The Shepherd's Pulpit

Pride and love can't exist together. Pride leads to selfishness, arrogance, judgement, and hate; all of these run against how Paul describes love in 1 Corinthians 13. In today's chapel message, NEBC professor Dr. Michael McDill looks to Paul's words to define how we should love, running from pride each and every day.

In the greatest sermon ever told, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus covers a wide range of subjects crucial to the Christian life. He gives instruction, encouragement, and, in the final verses, warnings to His listeners. In today's chapel message, President Ballard elaborates on three of these warnings: beware the fatal path, beware false prophets, and beware the false profession of faith. 

One of our greatest callings in life—if not the greatest—is to love God with all our hearts. But how do we do that to the best of our ability? The key, simply, is to understand God's love for us. In today's chapel message, President Ballard takes us through what it truly means to love God, in the what, the how, and the why.

It's easy to fall to despair. Life can do its best to rob you of your hope and joy, and leave you not knowing how to make it tomorrow. The good news, though, is we have a God Who can carry us through. In today's chapel message, NEBC alum pastor Michael Carrel looks at Psalm 13 on what we can do when despair strikes, having faith in the truth of our faithful God.

Life takes endurance. The world has a way of throwing the difficult, the unexpected, and the unwanted our way. What do we do, then, when it seems more that we can bear? Pastor Josh Bradbury gives the answer from Paul's words in 2 Tim 2:8-13, on the hope we have in Christ that carries us through.

God has a habit of doing the unexpected. He works in truly mysterious ways, accomplishing His goals through ways that, frankly, make no earthly sense. But good news, His sense is far greater than ours. In today's chapel message, NEBC professor Jared August looks to Paul in 1 Corinthians 1 on how God does the seemingly nonsensical through the unexpected and difficult, even beyond our comprehension.

Life gets lonely at times. We all face moments or seasons of feeling isolated, where we long for deep, meaningful connections with others. When that happens, what do we do? In today's chapel message, NEBC professor Dr. George Sweet compares the lives of Jonah and Paul to show how we should face loneliness when it strikes, by loving God and others in new, deeper ways.

How do you want to finish? When the day comes when you finally meet Jesus face to face, what legacy do you want to leave behind? In today's chapel message, president Mark Ballard looks to Paul in Acts 16 on how we can persevere each day, praising God and doing His work to the very end.

What is your priority? In the busyness of life, it's easy to spread ourselves too thin and lose focus. When that happens, we run the risk of prioritizing things that, ultimately, do not matter. In today's chapel message, Pastor Javier Chaves looks to Philippians 3 to remind us that we have one thing we should do no matter what: devote ourselves to Christ.

A piece of wire only has one purpose: to transmit power. It can't generate power itself, and removed from its power source it's nearly useless. As believers, we're a wire for God's power; through Him we can do all things, separate from Him we're powerless. In today's chapel message, NEBC Dean of Academics Dr. Lee Williams looks to 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, seeing how Paul's "thorn in the flesh" remin...

Life gets rough. No matter what we do, we all will face pain and pressure in one way or another. The question is, when life comes against us, what will we choose to do? In today's chapel message, NEBC Alumnus Robert Brouillard looks to the life of King Hezekiah as an example of both how we can face life with faithfulness to God, and what happens when we let pride creep in in our success.

Have you ever wondered whether, once we get to Heaven, we will still have our memories of our life on earth? In today's chapel message, NEBC professor Dr. Jared August gives an answer to that question, looking to Revelation for clues that we will indeed remember our time on earth now and forever.

Choices have consequences. When these choices are sinful, the consequences can be great; they damage our relationship with God and others, and grieve the Father over our actions. When this happens, we have another choice to make. What do we do? In today's chapel message, President Ballard walks us through the three steps we must take when we stumble into sin, of seeking reconciliation with the Lor...

When we're reborn in Christ, we're not who we were before. Our whole identity changes, from that of a sinner to a saint, a person redeemed and spotless. The question is, is that how we see ourselves? In today's chapel message, pastor Johnny Fain looks at John 3 to show us how we should view ourselves in Christ according to God Himself, as reborn saints and not the sinners we were before.

We all experience anxiety. Life throws a lot at us, and it's easy to be overwhelmed be it all. When that happens, we have a few choices: we could succumb to our anxieties and live in distress; or, we can cast our fears upon the Lord, living in freedom from the chains of anxiety. In today's chapel message, pastor George Moore teaches how we can give our anxieties to God, and be ruled by them no mor...

The Israelites can teach us many lessons, both good and bad. For the latter, their story demonstrates what it means to fail in worshiping God; their idolatry, immorality, pride, and complaining kept them from having true and complete relationship with Him. We can learn from their example. We can learn how to do and be the opposite, how to seek a righteous and thriving relationship with our Lord. I...

How do you approach reading the Bible? Do you approach it with dread, or delight? In today's chapel message, NEBC professor Dr. Alan Ingalls shows us from Psalm 19 how reading the Scriptures is a treat sweeter than honey, as God reveals Himself to us through His holy Word.

What happens when a nation turns from God? In short, nothing good; even God's chosen nation Israel faced destruction when they forsook Him. How can we avoid Israel's fate? What we need are intercessors, people of God to work to reconcile our nation to God and seek His mercy. In today's chapel message, pastor Larry Pridmore looks at Ezekiel 22 to show us our dire need for intercessors, for the sake...

What is the Holiness of God? We know that He is holy, set apart, but what does that look like? In Isaiah 6, the prophet provides us a stirring image, one that words hardly contain. In today's chapel message pastor Tom Hatley explores the true meaning of God's holiness, especially why it matters to us today. 

Whether we realize it or not, we're all engaged in spiritual warfare. Every day, the forces of Satan try to defeat us and discourage us, through any means at their disposal. In response we must recognize our opponent, understand the threat they pose, and equip ourselves for victory against them, as Dr. Paige Patterson teaches in this chapel message.

We all have that person. That person who's difficult, who's a constant source of conflict, who seems impossible to love. But what if there was a way to try and resolve that conflict? In this chapel message, NEBC Professor Dr. Michael McDill takes us through Romans 12:16-21, giving principles for how you can seek harmony with difficult people, and be at peace.

What does God want you to do? There are many answers to that question for each of us, but one answer is universal: evangelize the lost. We never know if we have tomorrow, or another opportunity with each person we meet. In this chapel message, President Ballard uses the story of the blind man in John 9 to show how when opportunity arises, we need to "Do It Now!"

On this National Day of Prayer, we ask the question: what does it mean to pray effectively? For the answer, President Ballard turns to Genesis 18:16-33, looking at Abraham's fervent prayer to God to spare Sodom for the sake of the righteous. From this example, we learn three truths of effective prayer: it is initiated by Emmanuel, it involves intense intercession, and it requires submission to the...

John's picture of heaven in Revelation 7:9-10 gives a striking image: multitudes of people clothed in white, gathered before the throne and giving God their praise. These people come from every end of the earth--they are from all tribes, nations, and tongues, gathered as one and united in Christ. For them to know Christ, of course, someone had to bring them His saving message; as Christians, we ar...

Paul's heart was for one simple thing: evangelism. His life was dedicated to carrying the Gospel to the ends of the earth, because of the endless mercy he wanted to repay, the God-given mandate he wanted to obey, and life-saving message he wanted to convey. In today's message, SBC presidential candidate Pastor Mike Stone uses Paul's words in Romans 1:14-16 to show how we should have a heart like P...