Depression

Where is God when you are depressed? When depression presses in, God can feel distant — as if your pain has carried you beyond His reach. In this study of Psalm 139, Dr. Toby Holt shows the opposite is true: there is no valley dark enough to take you outside the presence and care of God. David confesses that God has searched him and known him completely — his sitting down and rising up, his words...

Is it okay to ask God "why"? In this bonus study from Job 10, Dr. Toby Holt asks a question every hurting believer has felt: is it allowed to bring God our raw, grief-filled "why"? Job, the most righteous man on earth, tells God plainly that he loathes his life and wants to know why God is contending with him. God is big enough to receive our honest laments — asking "why&q...

Why would a God this great care about you? In Psalm 8, David looks at the night sky and asks, "What is man that You are mindful of him?" Dr. Toby Holt shows how God is both towering above all things and tender toward each of us. David is overwhelmed by God's majesty — the heavens, moon, and stars, all the work of His fingers. Against that vastness, people seem tiny. Yet the wonder is tha...

Where do you go when life feels like too much? In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus gives an open invitation to everyone worn out and weighed down: "Come to Me." In this sermon, Dr. Toby Holt opens Christ's promise of rest for the overwhelmed — and the reminder that we do not carry our burdens alone. Questions this sermon answers: 1. Who is Jesus inviting? Everyone who is weary and "heavy lad...

Can God's promises really be trusted? The Bible is full of promises — some made by men, many made by God. In this sermon (Deuteronomy), Dr. Toby Holt contrasts our flimsy, often-broken promises with the iron-clad faithfulness of God's covenant word. Questions this sermon answers: 1. What is a covenant? A binding promise or relationship. God repeatedly bound Himself to His people by covenant, pledg...

Will God really provide for His children? In 1 Kings 17, God feeds the prophet Elijah by ravens and sustains a starving widow through a famine. In this sermon, Dr. Toby Holt shows how the God who provided then will look after His people now. Questions this sermon answers: 1. What was Elijah's situation? He was in hiding from wicked Ahab and Jezebel, and God provided for him in the wilderness — eve...

Will you walk in the light or the darkness? In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul reminds believers that they are "sons of light" living in a dark world. In this sermon, Dr. Toby Holt calls Christians to live as agents of light amid the shadows of this age. Questions this sermon answers: 1. What were the Thessalonians anxious about? The future — especially the coming "day of the LORD" and...

Where do you turn when your heart is troubled? In John 14:1-6, with the cross just hours away, Jesus comforts His fearful disciples. Dr. Toby Holt opens some of the most reassuring words in all of Scripture. The disciples are shaken — Jesus has spoken of leaving, of a betrayer, of Peter's denial. Into that fear He says, "Let not your heart be troubled," promising a prepared place in His...