Radical With David Platt

The topics of race and social justice often elicit strong emotions, which is why many pastors and churches tend to stay silent on these issues. However, David Platt argues that these are not topics the church can ignore. Our worship of God is integrally connected to the way we treat our neighbor, including those who don’t look like us. Based on Amos 5:21–24, this sermon exhorts us to consider our role in perpetuating racism, often without realizing it. Every follower of Christ should pray and work for justice in the culture around us.

If you want to grow a church and see the gospel spread, there is no shortage of strategies being offered today. Sadly, few of these strategies revolve around the power and authority of God’s Word. In today’s sermon from 2 Timothy, David Platt challenges us to rely on God’s Word to do God’s work. Not only do we need this life-changing Word in our own lives and churches, but also—there’s a world out there that has no hope without it.

There’s nothing greater, nothing more significant we can share with others than the message of the gospel. And yet, if we’re honest, we often fail to speak about this good news to unbelievers God has put in our lives. We’re silent about the hope of eternal life because we’re worried about what others will think. In this sermon based on Acts 18:1–17, David Platt encourages us to share the gospel without fear. Even though opposition is inevitable, God’s power and His mission are unstoppable.

Keeping your word seems to matter very little in our culture. Politicians unashamedly break promises, the covenant of marriage is trivialized, and, if we’re honest, each of us is tempted in a thousand little ways to distort the truth in our own lives. But, according to Psalm 98, we serve a God who is always faithful. In this sermon, David Platt encourages us to behold the God who shows steadfast love to His undeserving people. Such faithfulness should continually elicit our praise.

Many followers of Christ cringe when the topic of giving comes up. Even when we do give, we’re often motivated more by guilt than gratitude. But this is not how Scripture motivates us to give. In this sermon on Psalm 86, David Platt points us to several biblical motives for our giving. We give in response to God’s infinite grace so that others might see His glory.

Sadly, some professing Christians find very little joy in their relationship with God. Trusting and obeying Him is a duty, not a delight. However, Psalm 63 reminds us that God’s great love ought to draw out deep affection from God’s people. In this sermon David Platt urges us to set aside lukewarm thoughts toward God and instead pursue Him as our all-consuming passion.

The scale of the current refugee crisis is massive, and it can seem like events are spinning out of control. But what if God is using these tragedies to accomplish His global purposes? In this sermon on Acts 17:26–27, David Platt encourages us to view the movements of refugees around the world through the lens of God’s sovereignty and His redemptive purposes. The nations may be closer than you think.

Christians use many different strategies to find an answer to that all-important question, “What is God’s will for my life?” But what if God’s will isn’t lost? And what if He actually works in us so that we might walk in His will? David Platt encourages us to align our lives with God’s larger purposes in the world in this sermon from Acts 16.

The claim that Jesus is the only Savior, that anyone who doesn’t believe in Him will face God’s eternal judgment, sounds narrow-minded and arrogant to most people. But if Jesus is who He says He is, and if He has died, risen, and been raised to God’s right hand as Lord of all, then proclaiming the gospel is the most loving thing we can do. This gospel was the reason for Paul’s mission in Acts 13:13–52, and, as David Platt reminds us in this sermon, it is the very message that should define our lives and the church’s mission today.

No one wants to be described as jealous. In fact, Scripture warns us against an ungrateful heart that longs for what God has not given us. But, according to Psalm 79, jealousy is a good thing if we’re talking about God’s jealousy. Unlike us, God is jealous for His own glory, and this is good news for His people. In this sermon, David Platt helps us see why God’s jealousy should lead the believer to greater comfort, hope, and worship.Your gift to Radical today will allow us to continue calling Christians to leverage every part of their life for the sake of making Christ known around the world. Together, we can be a part of reaching people in places where Christ is not yet known. Would you consider making a year-end gift today? 

It’s not popular to talk about the wrath of God. Even in Christian circles, we want a God who is like us and who makes us feel good about ourselves. However, if God is holy and just––as Scripture teaches––then it is only reasonable that He would punish sin and judge those who rebel against Him. In this sermon from Psalm 78, David Platt reminds us that God’s wrath is one of His many perfections. The good news of the gospel is that God has sent His own Son to take the wrath that we deserve by dying on the cross.

Our culture is obsessed with temporal things. We want instant gratification. We don’t want to be bothered with the future, much less eternity. However, as David Platt reminds us from Psalm 90, we serve a God who is eternal. His perfections––His justice, His love, His wrath, His faithfulness, His grace––had no beginning, and they will have no end. These biblical realities should help us live for that which truly matters. Sin is more serious than we ever realized, but God’s grace is greater than we ever imagined. Our God is unchanging, and this is good news for those who have trusted in His Son.

Can one local church be used for the spread of the gospel among all nations? This is precisely what God did with the church at Antioch in Acts 13:1–12. In this message, David Platt points out five characteristics of the church at Antioch that should inform the mission of every local church. The spread of the gospel by God’s people is ultimately dependent on His power.

Many Christians in our culture enjoy the blessings of God without ever asking why they have been blessed. Could it be that God has blessed us, both spiritually and physically, for a greater purpose than our own comfort? Based on Psalm 67, David Platt helps us connect God’s blessings with His mission in the world, a theme that runs from Genesis to Revelation.

We have a dangerous tendency to treat God lightly in worship, preferring instead various activities and gimmicks that hold our attention. However, as Psalm 95 reminds us, our God is worthy of our worship and our deepest reverence. In this message David Platt encourages us to let God’s character and greatness shape our worship. We should respond to God with humility, joy, gratefulness, trust, and obedience.

Churches need leaders who are faithful to the gospel, but we can’t forget who the church’s actual leader is––Jesus Christ. When we pause to reflect on who Jesus is, then it only makes sense that we would want to submit to His plan and trust in His power to carry out the church’s mission. Based on Matthew 4:18–22, David Platt encourages the church to look to Christ and His gospel as we seek to make disciples of all nations.

It’s easy to get so caught up in our own little worlds that we miss the urgent needs right around us, not to mention the spiritual and physical needs of billions around the world. But have you considered what God, in His sovereignty, might have for His church today as He accomplishes His purposes in the world? Drawing on Esther 4:13–17, David Platt urges the church to seize the opportunities God has provided for us as we make His gospel known around the world.

It is deceptively easy for us to talk about God, sing to God, and even claim to be serving God, all while ignoring His Word. In this new message from Isaiah 66 and Romans 8, David Platt reminds us that God’s Word should cause us to stand in awe. We ought to respond to Scripture by submitting to and delighting in the One who is sovereign over us.

With areas of the southern United States facing potentially one of the worst storms of our generation head-on, that following the severe flooding in Texas caused by Hurricane Harvey… and even beyond the U.S., the strongest earthquake in a century hitting Mexico this week, severe flooding in India affecting 40 million people, hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children fleeing Myanmar, North Korea testing missiles and threatening nuclear war—and all this in addition to personal struggles and afflictions in our personal lives. With all that’s going on in the world today, what exactly does God’s Word bring to bear on our turbulent world?

It can be tempting to try and live your life in your own strength—devoid of God’s Spirit. However, the Bible urges you to not walk into the days ahead with dependence upon yourself, but rather with desperation for God’s Spirit. That’s what prayer is all about, and that’s what today’s sermon from Exodus 33 is all about.