This video was recorded by Jason Wakefield (thank you!) on the hillside beside the Sea of Galilee where Jesus, according to Church tradition, is thought to have preached the "Sermon On The Mount."

In this interview, Darrell Johnson speaks to the COVID-19 pandemic not with tactics or approaches but instead he focuses on the intentions and motivations of Christian leaders in this time. Darrell has been preaching Jesus Christ and His gospel for over 50 years. He has served a number of Presbyterian congregations in California, Union Church of Manila in the Philippines, and the historic First Baptist Church in the heart of Vancouver, Canada. Darrell has also taught preaching for Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, Regent College and Carey Theological College in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is now serving as Teaching Fellow at Regent. In addition to writing a major work on preaching, The Glory of Preaching: Participating in God’s Transformation of the World many of his sermon series have been published in book form, including 57 Words that Change the World: A Journey Through the Lord’s Prayer and Discipleship on the Edge: An Expository Journey Through the Book of Revelation

Week 2 | In this message, Darrell looks at eight verses from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans and explores what it means to present one’s body as a living sacrifice, both in spiritual and practical ways. He explores seven dynamics of body life, challenging believers with the truth of our God-ordained interconnectedness, and exhorting the Church to greater unity with the Spirit and with each other. Darrell also unpacks the motivational gifts of prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, leading, giving, and mercy. He emphasizes the reality that every Christian has been gifted by the Holy Spirit, and that believers must exercise those gifts in order to grow as the Church and to be the body of Christ doing His work on earth.

Week 1 | How do we steward what God has given us? In the first message of this series, Darrell unpacks three principles for generosity that we see Paul express in the letter to the Corinthians. The reality of life with God is that He prospers his people, not so they can have more, but so they can be and give more to the world Christ died for. The only way we experience this promise of God though, is to first experience His grace and then to respond in obedience with generosity. As Darrell summarizes: grace makes grace filled people, and grace grows into generosity.

Week 12 | Darrell begins this message by answering the question: what is the millennium and how does it fit into our understanding of the book of Revelation? It’s important to ask the right question when reading Revelation. Instead of assuming a chronological order, we should ask “what does John see next?” Darrell highlights 8 truths we see in this text about following the Jesus of the Apocalypse: We are following the one 1) who has already overcome the enemies of life, 2) who has already bound the evil one, 3) who is already reigning King of Kings and Lord of Lords, 4) who has already brought us to life, 5) who has already called his followers to reign with him, 6) who holds our destiny in his hands, 7) who takes us beyond the grave, 8) who has built a new city for the human race.

Week 11 | In this chapter, the Apostle John once again sees heaven open and a great revelation of who Jesus is. This time, Jesus is a warrior, coming down on a white horse. Eyes of blazing fire, a sword in his mouth, an unknown name on his body, a robe covered in blood, and multitudes of crowns. What does this all mean? Darrell walks us through the text to reveal what Jesus is revealing about himself: He is the Divine Warrior who has already won.

Week 10 | In this sermon Darrell points our attention to a single verse in the last book of the Bible: “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” This verse highlights a profound theme in the Bible, that followers of God are collectively the Bride of Jesus Christ! Living into this marriage reality means we have great dignity - no lowly humanity here, we are the Bride of Christ! We also experience God’s delight in us, the intimacy of God knowing us and us knowing God, and the security in this life that God has chosen us to be with him and that he will go to great lengths to keep his marriage covenant with us. God’s invitation to be the Bride of Jesus Christ is sent out to all people, and right now is the time to say yes and be blessed.

Week 9 | In this message, Darrell shares his heart on how crucial it is to make sure you read the whole entirety of the Bible. We can be tempted to only read the comfortable texts, but instead we should seek to dive into the challenging ones as well as all scripture is divinely inspired. Revelation 17-19 is a terrifying text in many ways, but also inspiring because we’re getting a first-hand look at the future work of Jesus. John is revealing a drama on how when you build a city on weak, human foundations it will always fall to the ground. Babylon fell and now Jesus is revealing to John the unthinkable fall of Rome. Ultimately, we are left with the question, will we trust in human powers or will we worship Jesus?

Week 8 | Darrell outlines the power that songs play in the story of the Revelation of Jesus. The sixteen songs in the letter provide both a summary of what we are learning and a reminder of the key question; whom do we worship? One song in particular, the doubly named Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb (Rev. 15:3-4) tell the story of God’s redemption of His people. This song is a call to worship the God who is King of all kings. It is a reminder of God’s victory over all that stands in his way, overall that keeps his people from entering the fullness of life. These songs summarize the message of Revelation, so Darrell encourages us to live in the songs, to try to memorize them even so that they might penetrate our souls.