Scripture: James 1:1-18.

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.

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The Life of Jesus and Your Life
 In Tim Keller’s book Jesus the King you’ll discover how the story of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark helps you make sense of your own life. Jesus the King is our thanks for your gift to help share the transformative power of Christ’s love with people all over the world.

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Today both Christians and skeptics of Christianity can struggle to figure out what is real Christianity. Skeptics struggle with certain aspects of what has become known as Christianity, but also, Christians sometimes struggle with those very same things. You have to know what real Christianity is if you’re going to reject it rightly, and you certainly have to know what it is if you’re going to embrace it rightly. The book of Acts shows us real and authentic Christianity. Chapter 19 is one of the most unusual of all of the accounts in the book. It’s about a riot at Ephesus, which stems from idolatry. We’re going to look at: 1) the pervasiveness of idols, 2) the weakness and power of idols, and 3) the cost of smashing idols. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 12, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 19:23-41. 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.
January 29, 2021
Even after the rise of Rome, Athens was still the intellectual capital of the Greco-Roman world in the first century. For those of us who are English speakers, Athens was like all of the Ivy League schools, plus Oxford and Cambridge, all rolled into one. The passage today is Paul’s address to the philosophers of the Areopagus, which is on Mars Hill. It’s a rich place in the Bible for analysis, because Paul’s argument is extraordinarily well-crafted and structured. To really get into it, you need a background in various schools of Greek philosophy. You have to understand Greek rhetoric. We’re going to look at three high-level observations in the text: the problems of culture, the greatness of God, and the outrageousness of the resurrection. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 5, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 17:16-34. 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.
January 27, 2021
In Acts 16 there are three case studies that show how Jesus and the gospel can really change your life: Lydia, the slave girl, and the Philippian jailer. All of these show the incredible accessibility of the gospel for many types of people.  We’re going to highlight three things that we learn from these case studies. First, the gospel is for everybody. Everyone needs it. Because it’s true, it’s for everybody. Secondly, the gospel is the single most unifying power on the face of the earth. We see that different races, different social classes, and different personality types can become brothers and sisters in Christ. Lastly, the gospel is true freedom. Paul and Silas being put in chains showed the world what real freedom was. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 28, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 16:20-40. 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.
January 25, 2021
The heart of Acts chapter 16 are three wonderful case studies of how God changes three very different people. There’s a woman, there’s a girl, and there’s a man. They are three marvelous examples of how God can work in such remarkably different ways and yet at the same time bring people to the same Christ through the same gospel. This gospel is rich enough and flexible enough for anybody — it can change anybody.  We’re going to look at the first two case studies and then draw a few lessons: who the people are, how the gospel comes to them, and what the results are. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 21, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 16:1-19. 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.
January 22, 2021
Acts 15 is not a chapter that is commonly used for sermons. It usually is not something we spend time on because it’s a long theological debate. But this debate teaches us at least four incredibly important things about the gospel itself. Truth matters because truth has consequences for how we live. Secondly, no other religion offers freedom from burdens like Christianity because Christ took on our burdens for us. Next, God uses community to reveal things to us and to teach us about him. Finally, unlike the sacrifices of the Old Testament, we are made pure by the work of Christ.  We learn the importance of these four things in Acts 15:  gospel accuracy, gospel liberty, gospel community, and gospel purity. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 14, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 15:1-11, 22-29. 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.
January 20, 2021
There’s no doubt if you’re looking to understand what real Christianity is, the book of Acts is the place you should start. Nothing shows us what authentic Christianity is more than the earliest years of the church’s history in the book of Acts.  The first church was in Jerusalem and the first Christians were Jewish. When the gospel began to spread in the first 13 chapters of Acts, we see a lot of evangelism being done between Jews and God-fearers who already believed the Bible. But in this passage, it’s  the first time we see Christian speakers speaking to polytheists — people who don’t believe the Bible at all. This passage shows us how we should present the gospel in a place where people believe a lot of different things like our modern society. We can learn four things gospel ministry in such a pluralistic setting: love the needy, identify the idols, endure the hardness, and fulfill the longings. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on April 7, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 14:8-23. 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.
January 18, 2021
The first recorded sermon by Saint Paul is found in Acts 13. It’s dominated by the subject of Christ’s resurrection. Elsewhere Paul says that without the resurrection of Christ, “our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Cor. 15:14). Over and over again in Acts 13, Paul mentions the resurrection. If the resurrection was preached and believed in the earliest church, then we should too.  We see here it was preached and believed in two ways: as a fact and as fulfillment. Verse 31 says that there are witnesses to this fact. Verse 32 says what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us. Fact and fulfillment. Let’s find out what these mean for us today and what the ramifications are for our lives. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 31, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 13:26-31, 38-39. 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.
January 15, 2021
The church of Antioch was one of the most important churches in early Christianity. It teaches us many things about Christian outreach, cultural diversity, prayer, discipleship,  and caring for people in need. But we’re going to look at one of the less prominent themes in Acts 11 and 13. It’s one of the keys to gospel ministry that Barnabas shows us in these passages: the ministry of encouragement. It’s a ministry that speaks the truth, but does so in love. It’s an intense, personal, and yet exhortational ministry to people. As soon as Barnabas shows up and bathes the church with this ministry of encouragement, people start growing. Things start happening. It’s the ministry of truth and love that is the key. Let’s look more closely at what this ministry is and how we get the power to do it with the Holy Spirit. This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 24, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3. 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.
January 13, 2021
This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 30, 2003. Series "The Necessity of Belief". Scripture: Acts 10:27-47. 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.
January 11, 2021
We come to perhaps the most famous conversion story in the history of the world: the conversion of Saul (who becomes Paul). This is the man who sought to do the most harm to the earliest Christians, but then God saves him and he becomes the writer of about a quarter of the New Testament.  Jesus uses no uncertain terms regarding conversion; in Matthew 18:3 he says unless you’re converted, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. Conversion means that we turn and trust. Conversion stories can vary in nature, but there are certain elements that must be present if you have really been converted. These three elements are: collision (vv. 1-5), darkness (vv. 6-9), and embrace (vv. 17-19). This sermon was preached by Rev. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on March 10, 2013. Series "Acts: The Gospel in the City". Scripture: Acts 9:1-11, 17-19. 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.
January 8, 2021
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Featured Offer

The Life of Jesus and Your Life
 In Tim Keller’s book Jesus the King you’ll discover how the story of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark helps you make sense of your own life. Jesus the King is our thanks for your gift to help share the transformative power of Christ’s love with people all over the world.

About Gospel in Life

Gospel In Life is a ministry that features sermons, books, articles, and resources from Timothy Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and Redeemer City to City. The name reflects our conviction that the gospel changes everything in life. In 1989 Dr. Timothy J. Keller, his wife and three young sons moved to New York City to begin Redeemer Presbyterian Church. He has since become a bestselling author, an influential thinker, and an advocate for ministry in cities and to secular people.

About Tim Keller

Timothy Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and three young sons.  For 28 years he led a diverse congregation of young professionals that grew to a weekly attendance of over 5,000.

He is also the Chairman & Co-Founder of Redeemer City to City (CTC), which starts new churches in New York and other global cities, and publishes books and resources for ministry in an urban environment. In 2017 Dr. Keller transitioned to CTC full time to teach and mentor church planters and seminary students through a joint venture with Reformed Theological Seminary's (RTS), the City Ministry Program. He also works with CTC's global affiliates to launch church planting movements.

Dr. Keller’s books, including the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, have sold over 2 million copies and been translated into 25 languages.

Christianity Today has said, “Fifty years from now, if evangelical Christians are widely known for their love of cities, their commitment to mercy and justice, and their love of their neighbors, Tim Keller will be remembered as a pioneer of the new urban Christians.”

Dr. Keller was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and educated at Bucknell University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary. He previously served as the pastor of West Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Virginia, Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, and Director of Mercy Ministries for the Presbyterian Church in America.

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