The Darrell Johnson Podcast

Ephesians | Week 7 | In this sermon, Darrell takes us into the deep pit of our sin and separation from God as the apostle Paul describes it in Ephesians 2:1-10. This is a very difficult text both to preach and to hear. We want to jump to the really good news of verse 4 -  “ but God ” - and the gospel takes us there - but it is only really, really good news, once we have spent time acknowledgi...

Ephesians | Week 6 | In this message, Darrell continues exploring the depth of the Apostle Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23. This time focusing on the burden of the prayer - “that we would know.” That by God’s grace, we might know the One whom God has installed as Sovereign over the cosmos. Darrell encourages us to live in the good news of this first chapter, so that we might step into deeper cl...

Ephesians | Week 5 | In this sermon, Darrell explores the heartbeat of the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus, a prayer that is expansive and full of expectancy for all believers in Jesus. Paul desires for followers of Christ to know God and to know the benefits of knowing God. Paul’s “gospel-shaped prayer” asks the Holy Spirit for wisdom to help us live in right-relationship with God...

Ephesians | Week 4 | In this sermon, Darrell unpacks 7 spiritual blessings we have in Christ - that we are chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, awakened to the mystery of Christ, given an inheritance, and sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit. Darrell explains that we are richer than we think or feel not just because of Christ, but because we are in Christ. First Baptist Church, Vancouver, BC | Janu...

Ephesians | Week 3 | What does it mean to be rich or blessed? In part one of this sermon, Darrell refers to one of the longest sentences in the Bible, written by Paul in Ephesians 1:3-14 to answer this question. Here we see that to be rich in God goes beyond what we can see with our eyes or what is tangible through material means. Paul reveals to us in Ephesians that to be rich is partake in the G...

Ephesians | Week 2 | In this text, Paul states his first major declaration: we are seated in heavenly places with Christ. Regardless of our current worldly location, as believers we are “in Christ” and everything we have is “by Christ”. Darrell takes us through Ephesians 1:3-14 to help us understand the alternate universe, location, and reality that Paul is talking about in his letter. When we beg...

Ephesians | Week 1 | In the first sermon of his series on Ephesians, Darrell walks us into what he believes is the core message of the letter: things are not as they seem. Written by Paul while imprisoned in Rome in 62 A.D, the letter to the Ephesians shows how those who have put their faith in Jesus are able to see reality through a new lens, one that changes our understanding of power, authority...

Starting March 4th, Darrell will begin taking us through the book of Ephesians. If you are interested in going deeper in your study, his latest book release April 1st, called Ephesians: The Wonder & Walk of Being Alive In Christ. 

In this message from Darrell's time candidating at Glendale Presbyterian Church in 1993, two pieces of scripture are explored: Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Romans 8:18-26. Darrell is inviting the church to remember the hope we find in Christ. We see God's promise of resurrection and new life in the story of Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones. The critical idea for us to grasp in this message is that dry b...

In this sermon Darrell lets us hear the cry of his heart to God from Psalm 119:94: “I am Yours, save me!” This desperate prayer is Darrell’s favourite verse from his favourite Psalm. Even though this prayer is only five words long, it is an all-encompassing prayer. We are God’s because He is our creator, redeemer, adoptive parent, and much more. God saves us from sin, doubt, fear, futility, and ev...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 13 | Darrell begins this sermon on evil and the gospel with the declaration: “Thank God for the gospel.” Jesus of Nazareth has changed the way the universe goes together. Darrell tells the crucial story of two mountains - the mountain of temptation in Matthew 4, and the mountain of victorious authority of Matthew 28. Be encouraged by the good news th...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 12 | In this sermon, Darrell reminds us that sin is not something we have to live in bondage to because Jesus Christ has dealt with sin. Not that we can not still sin, but that it is illogical because Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension have fundamentally altered the reality of sin. Sin has no claim on Jesus. His death was the death of the powe...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 11 | In John 14:1-12, Darrell helps us acknowledge that Jesus makes one of His most startling promises in His ministry: Jesus claims that we will do more works in our life when we have our faith in Him. Darrell shows how the double “truly truly” in this text is a promise that all Christ followers can build their life on because Jesus dealt with the p...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 10 | Though Jesus is physically absent from our lives here on earth, we live with the ongoing presence of His Spirit. The Holy Spirit– the “Paraclete,” our Helper– has one main job:  to bear witness to the reality of Jesus for those who believe and for those who don’t yet believe. In this message, Darrell reminds us that the same Spirit who reve...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 9 | In this sermon, Darrell draws our attention to Jesus’ words about how to live once he is physically absent from earth. In every place we go, with every person we meet, even when sin, evil, and death are present and appear dominant, the good news is that the Paraclete is present and active! The Paraclete, also known as the Holy Spirit, is the pres...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 8 | What a friend we have in the paraclete, who discloses to us what is to come, brings to remembrance all that Jesus has said, teaches us all things, and helps us to love Jesus. In this message Darrell breaks down the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believer. First Baptist Church, Vancouver, BC | June 6, 2010 | John 14: 22-31 a...

Christmas 2013 | Week 3 | The forgotten man of Christmas is the main character in the book of Matthew, who demonstrates how to preach christ without speaking a word and shows us what it means to be a disciple. In Matthew 1:18-25, the Holy Spirit reveals to Joseph the mystery that will unfold before him, that is life-altering. A turning point in Josephs's life, where the future is unsteady but by h...

Christmas 2013 | Week 2 | Christmas is a time of year with great expectations, but those can also lead to great disappointments. John the Baptist had great expectations of Jesus. That he would be the messiah and bring a baptism of both Spirit and Fire to the world as the prophets foretold. Jesus however, had a different timeline. He came with a baptism of Spirit, yes, but the baptism of fire he ha...

Christmas 2013 | Week 1 | What are you expecting this Christmas? In this message, Darrell looks at the expectations John the Baptist had as he prepared the way for the Lord. Jesus, he came to believe, was the messiah, and so his expectations were that in meeting Jesus, he would meet God. He expected to see signs and wonders of the new kingdom breaking into this world. He expected to be overwhelmed...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 7 | “Come Holy Spirit, come”, a simple yet effective prayer. In this message, Darrell breaks down the importance of Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit, and what it means to wait on God. The day of Pentecost is the fulfillment of a promise, the promise of the holy spirit, where God takes up permanent residence in us to be God with us. At Pen...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 6 | The inspired words of the prophet Malachi, speak of the good news which reveals the mystery about money. “Return to me and I will return to you, bring in the whole tithe.” says the Lord. Giving our tithes is a way of remembering what the Lord has done for us, and is what Paul calls an obedience of faith. We are called to not hold back in our givi...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 5 | In this sermon, Darrell brings us into the life-giving conversation Jesus had one night with a religious leader named Nicodemus. Even though Nicodemus is a respected, good, and religious man, he is powerless to attain the spiritual and eternal life of the Kingdom of God on his own power. Jesus is clear that in order to have the full life Nicodemu...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 4 | In this message, Darrell focuses on the tension many feel in light of the absence of the physical presence of Jesus Christ until his Second Coming. In order for us to live with the longing of His return we must first learn to accept the betrothal from Jesus Christ. We see this betrothal of covenant best exemplified in the holy communion at the la...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 3 | In this sermon, Darrell discusses how the disciples in the upper room were assured that after his death and resurrection Jesus would send another “of the same kind as him.” The Holy Spirit, called the Paraclete in Greek, is that person. He has come to universalize the presence of Jesus, dwelling in and alongside us to purify, cleanse and free us...

The Space In Which He Calls Us To Follow | Week 2 | A common question many people ask is: how can God be everywhere at the same time? In this sermon, Darrell takes us through Matthew 28 to help answer that question. In this scripture there are three statements; the great claim, the great commission, and the great comfort. The first statement shows us who God is, the second is a command for those w...