Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

Generosity in Scarcity

June 5, 2023

How do you face economic scarcity? The little book of Habakkuk talks about how to handle evil times, and in particular, it describes an economic disaster.

Habakkuk’s answer for dealing with economic scarcity is fuller than you might think because he alludes to the Old Testament principle of the firstfruits, where you were supposed to give the firstfruits of your harvest to God. But here, Habakkuk brings up the possibility of having no harvest at all. 

We’re going to learn three things about financial giving: 1) you should give sacrificially, not just out of surplus, 2) you should give joyfully, not just out of duty, and 3) you should give graciously.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 31, 2009. Series: Living by Faith in Troubled Times. Scripture: Habakkuk 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.

Featured Offer

How to navigate life’s biggest milestones
 In How to Find God, Tim Keller shows us how we can face the key milestones of Birth, Marriage, and Death with God’s help. When you give to Gospel in Life this month, we’ll send you this collection of three short books as our thanks for helping us share the Gospel with more people. 

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The little book of Habakkuk tells us how to handle evil times, especially evil times in a culture. In this passage, God is saying to Habakkuk something about the evil Babylonian Empire that is rising up and wreaking havoc everywhere. God shows the rottenness at the heart of the culture and shows what is wrong in that culture.  As God deconstructs what’s wrong with the Babylonian culture, he actually gives us two principles for facing evil times wherever we are: 1) with your head, you need to understand the source of the evil that’s surrounding you, and 2) with your heart, you need a consolation to help you face the evil. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 17, 2009. Series: Living by Faith in Troubled Times. Scripture: Habakkuk 2:5-20. 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.
June 2, 2023
Tim Keller always encouraged Christians to share the hope and beauty of the gospel with the people God puts in their lives. The ministry of Gospel in Life is most effective in spreading the gospel when you are prayerfully and thoughtfully sharing our sermons, books and articles with your family, friends and coworkers who don’t yet have a personal faith in Christ.  As an encouragement to you and to remind all of us about the beauty of the gospel, you’ll hear a short message from Redeemer City to City's Tim Keller tribute video. In it, Tim gives a short and winsome presentation of the gospel which reminds us how salvation comes from God and we do nothing to save ourselves.   Tim and Kathy Keller have set Gospel in Life on a clear course to continue pointing people to the love and forgiveness found in Christ, and with your help and the work of the Holy Spirit we are praying that in the years ahead many people will come to know Jesus and many more will grow in their faith through this ministry. 
June 1, 2023
It’s almost cliché to hear someone say you should “wait on the Lord.” But here in Habakkuk, we have a book that’s all about how to face evil times. And one of the main ways in which we’re able to handle evil times is what the Bible calls “waiting on the Lord.”  Habakkuk has started by voicing a great complaint, has heard God’s first response, and has called out to God again. In this passage, Habakkuk waits to hear God’s second answer. Habakkuk waits. There is a rich meaning to this, which we can see in this text. We are to wait on the Lord 1) patiently, 2) perspectively, 3) obediently, 4) God-centrically, and 5) joyfully. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 10, 2009. Series: Living by Faith in Troubled Times. Scripture: Habakkuk 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.
May 31, 2023
It would be possible to go to church for many decades and never hear a sermon on Habakkuk. It’s a short book in the Old Testament, and we know almost nothing about Habakkuk himself. But this book is very contemporary in its application.  This little book talks about how to handle evil times, whether those are society-wide evil times or just your own personal evil times.  Let’s see why this is so relevant to us. Let’s notice 1) what Habakkuk saw, 2) what he did, 3) what he heard from God, and 4) what it meant.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 3, 2009. Series: Living by Faith in Troubled Times. Scripture: Habakkuk 1:1-17. 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.
May 29, 2023
We’re looking at people who have had close encounters with God. Of course, Mary’s experience is often read at Christmastime. In Luke 1, Mary sings the very first Christmas carol. It’s the first Christmas song, and I’d say it’s the best.  Let’s look at 1) what leads her to sing, 2) what she sings a little about, and 3) what she sings a lot about.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 8, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Luke 1:39-55. 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.
May 26, 2023
When people in the Bible have close encounters with God, in almost every situation they say, “I can’t believe I’m still alive,” and Hagar is one of them. In Genesis 16, we see the story of Hagar, the maidservant of Sarah. Sarah’s and Hagar’s experiences overlap. We’re told Sarah mistreats Hagar, and it’s so bad that Hagar, a pregnant woman, flees out into the desert. We have here a story that will tell you the gospel. This is the gospel according to Hagar. We’ll look at 1) how we can understand the narrative, and 2) a few important principles we can draw from here. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 1, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Genesis 16:1-16. 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.
May 24, 2023
We’re looking at historic accounts of people who had direct encounters with the living God. Isaiah 6 is a seminal passage: all of biblical religion is in here. It tells us so much about what it means to be a Christian and what it means to really meet God. In this passage, Isaiah’s just going to the temple like he’s gone to the temple hundreds of times before. It’s the Sabbath day. He walks into the temple, and the very last person in the whole world he expects to actually see is God. This passage tells us four characteristics of the Christian experience: 1) the reality, 2) the diversity, 3) the beauty, and 4) the festivity. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 24, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8. 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.
May 19, 2023
Two times God appears to Abraham, but this time is utterly different than the last time. This time, God has come to get Sarah’s attention. In Genesis 15, God speaks to Abraham in dread darkness as an unapproachable thing. Here, in Genesis 18, in the heat of the day and in the most approachable possible way, God has come not so much to talk to Abraham—he has come to talk to Sarah. God is going to establish Sarah in his promise. We’ll look at 1) why, 2) how, and 3) what lessons we can draw out. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 10, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Genesis 18:9-33. 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.
May 17, 2023
We’re looking in the Bible at people who have had direct encounters with the raw presence of God. But this situation in which Abraham has a meeting with God is one of the weirdest stories in the Bible. It’s also the most significant passage for me in all of the Old Testament. In this passage, Abraham asks how he can know that God will do what God’s promised. When God responds, Abraham knows what’s going on: a covenant ratification ceremony. This was the making of a contract. Abraham knew right away, but he didn’t figure what would actually happen. No one on the face of the earth would figure what would actually happen. We’ll look at what happened. And then to apply this, we’ll see 1) the problem is we need an anchor for our souls, and 2) how we can get it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 3, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: Genesis 15:1-21. 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.
May 15, 2023
We’re looking at times when people have had close encounters with God. The one Paul gives us is one of the most curious of all. And it’s actually about discouragement. Paul is writing a letter to the church at Corinth. There were false teachers who had come to Corinth, twisting the gospel and claiming to have divine authority. When Paul responds, he does not enter into a direct competition. He does not say, “My revelations are bigger or better.” Oh, no. He says his revelations are different. Let’s see what we can learn from what Paul shares: 1) the heaven experience, and 2) the thorn experience.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 20, 1996. Series: Daring to Draw Near. Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. 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.
May 12, 2023
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Featured Offer

How to navigate life’s biggest milestones
 In How to Find God, Tim Keller shows us how we can face the key milestones of Birth, Marriage, and Death with God’s help. When you give to Gospel in Life this month, we’ll send you this collection of three short books as our thanks for helping us share the Gospel with more people. 

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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