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Sermon: Breakfast on the Beach

February 2, 2016 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

(Fishing in Sri Lanka) Photo Credit – Vasantha Jayasooriya

Introduction

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.

Preaching with an Interpreter

January 27, 2016 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 4 Comments

Preaching with an Interpreter

It’s a tough call being a Preacher. I deeply respect the men and women who faithfully teach or proclaim the Word of God to hungry hearts regularly. Preachers however can find themselves preaching in many different situations that can be quite challenging.

In this article, I would like to discuss the subject of preaching with an interpreter.

Sermon: Keep Your Eyes on God Through Your Tears

January 23, 2016 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 2 Comments

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’!

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.