Imperfect but Chosen: How Grace Transforms Leaders
As he drew his first letter to a close, the apostle Peter focused in on the reality of suffering that his recipients would endure and the need for leaders to shepherd their flocks well. Like every caring pastor, Peter realized that the people to whom he was writing needed to know God and live in the light of His truth. In his message “Anchored by Grace,” Alistair Begg examines Peter’s instructions, which include an admonition to embrace true, godly humility:
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“This One Thing I Do…”: A Word to Young Men
“One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13–14 ESV)
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Alistair Begg’s Final Sermon as Senior Pastor at Parkside Church
When God gave Moses the assignment of delivering Israel from bondage in Egypt, what Moses needed to know more than anything was God’s name and word. Indeed, down through the centuries, mankind’s greatest need has always been to know God’s character, to receive His promises, and to live in the light of both. In his final message as Parkside Church’s senior pastor, Alistair Begg calls us to reflect on God’s unfailing trustworthiness, which gives us sure grounds for staking our lives upon His promises:
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Not What I Do but What Jesus Has Done
After failing in his first attempt as Israel’s deliverer from Egypt, Moses spent the next forty years living the routine life of a shepherd—yet during these “silent” years, God was preparing him to shepherd His people. In his last Sunday morning message from the Parkside Church pulpit, Alistair Begg turns our gaze to Jesus, the ultimate Deliverer for God’s people, and invites us to consider what it truly means to follow Him:
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From Egypt to Eternity: The Gospel in the Life of Moses
God makes all things beautiful in His time—even when His timing isn’t what we have in mind! When the Hebrews were enslaved and treated harshly in Egypt, one Hebrew infant was spared. Nurtured in the faith by his own mother, Moses also enjoyed the privileged life of an Egyptian prince. In his sermon “In His Time — Part Two,” Alistair Begg points out how Moses’s eventual role as the deliverer of his people points forward to an even greater Deliverer:
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“Where Is God?”: Exodus 1 and the Problem of Pain
In Exodus 1, the people of Israel face an unimaginable problem: After enjoying years of favor in Egypt, they live to see the rise of a new pharaoh, who institutes a harsh policy of infanticide to quell the rising Hebrew population. If God is, as we say, the God in charge of history, how do we make sense of such an atrocity? In his sermon “In His Time,” Alistair Begg helps us to acknowledge the tension such a question raises:
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Not by Chance: Why Christians See Purpose in Everything
In a world where many people think life lacks rhyme or reason, Christians are called to be different and to think differently. With our Bibles open, we affirm that God is both creator and sustainer of the universe He has made. In short, we believe in the doctrine of providence. In his sermon “The God in Charge of History,” Alistair Begg helps us to understand the biblical origin and definition of this important doctrine:
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The King of Kings on Trial: Pilate's Crucial Crossroads
In 1 Corinthians 13:12, referencing what awaits us in eternity, the apostle Paul wrote that “now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” What would it be like to speak face-to-face with Jesus? The Roman governor Pontius Pilate had just such an encounter as Christ stood on trial before him—an encounter that, as Alistair Begg explains in his sermon “‘What Shall I Do with Jesus?,’” revealed the Son of Man’s majesty even as it brought Pilate to a crucial crossroads:
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The Danger of Self-Assurance: Lessons from the Apostle Peter
Scripture calls us to a measure of confidence. But what happens when that confidence is misplaced or misdirected? In the garden of Gethsemane, Peter’s self-assurance led him to foolishly attack one of the men who came to arrest Jesus—but later that night, he thrice denied even knowing his Lord and Master. In his sermon “A Question for Peter,” Alistair Begg helps us see the danger that can come on the heels of overconfidence:
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The Calm Before the Cross
When a crowd led by Judas came to the garden of Gethsemane to arrest Him, Jesus—unlike His disciples—didn’t lose His composure. Instead, in both word and deed, He revealed Himself to be at peace and in control. What was the basis for Jesus’ startling serenity in the face of betrayal? In his sermon “‘The Hour Has Come,’” Alistair Begg considers the answer:
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