TGC Podcast

At TGCW22, Julius Kim delivered a powerful message on how King David’s sacrificial love toward Mephibosheth points us to the sacrificial love of God through Christ. As Kim teaches on 2 Samuel 9, he explains that King David’s love for Mephibosheth mimics Christ’s love for us. Kim draws out four key acts in this passage: David’s pursuit to show kindness Mephibosheth’s plight David’s promise to do no...

“When current fear comes and it is looming large in your life, then what we need to do is . . . remember what God has done, remember his past faithfulness. . . . Let his past faithfulness cultivate current faith in us in the present.” –– Courtney Doctor In her keynote message at TGCW22, Courtney Doctor teaches from 1 Samuel 17 about the true champion in the story of David and Goliath. Doctor says...

“[God’s Word] did a much deeper work in Rahab than merely making her afraid. . . . While the hearts of all of the rest of the people in Jericho melted into fear, Rahab's heart melted into faith.” –– Nancy Guthrie In her keynote message at TGCW22, Nancy Guthrie teaches on the faith of Rahab and the encouragement it provides for us to risk everything for God. There's a thread of protection from God’...

“Christ was conformed to the image of the serpent that we might be conformed to the image of Christ.” — Jen Wilkin In her talk at TGCW22, Jen Wilkin teaches about the significance of the serpent on the pole as referenced in Numbers 21. In this Old Testament passage, Wilkin explains, the serpents point back to Egypt and the severity of the punishment from God in the 10 plagues. It's a reminder to t...

“Everything you need has been purchased by the blood of Jesus . . . for your enjoyment now, in the midst of the wilderness, and your enjoyment, forever.” – John Piper In his keynote message at TGCW22, John Piper describes four scenes in the wilderness of Exodus 17 that are brimming with implications for our own lives: God brought his people to a waterless place in the wilderness on purpose. God co...

“We need to remember the reality of God and that there is nothing too hard for him. All of us have something in our life where this truth needs to be applied.” — Jackie Hill Perry In Genesis 22, when Abraham is asked to sacrifice his only son, he obeys immediately. In her message at TGC's 2022 Women's Conference, Jackie Hill Perry explained how Abraham's obedience was directly tied to his unwaveri...

“We deserved the flood . . . we are given the ark, and his name is Jesus.” –– Melissa Kruger In her keynote message at TGCW22, Melissa Kruger uses the story of Noah and the flood to illustrate God's unchanging character and grace. She points out three key takeaways: God is just, therefore salvation is needed. God is gracious, therefore salvation is provided. God is powerful, therefore salvation is...

“Accomplishing the Great Commission will not be easy, but we’ve been commanded by God to take the gospel to all people groups.” — David Platt In his message at TGC's 2021 National Conference, David Platt urges local church leaders and pastors to prioritize the 3 billion unreached people across the globe. He reminds these leaders that God has commanded their obedience in the Great Commission for th...

“When we say that we should sing the Word, we mean that our singing ought to be biblical.” – Ligon Duncan In the book of Hebrews, we are exhorted to offer acceptable worship to God, but what does that practically look like? Ligon Duncan not only answers the “what” of acceptable worship, but also the “how.” Worship is defined as “glorifying and enjoying God forever,” which is done in two ways: Gath...

At TGC's 2021 National Conference, Trevin Wax taught on the importance of being a multi-directional leader and how to have a heightened awareness of problems your flock may encounter. Wax defines multi-directional leadership as “a manner of leadership grounded in the unshakable conviction that all the truth revealed in Scripture must be deployed for the good of God’s people.” The pursuit of this t...

In his message at TGC's 2021 National Conference, John Yates teaches on the successes of The Great Awakening of the 1700s to1800s and what this historical revival can show us. Yates explains five things that made the ministry and revival of the early awakeners so effective: 1. Their message always started with man’s lostness and inability to live up to the standard of God. It always ended with the...

A few years ago, Jen Wilkin coined the term “celebratory failurism” to describe an acceptance of the thought that Christians will never be able to fully obey because of total depravity. Wilkin pushes back on that idea, and she and Mike Kruger discuss why there seems to be a misunderstanding on total depravity, legalism, and obedience to the law.  They discuss the struggle between antinomianism (la...

“We can’t love Christ and love his word and ignore the gospel imperative to love each other .” — Courtney Doctor In our polarized world, Christians should be constantly demonstrating a better way toward unity. In this panel discussion at TGC21 (moderated by Vanessa Hawkins), Courtney Doctor, Suzanne Bates, Ruth Chou Simons, and Dennae Pierre discuss the barriers to gospel-centered racial unity and...

“Go online for a purpose, go for a reason. Stay online only as long as you need to, and then go offline.” — Brett McCracken In his message at TGC21, Brett McCracken addresses an issue of today's generation of quick information—how to develop wisdom in the midst of all that is being thrown at us, online. He shares three things that are making us sick: We have too much information We receive it too...

Along with his other brothers and sisters, James started out as an unbeliever—though he was a half-sibling of Jesus—until Christ's resurrection. Nancy Guthrie takes us through verses from the Gospels, the Book of Acts, and historical writings to show us James's journey as the leader of the church in Jerusalem, a pastor, peacemaker, doer of the Word, and a man who remained steadfast under trial. In...

At TGC21, Michael Horton explains how we, as sinners, can take our sin to a holy God without fear because of our sympathetic high priest, Jesus.  Horton takes Friedrich Nietzsche’s writing on “the ugliest man,” who claimed to kill God because he couldn’t bear to have someone know his dirtiest corners, and parallels it with how we can bring our dirtiest sins to the Father through Jesus, without sha...

If we want our kids to love Jesus, we must also want them to love the church. In her message at TGCW21, Megan Hill gives five ways to practically teach our kids to love the local church. Acknowledge our kids’ experiences. Know that church isn’t always easy for them, and talk to them about it. Remove practical obstacles. Sometimes what they don’t like about church isn’t spiritual and can be changed...

“At the core of our identity as Christians is this thing that says, ‘Jesus is more important to us than anything else,’ and it causes us to lean toward one another, not away from each other.” — Mark Vroegop At TGC's 2021 National Conference, Mark Vroegop, Kori Porter, and Irwyn Ince discuss why lament is a key component of racial reconciliation. The panel answers tough questions: What is racial re...

“We don’t persevere in order to be saved. We persevere because we have been saved. God has made it possible for us to maintain faithfulness to Jesus, and God is invested in our faithfulness to him.” –– Glenna Marshall At TGCW21, Glenna Marshall delivers a practical message on how to be faithful in the small things, noting that it takes time to see spiritual growth. This perseverance and faithfulne...

“Whatever [sin] it is, God is still gracious to redeem you and to keep you. He will never leave nor forsake you.” — Kori Porter Kori Porter outlines the steps of sin through King David’s adultery and murder: sin always starts with desire, sin leads to more sin, and sin produces death. Through this progression, Porter teaches that we have many points of escape when we’re in sin—God will give us a w...

In their breakout session at TGC21, Kevin DeYoung, Ligon Duncan, Melissa Kruger, and Nancy Guthrie discuss what it means to have a healthy, biblical view of complementarianism. Melissa Kruger defines complementarianism as understanding men and women to be “equal in worth and dignity, and different in how we live that out in the world.” The panel answers questions like “What does healthy and unheal...

Megan Hill, Lauren Hansen, and Lindsey Carlson discuss what the wives of pastors and elders need in order to thrive as they support their husbands and churches. The panel answers questions like: How do you handle being seen as a spiritual giant in the church? How do you encourage your husband during a difficult time of pastoring? How do you transition out of relationships into new ones when you mo...

“I believe we need to read, interpret, and preach Christ and his gospel from all the Scriptures.” – Julius Kim At TGC21, Julius Kim explains how to deliver a sermon with wisdom and grace for the growth of God’s kingdom. Kim says that it is critical to preach Christ through every passage, and he gives four specific ways to prepare a sermon, with key tips on how to preach it once prepared: Discover...

“If we were to delight in the Ten Commandments, we would begin to live on earth as a citizen of heaven, anticipating that future sweetness when we, like Christ, fully obey the law.” –– Jen Wilkin Jen Wilkin delivers a message at TGCW21 on expanding our understanding of and obedience to the Ten Commandments. Wilkin emphasizes the importance of delighting in God’s law and explains the good that come...

“At the end of the book of Revelation, we see that Jesus, the second Adam, will not fail to lead us into a garden that will be even better than Eden—where we will enjoy fellowship with him for all eternity. So, don't be afraid of Revelation.” Nancy Guthrie gives four common fears we may have when approaching the book of Revelation: 1. We fear that we’re not going to understand it and, if we’re tea...