Category: Sermons (Page 12 of 13)

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

January 12, 2016 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 2 Comments

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.

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

January 5, 2016 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 2 Comments

Document

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.

Sermon: 3 Thoughts on The Christmas Light that Brings Hope

December 22, 2015 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

Sermon: The Christmas Light that Brings Hope

Photo credit: CliffMuller

(This sermon titled ‘The Christmas Light That Brings Hope’ was preached at our Carol Service on 13th Dec 2015. It is shown here as it was preached that night)

INTRODUCTION

Good evening friends, it’s so nice to have you at our Christmas production 2015, “Christmas Hope – for more than a season”. I want to speak tonight about a hope that lasts beyond a season. One of our musicians told me yesterday that santa seems to be in a hopeless situation this year. Apparently, he had opened a Facebook page at the beginning of this year, and he has been complaining that while he received almost no friend requests till November, that as soon as December arrived, millions of people have been sending him friend requests!!

Sermon: 3 Things to be Thankful For

December 9, 2015 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

Image Credit: Snappa

Introduction

Recently, my brother Nimal, who was formerly a ship’s captain and is now a lay Pastor in our church, shared the Word of God in one of our services. In that sermon he expressed his appreciation and thanks to me for being the first in our family circle to accept the Lord Jesus & for holding on to that commitment in the midst of much opposition. The end result, he mentioned, was that he and eventually our entire family, came to salvation. I was so glad that after all these years he still remembered and was thankful.

We live in a world where gratitude is often not expressed and help given is easily forgotten. Undercutting and backstabbing seem to be the order of the day! That brings me to the main thought in my sermon.

Sermon: Living One Day At A Time

November 12, 2015 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 6 Comments

Introduction to ‘Living One Day at a Time’:

It is said that a well- known evangelist was once preaching in Chicago on the first day of a series of Gospel meetings. At the end of the sermon, he felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to give people an opportunity to invite Jesus into their hearts. However, since the meetings were scheduled to go on for many days, he apparently decided to make that invitation the following day.

That night, the great fire of Chicago swept through the town, causing much havoc, destruction and loss of lives. As a result, the evangelist decided that he would never again close a Gospel message without giving people an opportunity to invite Christ into their hearts and to receive His salvation and eternal life.

Sermon: Becoming Fruitful Through Affliction

November 6, 2015 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 4 Comments

Image credit: McKay Savage

SCRIPTURE – The name of the second (son) he called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction” (Genesis 41:52) NKJV.

Introduction

In this sermon we will look at the life of Joseph. It’s an amazing story, the kind of story that dreams are built on. After many unexpected twists and turns, and thirteen years of toil and affliction, God blessed Joseph in an unimaginable way! As a result, he became the second most powerful man in Egypt (Genesis 41:41-44), and thereafter, God blessed Joseph with two sons (Genesis 41:50). He named his second son Ephraim, which had the meaning of being ‘fruitful through affliction’ (Genesis 41:52). The word ‘affliction” is translated ‘suffering’ in the NIV.

Sermon: A Man whose Death nobody Regretted

October 1, 2015 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 7 Comments

Image credit: Levi Price

‘Jehoram……….. reigned in Jerusalem eight years. No one was sorry when he died. ….’ (2 Chronicles 21:20)

Introduction

When I was a young boy, I remember a cowboy movie titled ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ where the hero (Clint Eastwood) was identified as, ‘a man with no name’. Another movie DVD I came across recently was titled, ‘My Name is Nobody’. I am also reminded of a tear- jerking Country/Pop song, recorded by a lady from England named Karen Young and by the singing group, The Travelling Wilburys. The song went like this:

Sermon: Unseen Heroes of the Faith

September 20, 2015 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 1 Comment

Sermon: Unseen heroes of faith

Introduction

The world remembered 9/11 last week. That date is firmly etched in the minds of people all over the world as we remember the destruction that was caused. In the midst of all the events that unfolded that day, many men & women stood out and are remembered as true life, flesh and blood heroes. Yes, these were real life heroes, many even giving their lives to save others, quite unlike the ones we see often in the movies and on TV.