Posts by Daniel Darling

The Bible says it like this: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." – John 15:13. In other words, if you want to see real love in action, look at a man who gives himself for his friends. When I think of that verse, I think of…

What do you believe exactly? I get that question a lot as I’m out and about in the community. People ask me what our church believes, what we teach, what we do. Most people, especially those who don’t attend church and don’t consider themselves too religious have a kind of vague notion as to what…

 So  my job on Sunday is really easy. Explain the Trinity in a 40-minute sermon.  Actually, no, I won’t explain the Trinity, because the Trinity is unexplainable. But what we will do is explore the Trinity as we continue our series, Why We Believe What We Believe.  Why do we talk about the Trinity? Isn’t…

 When I was a kid, we sang this song, "The Bible Stands." You can find the words to the song here. Its a simple song with profound theology.  This Sunday we’re talking about Why We Believe What We Believe About the Bible. I thoroughly enjoyed this study. Its a powerful study. What do we mean…

Its Tuesday and I’m in the office doing the usual pastoral stuff–checking mail, following up with people from Sunday, catching up on church business, etc. But I’m still basking in the glow of a wonderful Sunday this week. As a pastor, I look forward to Sundays, I look forward to preaching, I look forward to…

I’m very excited about a brand-new sermon series we’re calling "Why We Believe, What We Believe." It begins this Sunday, October 4th. This doesn’t mean we are done with John, its just that we’ll be done with John until sometime next year. John is an awesome study and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed preaching through it. We’ll…

 Its been a while since I updated everyone on some projects I am working on, so here we go: Crash Course, Forming a Faith Foundation for Life – This is my second teen devotional. Like Teen People of the Bible, it will be a 100-day devotional. Crash Course is geared for jr high and high-school…

I just finished a powerful, powerful book by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. I read a ton of books. Sometimes I read books that I can’t wait to recommend. This is one. I am a big fan of the church, amidst a growing evangelical culture that is pooh-poohing the church. Every other day there is…

 The doorbell rang today and awaiting me was a beautiful new delivery of some books. One I had been anticipating for a while, by Kevin DeYoung, a thoughtful new voice in the evangelical world. The book is Just Do Something, A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will.  Its a short book, but one loaded with…

 For my generation—I’m 31 years old—9/11 was as seminal moment. I still remember that day and following weeks exactly as they happened. I was working on staff at Victory In Grace Ministries. But really “working” is a bad word, because for several days were glued to the TV as the rest of America was.  I…

Sunday is going to an awesome day of worship at Gages Lake. We’re going to have a baptism and communion service. And our text in the Gospel of John fits so perfectly with communion. My sermon is "Return to the Cross."   Here is a little snippet of the sermon:    As a Christian, we…

 I love preaching. I love to study. I love how the Holy Spirit puts it all together and uses an unworthy messenger like me. I love every Sunday of church. But every once in a while, I really love preaching, which is to say that the message has so totally overwhelmed me. This coming Sunday…