About

Dr. Zack Eswine serves as Lead Pastor at Riverside Church and serves as Director of Homiletics for Covenant Theological Seminary in Saint Louis Missouri. His award winning writings about honest questions and ministry, human sorrows and hope, flow out of his local life following Jesus as a pastor, husband and father.
Publications
- Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression (Christian Focus, 2015)
- The Imperfect Pastor (Crossway 2015)
- Recovering Eden: The Gospel According to Ecclesiastes (P&R, 2013)
- Preaching to a Post-Everything World: Crafting Biblical Sermons That Connect With Our Culture (Baker, 2008)
- Kindled Fire: How the Methods of C.H. Spurgeon Can Help Your Preaching (Mentor, 2006).
Audios
Loving Jesus – Zack Eswine
Sage Healing: The Remedies Wisdom Trusts
Sage Listening: The Talk Wisdom Uses
Sage Presence: The Welcome Wisdom Offers
A Fool’s Story: From Simple-ism to Hope
026 Zack & Jessica Eswine on ‘Spurgeon’s Sorrows’
025 Zack & Jessica Eswine on ‘The Imperfect Pastor’
Depression: Biblical Mentoring From Fellow Strugglers
Depression: How Do We Care For Those Who Struggle?
Depression: What Do We Do If We Have it?
Depression: What Is It?
The Pastor as Caregiver: Learning to Listen
Finding Rest When There Isn’t Any part 2
Finding Rest When There Isn’t Any part 1
Transcripts
A Fool’s Story: From Simple-ism to Hope {Transcript}
One of the skills that you and I have learned is how to get somewhere. Our culture is built on it, teaches you how to get somewhere, especially if you’re in a white collar world, it teaches you how to get somewhere. Well, you went to kindergarten in order to get to … Excuse me, elementary school.
You went to that Subway sandwich. You went to … just being real.
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Finding Rest When There Isn’t Any part 1 {Transcript}
There is a time when faithful servants must rest, and they have a role to play, because after all, someone had to stay behind in the city, didn’t they, with the baggage? I think about those of us as we get older, we’re not able to physically able to do what we once did, and we wonder if being with the baggage is noble. And the answer from the shepherd king is yes. I declare it, as a way of being in the world for us, this is our rule. And I think about those of us who have known mental and emotional fatigue and disablement, and we wonder if we matter, and with the shepherd king, he says yes, you do. It is a way of being among us. In our organizational culture, this is our way. We will not fight one another. We will recognize each person’s role with the amount of work that they can do and the rest that they need. And then he says, all of us, join in this spoil, because God has done it.
Are you emotionally fatigued? It is ugly prayer that you need.
All the physical rest that you desire will not bring the rest you need if it’s emotional fatigue. It will help, it is important, but you’re going to have to ugly pray. Have you ever thought or noticed it like this, like I’ll think to myself in the fall, Midwestern fall, leaves turn different colors and things like that, we eat foods called chili, we watch football. And I’ll think to myself, if I just watch a football game, I’ll rest. And even if my team wins, the game ends, and I am not rested. Even if I laid there physically and did nothing and just put food in my mouth, not chili of course, that would be difficult, but you know, you know what I mean? It’s because whatever’s troubling me internally requires strengthening in the Lord through ugly prayer and there’s no way around it. No amount of video games for younger men, no amount of work in the yard, no amount of physical tinkering in the garage, no amount of taking a nap from the kids, no amount of whatever it is is going to do it, I must ugly pray.