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Devotional: The Never Changing Christ

hebrews-13_8

A Short Devotional:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”. (Hebrews 13:8)

This is one of the most powerful verses in the scriptures and one that almost every Christian knows by memory!

In a world where things change so fast, where life seems to move so fast and where we often feel left behind, it’s tremendously comforting to know that we have a Savior who never changes. We see change all around us, including in our own bodies. Talking about change, I am reminded of the old Beatles song, ‘The Night Before’. The lyrics say,

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Lessons From The Life Of Joseph – Part 2

This is a 10 minute edit of a sermon that was preached at the People’s Church, Sri Lanka, on Sunday, 21st February 2016. It is based on the events surrounding Joseph being thrown into a pit by his brothers. It’s the second sermon in a series titled “Lessons From The Life Of Joseph”

Lessons from the life of Joseph – Part 2Often in life we find ourselves in a pit. It can be cased by the actions of another, or by our own doing. But even when Joseph was in the pit, God was still building a man who would find his destiny, through the trials he was going through. Even as you focus on getting from your dream to your destiny, to become the Man/Woman God wants you to be, Pastor Palitha Jayasooriya shares with us how we can get out of the ‘pit’ we are in. It might give us some insight on how we can avoid falling into a pit in the future as well.We want to encourage you to continue with a small group (cell group) for and extended study over these 6 weeks. If you are not connected to a small group or want to know more about it, speak to one of the ushers or full time pastors regarding one. We will be glad to help you.

Posted by People’s Church on Wednesday, 24 February 2016

Sermon: Torn Between Two Loves or Loving God?

LOVE FOR GOD

Introductory Questions: Are you loving God or Loving the things of the world? How strong is your love for God?

Those who are part of the generation I grew up in would remember the 1977 pop hit ‘Torn Between Two Lovers” sung by Mary MacGregor. It spoke about a lady who was attracted to 2 men at the same time. In the lyrics she tells one of them,

‘It doesn’t mean I love you less’ but ‘there’s just this empty place inside of me that only he can fill’!!!

This raises a question. Can we love 2 things equally at the same time?

Jesus in the passage in 1 John 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” It is therefore clear that Jesus is saying that we cannot love God and the world at the same time. In other words, He’s saying that our love for one will be greater than the other!!

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Sermon: Breakfast on the Beach

Sermon : Breakfast on the Beach

(Fishing in Sri Lanka) Photo Credit – Vasantha Jayasooriya

Introduction – Sermon titled Breakfast on the Beach 

Many men I know like to go fishing. Others like to eat fish, which is considered to be healthy for the heart (Omega 3 oils). Yet others are known for loving a sea-food diet. What that often means is that they love to eat all the food they see!!

Since Sri Lanka is an island Nation, fishing is done as a vocation by a lot of people in my country. If one were to travel along the coast in the early morning hours, you would see fisher folk coming back to shore by boat, or maybe spreading their night’s catch on the beach. Some do stilt fishing as well.

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Sermon: Keep Your Eyes on God Through Your Tears

Sermon : Keep Your Eyes on God Through Your Tears

Photo credit – Pexels

Introduction

I remember a song I used to love to listen to in my younger days. It was sung by Reggae singer Johnny Nash and it went like this:

Every night I wake up crying,
Tears on my pillow, pain in my heart,
You on my mind.

Everybody has cried at some time or the other. Some may cry often with their tears being visible, while others may cry only on the inside, with no visible sign of tears. A few men pride themselves by saying that they never cry!! A quote however says, ‘Less wars would be fought if men cried more often’!

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God’s Restoration of the Lost Years : Sermon (Isaiah 54)

Sermon : God’s Restoration of the Lost Years

Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka – Photo Credit: Vasantha Jayasooriya

INTRODUCTION

Let me begin this sermon on God’s restoration with the following illustration.

One of the historical wonders of Sri Lanka is the complex rock fortress, Sigiriya, and the palace built on it by one of our former Kings, Kasyapa, many centuries ago. It is an amazing place to see & tourists flock there to view its beauty, grandeur and craftsmanship. One of the highlights of Sigiriya is the frescoes that are painted on the rock walls. These and the site itself are considered National treasures, with UNESCO listing Sigiriya as a world heritage site. (If ever you come over to Sri Lanka, you need to visit Sigiriya).

Many years ago, some of the frescoes were vandalized by an unknown group of people, with, (if I remember correctly), either ink or paint being thrown, to deface them. As a result, many experts had to be brought in (foreign and local), to work at restoring these frescoes back to their original state. Thankfully, they succeeded in most of their painstaking efforts.

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Sermon: God’s Favor on the New Year (Psalm 65:11)

  • Document
Sermon: God’s Favor on the New Year

Photo credit: Pexels

“You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance”. (Psalm 65:11 NLT)

What a powerful verse for the New Year!

 
Introduction

As the year comes to an end, you may be going through much reflection as to what happened in the past 12 months. Some will have testimonies, others will remember severe challenges, while some others may think of the health issues they had to face. Some might say, ‘It was my best year’, while others may say, ‘it could have been better’, or, ‘It was a disaster’! The list can go on. Of course, most of the year was overshadowed by the after effects of COVID -19 and economic challenges..

.While preparing this message, here are some old memories that went through my mind.

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