Many of us now find ourselves a bit more housebound than usual. Maybe you’re wondering what to do with your time. Below you’ll find links to articles, sermons, audiobooks, and videos that are worth checking out.
Daily News Podcasts
Check out these two weekday news podcasts that analyze current events from a Christian perspective.
The Briefing by Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The World and Everything In It. Produced by the same people who publish WORLD Magazine. The podcast has been described as “NPR from a Christian worldview.”
Articles
Songs of Comfort for Anxious Souls (Free Playlist). Brett McCracken has created a playlist of 100 “songs of comfort” (includes hymns and contemporary songs) that’s available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. The full list of songs is at the end of the article.
The Church Must be a Refuge in the Midst of Fear. Lyman Stone and his wife are missionaries raising a newborn baby in Hong Kong. He writes about how his church has sought to be a refuge in the midst of fear due to the COVID–19 crisis.
Living by Faith in Testing Times. David Murray, Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, is beginning a new daily teaching series walking through the book of James. He’ll be posting the messages at his blog. A podcast and videos will be available soon. See the announcement here.
Guides for Kids and Middle-Schoolers to Take Notes During the Sermon. Now that you find yourself unable to gather for corporate worship and instead listening to sermons with the family at home, you might find it more difficult to get your kids to pay attention. Justin Taylor recommends two printable worksheets, one for younger kids and one for older kids, to help them engage with the sermon.
Audio and Video
Make the Most of Being Housebound with Your Family. Want to learn the Bible and theology from world-class scholars? Tim Challies tells you how do so from the comfort of your home.
A Christian Doctor’s Guide to Thinking about Coronavirus. Crossway interviews Bob Cutillo, a Christian, medical doctor, and author of Pursuing Health in an Anxious Age. I appreciated his thoughts on (1) Christians’ need to ensure our trust is in our sovereign God, (2) recognizing that we don’t ultimately have control over our health or lives, and (3) our call to love our neighbors in this crisis.
How to Engage Emotionally with the Bible. One and a half minute video. Jen Wilkin says, “Women in particular sometimes approach their time in Scripture looking to receive some sort of emotional dose of something from it. That’s not necessarily wrong, but sometimes it’s a little out of order. I would argue that when you spend time in the Bible, thinking about what it’s saying, you’re going to have deep and real emotions that result from contact with the text.”
Ligonier Teaching Series Now Free to Stream. Ligonier Ministries, the teaching fellowship of R.C. Sproul, has made their entire library of teaching series free to stream. Check out Ligonier.org to find hundreds of series by Reformed pastors and theologians such as, R.C. Sproul, Sinclair Ferguson, Derek Thomas, W. Robert Godfrey, and others.
ChristianAudio.com. Christian Audio has thousands of audiobooks from various Christian publishers. They offer a free audiobook every month. This month it’s Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Looking for sermons to listen to or watch? Here are some of my recommendations:
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Considered one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century. You might want to start with his Ephesians series (232 sermons) or Romans series (366 sermons). Many more Lloyd-Jones sermons are available at mljtrust.org.
- Sinclair Ferguson. One of the greatest Reformed theologians alive today. His sermons are a combination of theological depth and a compassionate pastoral heart. Romans, Psalms, and hundreds more sermons here.
- Liam Goligher. Pastor at the historic Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Check out his Hebrews series or Isaiah (audio and video).
- Alistair Begg. Pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland. Hundreds of free sermons available in audio and video through Truth for Life.
- Brian Borgman. Pastor of Grace Community Church (a fellow FIRE church) in Minden, Nevada. He’s preached for us at GBC many times. SermonAudio.com hosts 2,806 of his sermons and lectures, many of which are available in both audio and video formats. He’s currently preaching (slowly) through Romans. I’ve heard good things about his Survey of Church History.
- Grace Bible Church. You already know about this one, right? Over 1,700 sermons preached at GBC, going all the way back to 1990, available at SermonAudio.com.
I hope you find some of these resources useful. Enjoy!
Originally written for the church where I serve as one of the pastors.
Ryan Wentzel