John Piper on his 80th birthday

Posted on January 13, 2026 
Filed under People

“In July of 1980, 34-year-old John Piper preached his first sermon as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church on the eastern edge of downtown Minneapolis.

Surveying a sea of gray hair, he retained traces of South Carolina lilt in his tenor voice as he said, ‘I have nothing of abiding worth to say to you. But God does. And of that Word I hope and pray that I never tire of speaking. The life of the church depends on it.’ …”

– At Christianity Today, Justin Taylor thanks God for John Piper, who has just turned 80.

Link thanks to Tim Challies. Image: The Gospel Coalition.