World Challenge Sermons

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” In this urgent and tender message, David Wilkerson calls for a decision that can’t wait, warning that a heart left cold doesn’t stay that way: it hardens until it can no longer hear the pleading of the Holy Spirit. That can happen through disappointment with God, love for the world, or the comfortable lie that there’s always time later. In a generation that has lost the fear of God and with Christ’s return drawing near, the stakes are eternal. Yet the message is mercy from start to finish. God says, “How shall I give thee up?” His arms are still open, his anger is turned away, and his call is simple: get up out of the dust, make the move, and come to Jesus for rest.
Preached: September 13, 2009
Main Points:
• Today is the day of mercy, but mercy can be received in vain. Saying “I’ll get right with God when I’m ready” assumes a tomorrow that isn’t promised. It also ignores what delay is doing to your heart right now.
• Coldness leads to hardness. God never withdraws his invitation, which is always tender, loving, and kind. Hardness is a self-imposed distance, a heart that places itself beyond the gracious pleading of Christ until no sermon or appeal can reach it.
• Disappointment can quietly turn a heart against God. Israel hardened their hearts when they couldn’t see their prayers answered, and many today have done the same after a loss they prayed hard to prevent. “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
• When the fear of the Lord disappears, people invent a gospel of convenience: no heaven, no hell, just live it up. They also accept a merely tolerant Jesus who never calls sin by its name. Still, no one can fully silence the inner witness that there is a day of giving account before a holy God.
• A warning is a form of love. Like someone standing on the wide road shouting “Turn back!” to people rushing toward destruction, God sends his word to stop us before it’s too late. That cry is mercy, not condemnation.
• Jesus is coming soon, at an hour when you think not. Living in that expectation doesn’t stop you from working, praying, or serving. It keeps your heart broken, humbled, and watching, steadfast in the work of the Lord.
• Captivity doesn’t have to be the end of your story. “Shake thyself from the dust… loose thyself from the bands of thy neck.” You’ve sold yourself for nothing, but the devil doesn’t own you: a price has been paid, and the chains fall when you respond.
• The first call of the gospel is simply “Jesus loves you.” Love also asks for a response. God says, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely.” He isn’t angry with you. He’s inviting you to come, lay down your burden, and find rest for your soul.
https://wcmin.us/SS261108c

Most of us were taught that holiness is about what we avoid. Gary Wilkerson preaches that holiness is about how we love. Preaching from 1 Thessalonians 3:10–13 at Valley Life Community Church, he tells honest stories of his own failures to love: a homeless woman he brushed off minutes before preaching on love, and a three-year-old daughter he pushed away so he could read the sports page. These stories expose how easily we embrace the idea of Christian love while walking past the person God puts in front of us. With the example of Jesus sending the 72 into hostile Samaria to heal, share meals, and stay in homes, Gary calls believers to set down their phones, look people in the face, and lay down the ego-driven life for agape, sacrificial love. God’s measure of a life is not the breadth of our reach but the depth of our love, and by the Holy Spirit, anyone can receive a love they could never produce on their own.
Preached: September 27, 2026
Main Points:
Holiness is more than not doing certain things. It means doing what Jesus did and loving the way he loved. You can avoid every sin on the list and still miss the point because love fulfills the law.
The real test of love usually comes as an interruption. It may be a stranger who just wants to talk, a child who wants your attention, or a spouse who needs you to listen. Loving that one person can matter more to God than preaching a powerful sermon to hundreds.
God doesn’t keep accountants to measure your life. He won’t ask how big your ministry was or how many people you reached. He looks not at the breadth of our reach but the depth of our love, and asks, “How large was your heart?”
Paul longed to see the Thessalonians face to face, and real love still requires presence. Put down the phone, ask the next question, and listen to the end of someone’s story before you plan your answer. Many people are surrounded by others yet still alone, and they are waiting for someone to notice them.
Every commandment is relational. The “don’ts” are not there to make life strict and unhappy. They guard against the things that kill love: lust that steals from a marriage, envy that breeds greed, and anger that pushes people away.
When a Samaritan village rejected Jesus, his disciples wanted to call down fire. Jesus sent 72 people instead, to heal, to eat with the villagers, and to stay in their homes. Your Samaria may be a hard marriage, a rebellious child, or a difficult workplace, and he is sending you there with mercy, kindness, and forgiveness.
Only one of two forces can rule your heart: agape or ego. A life spent chasing success, status, and others' approval ends in emptiness. It is never too late to lay that life at Jesus’ feet and choose the love he first gave you.
If love doesn’t come naturally to you, ask for a baptism of love. The Holy Spirit can give what your own nature lacks and make you other-centered. You can start coming to church to give rather than to be served, and live “to love people well enough that they begin to love people well enough.”

https://wcmin.us/SS261101c

For centuries, God kept a mystery hidden, and he chose Paul, a former persecutor of the church who called himself “the very least of all the saints,” to reveal it. In Ephesians 3:1–13, that mystery comes to light: people who were once far off, outsiders considered unclean and without hope, are now fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. This message invites us to see every good thing in our lives as a gift we never earned, to believe that no one is too far gone for God’s relentless grace, and to come into his presence with bold confidence instead of fear or formulas. It also shows how deeply God loves his church, imperfect as she is, choosing her to display his manifold wisdom to a hurting world and even to the angels in the heavenly places.
Main Points:
Grace means receiving what you don’t deserve. Your calling, your family, your home, and even the breath in your lungs are gifts, not wages, and the faithful response is to steward them well for God’s glory.
The mystery of Christ is that those once far from God are now fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise. To first-century ears this was outrageous news, and it is still glorious news for us today.
No one is too far gone. The same grace that relentlessly pursued Augustine and transformed Nicky Cruz from a violent gang leader into an evangelist can reach the person you’ve been praying for, so don’t stop praying.
At the foot of the cross, everyone stands equal. Whether you’ve followed Jesus your whole life or for just a few days, your deepest identity is being in Christ, and that calls us to fight for unity without compromising true doctrine.
You have bold, confident access to God. The door that was once closed is now flung wide open, so you can come to him freely and unashamed, not weighed down by rules and have-tos, simply enjoying his presence.
The riches of Christ are unsearchable. Nothing compares to knowing him, and through faith you become his treasure and a fellow heir who shares in his inheritance.
Every believer is called to the ministry of the gospel, whether pastor, construction worker, nurse, or stay-at-home mom. Live it out at work, at home, and in your neighborhood, and give it words, because kindness alone doesn’t tell people what Jesus has done.
The church is central to God’s eternal plan. Through her, his manifold wisdom is made known even to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, and despite her flaws and the wounds of church hurt, Jesus loves his bride. We need each other, so don’t neglect your brothers and sisters in Christ.

https://wcmin.us/WS261028c

A city can look completely alive: deals closing, crowds moving, parties running all night. But God looks at the heart and hears the quiet question underneath it all: “Is this all there is to life?” In this message, David Wilkerson says plainly that sin pays its wages in death. It shows up as empty pleasure, boredom, failed marriages, and souls past feeling. Then he points to the living proof sitting in the pews: people who were once dead in trespasses and sins and have been raised to new life. They include prodigals pulled back from the edge, marriages declared dead and then restored, and a hardened heart that finally learned to cry. No one is here by accident. God, rich in mercy, has had you on his radar all along, and his love is knocking at the door of your heart. Open it, and the one who is the Resurrection and the Life will raise you up.
Preached: August 2, 2009
Main Points:
Spiritual death doesn’t always look like death. A busy schedule, a full calendar, and a night of fun can hide a heart that is empty inside and asking, “Is this all there is?”
Sin can be pleasurable for a season, but God means it when he says, “The wages of sin is death.” What starts as excitement ends in boredom, emptiness, and loss.
Christ still raises the dead today. Lives that were wasted, marriages headed for divorce and ministries wrecked by sin are being brought back to life by his power.
It doesn’t matter how far you’ve fallen or how much you’ve lost. A single honest cry for help in your darkest hour is enough for God to begin restoring what sin destroyed.
Salvation is not earned by good works. “But God, who is rich in mercy,” reached down while we were still dead in sin, raised us with Christ, and seated us with him in heavenly places.
You are not here by chance. The Holy Spirit arranges divine appointments, and he has been pursuing you long before you ever thought of seeking him.
Even the coldest, most bitter heart can be broken open. When God touches someone who is dead inside, the tears that come wash out years of rejection and bitterness.
God is calling his prodigal sons and daughters home. Put away the old life, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and receive the abundant life found only in Christ.

https://wcmin.us/SS261025c

With fear spreading across the world after 9/11, David Wilkerson turns to Isaiah’s warning that gladness is taken from a proud nation under judgment. But the same prophets also saw a holy remnant who would “obtain joy and gladness.” This sermon calls believers to the mountain of prayer to feast on Christ, who was anointed with the oil of gladness. There they can lose their fear of death and stand at peace while the world reels.
Preached: July 28, 2002
Main Points:
• When a nation becomes proud and forgets God, one of the first things lost is its gladness. Fear moves in, the singing stops, and even prosperity can’t buy back the joy.
• People reach for distractions, pills, parties, and screens to numb their fear, but when morning comes, the emptiness is still there. Lasting gladness can’t be manufactured. It has to be received.
• In the same days the world loses its joy, God promises a holy remnant who will “obtain joy and gladness,” a joy no headline, crisis, or judgment can steal.
• Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness, and he has enough for all of us. Walking in the Spirit means walking in that oil.
• The strongest witness in a fearful world isn’t a forced smile or a quick Bible verse. It’s quiet peace in the middle of real suffering, the kind that makes people ask what’s different about you.
• Many believers talk fear instead of casting their cares on the Lord. Our homes and marriages need a baptism of joy, so the people we love come home to gladness, not gloom.
• God lovingly asks why we fear a man who will die and forget the one who parted the sea for his people. He is still the deliverer, and his people are safe in his hand.
• The only way to keep this joy is to go up to the mountain of prayer and feast on Christ daily. When you lose your fear of death and live for the day you’ll see him face to face, nothing can move you.
https://wcmin.us/SS261018c