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Abraham and the Growth of Faith

April 14, 2025
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There’s one guy who is so preeminently an example of a life of faith that three religions look to him as the paragon of faith. That guy’s name is Abraham. 

Here’s the story of Abraham’s life: God said, “Get out!” Abraham said, “Where?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just go.” The Lord said, “I will give you this land.” Abraham said, “When?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just wander around in tents.” The Lord said, “I will give you a son.” Abraham said, “How?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just wait around.” The Lord said, “Slay your son.” Abraham said, “Why?” God said, “I’ll tell you later. Just walk up the hill with him.” If you read the whole narrative, you’ll find that he fell down a number of times. But every time Abraham masters the situation. 

In the face of it, the circumstances didn’t master Abraham. How? Three principles: 1) he heard the call of God, 2) he obeyed the call of God, and 3) he looked to the city with foundations.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 23, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-16.

Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

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Past Episodes

Abraham had greatness in the face of a completely uncertain future. He had no idea what was coming, and yet he lived a life of greatness. How can we?  The writer of Hebrews is writing to a group of Christians whose lives were going very badly. And in chapter 11, he says to them, “You don’t understand. The great men and women of God have never had designer lives. Yet they lived great lives.” And Abraham is perhaps the greatest case given. How we can live life with greatness, with stability, with confidence? There are three principles: 1) the negative principle, 2) the positive principle, and 3) the ultimate principle. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 16, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-16. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
April 11, 2025
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Enoch is a very mysterious Old Testament figure. God took him right to heaven without him tasting death—because he walked with God. What’s so special about walking with God? In the garden of Eden, in the beginning of time, God took long walks with us every evening. And yet the minute human beings disobeyed God, they couldn’t stand intimacy with infinity anymore. Humans no longer walk with God. But suddenly, in Genesis 5, Enoch shows up and he still walks with God. What? It’s still possible? Yes, it’s possible by faith. Faith. You can do it too.  Being a Christian is not about a general belief in God—it’s about walking with God. To walk with God is to 1) walk in peace with him, and to 2) walk in the presence of God. Let’s look at these two aspects and then, 3) look at how these two are drawn together. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 9, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:5-7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
April 9, 2025
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Many of us are wondering how we’re even going to face Monday, but the men and women in Hebrews 11 didn’t just know how to face life—they were enabled to even go against the whole world. And the thing that enabled them was they were commended by God. Abel got the commendation from God—he was shown God accepted him as absolutely righteous, and as a result, he became one of these great hearts who can face the world, can face anything. By looking at Abel, and the contrast with Cain, we can have some understanding about how we also can know this same thing. The best way to understand the case of Cain and Abel is to ask: 1) how were Cain and Abel alike, 2) how were they not alike? and 3) are you Cain or Abel? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 2, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
April 7, 2025
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Christian faith is more than thinking, because the Christian message, the gospel, is much more than an idea. It is not just an idea; it’s a power.  The gospel bears fruit in you. It’s a living thing. But how does faith move from being an idea to being a power? You stop just believing in God and you start believing God. Noah shows us the way.  Hebrews 11 shows us that Noah does three things that bring the power of faith into life: 1) he believes God, 2) he condemns the world, and 3) he hides in the ark. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 25, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
April 4, 2025
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The Bible tells us faith begins with thinking. The Bible says faith requires and stimulates the profoundest thinking and reasoning. You cannot be a Christian without using your brain to its uttermost.  Nowadays, we’re told by our culture from the time we’re very little that the big questions—what is real, what is right and wrong, and what we should be living for—are questions for the philosophers. We’re taught that the important things are standard of living, career, appearance, and psychological needs.  Hebrews 11 shows us three aspects about faith: 1) that thinking leads to faith, 2) how thinking leads to faith, and 3) whythinking leads to faith.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 18, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
April 2, 2025
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What is faith? What is it made of? How do you know if you have it? How do you lose it? How do you get it back? Hebrews 11 deals with all of these things through specific personal case studies of men and women who wrestled with issues of faith. I would suggest that it’s the easiest to understand the parts of faith as three layers, one of which comes first, then the others resting upon it. But the reality is it’s more complex than that. If you look hard enough at any one of these aspects, the other two are contained in the one. Yet all three are absolutely critical if we’re going to understand faith. Faith 1) begins with understanding, 2) which leads to conviction, but 3) completes itself always in commitment. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 11, 1994. Series: The Nature of Faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-3, 6, 7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
March 31, 2025
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One mark of a supernaturally changed heart is a changed attitude and view of races and cultures.  In social relations, grace-changed Christians use their power to serve, not exploit. We’re going to look at this by looking at a dispute that happened in the church of Rome, and by comparing it to another dispute. These passages show us 1) the problems that culture poses, 2) the solutions, true and false, and 3) how we get the power to implement the true solution. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 26, 2016. Series: What We Are Becoming: Transforming Love. Scripture: Romans 14:1-3, 14:14-15:7. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
March 28, 2025
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Some people say there’s a cultural crisis of integrity.  For example, Volkswagen was revealed to have deliberately used software designed to lie about emissions. It was a failure of integrity from one of the biggest corporations in the world. And some of you may be yawning, thinking that’s just the way things are. But the Bible says a supernaturally changed heart rejoices with the truth. Let’s talk about 1) how important integrity is, 2) how you practice integrity, and 3) how you can become people of integrity.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on June 19, 2016. Series: What We Are Becoming: Transforming Love. Scripture: Ephesians 4:14-15, 25-32. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
March 26, 2025
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When the Greeks and Romans met the early Christians, one of the first things that surprised them was how Christians handled suffering.  Christianity brought into the world a view and a way of handling suffering that the world had never seen. It was one of the evidences of a supernaturally changed heart. And in Romans 8, a passage that looks at all the benefits of salvation, we learn a lot about suffering. Romans 8 shows us 1) the unique Christian view of suffering, 2) the unique resources we get to face suffering, and 3) how we can make those resources our own. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 15, 2016. Series: What We Are Becoming: Transforming Love. Scripture: Romans 8:16-28. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
March 24, 2025
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What are the characteristics of a supernaturally changed heart? You can be very moral and active in church and still be an incredibly impatient, bitter person. So we’re looking at what Paul says are the marks of a supernaturally changed heart. And for this, Romans 12 is an explosive passage.  Let’s look at what this passage says about 1) patience and graciousness in life in general, and 2) love and forgiveness in the face of mistreatment. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on May 8, 2016. Series: What We Are Becoming: Transforming Love. Scripture: Romans 12:9-21. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.
March 21, 2025
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About Gospel in Life

Gospel In Life is a ministry that features sermons, books, articles, and resources from Timothy Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and Redeemer City to City. The name reflects our conviction that the gospel changes everything in life. In 1989 Dr. Timothy J. Keller, his wife and three young sons moved to New York City to begin Redeemer Presbyterian Church. He has since become a bestselling author, an influential thinker, and an advocate for ministry in cities and to secular people.

About Tim Keller

Timothy Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and three young sons.  For 28 years he led a diverse congregation of young professionals that grew to a weekly attendance of over 5,000.

He is also the Chairman & Co-Founder of Redeemer City to City (CTC), which starts new churches in New York and other global cities, and publishes books and resources for ministry in an urban environment. In 2017 Dr. Keller transitioned to CTC full time to teach and mentor church planters and seminary students through a joint venture with Reformed Theological Seminary's (RTS), the City Ministry Program. He also works with CTC's global affiliates to launch church planting movements.

Dr. Keller’s books, including the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, have sold over 2 million copies and been translated into 25 languages.

Christianity Today has said, “Fifty years from now, if evangelical Christians are widely known for their love of cities, their commitment to mercy and justice, and their love of their neighbors, Tim Keller will be remembered as a pioneer of the new urban Christians.”

Dr. Keller was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and educated at Bucknell University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary. He previously served as the pastor of West Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Virginia, Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, and Director of Mercy Ministries for the Presbyterian Church in America.

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