On May 20, 2000, John Piper delivered a sermon to the largest crowd he'd ever preached to at that point in his ministry.

Somewhere between 30,000 to 40,000 young people who'd gathered together for the one-day conference in Memphis, Tennessee.

Just a few years later, this sermon was expanded into a book, a book that has sold over

a million copies since it was first published in 2003, and that's changed the trajectory

of countless Christian lives.

That book was Don't Waste Your Life.

Today I'm sitting down with John to hear his thoughts on that sermon and the book that

followed.

He shares what he was thinking as he walked onto that stage over two decades ago,

the impact that sermon had on his ministry in the years that followed,

and why he still gripped by a story his dad told him when he was a little boy,

a story that had a profound impact on his understanding of a life well-lived.

John Piper is the founder and lead teacher of Desiring God.org

and Chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary.

He served for 33 years as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church

and is the author of more than 50 books, including Don't Waste Your Life.

Let's get started.

Well, John, thank you so much for joining me again on the Crossway podcast.

Right. It seems like yesterday, but it's been a while.

It is. So on May 20th, year 2000, you delivered a sermon, a sermon that would, I think it's fair to say,

change the lives of many people. Many would testify to the impact that that message had on them,

both those who were there standing in the rain listening to you preach, but also those who

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