It is said that the powerful emperor, Genghis Khan, once went out into the woods for a day’s sport. On the King’s wrist sat his favorite hawk who was trained to hunt down prey. Although there was much expectation among the group about the hunt, to their disappointment, they could not find much prey.
On the return journey, the discouraged king decided to take a different route home alone, with his pet hawk flying ahead of him. It was a hot day and the king soon became very thirsty. To his joy, he then saw some drops of water trickling down from an overhead rock.
“O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 107:1)
Introduction: Soul singer Lionel Ritchie was once deeply impacted by a speech in which his father had honored his mother, on their 37th wedding anniversary. In his speech, Ritchie Senior had lovingly given thanks to his wife for sticking by him through the ups and downs of life. Said Lionel, “What a great story because I pass through my house every day and I don’t say thank you. I just take for granted that certain things be done”. That speech moved him to compose one of his best loved songs, ‘Three Times a Lady’.
How much we too forget to express thanksgiving to God for the blessings He gives us. We often take them for granted. In Psalm 107, the author earnestly encourages the people to proclaim thanksgiving to God, by repeating the phrase, “Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wonderful works to humankind” on four occasions (Psalm 107: 8, 15, 21, and 31). That’s a good policy for us to follow too.
Sermon preached at the People’s Church in Sri Lanka – Sunday, 26th June 2022
Introduction:
(Illustration of a story related by D.L. Moody that led to a beautiful and well loved hymn being composed).
During a sermon he once preached, D. L. Moody spoke about a ship that was trying to enter a harbor on an extremely dark, stormy night. The Captain noticed the lighthouse light was working but not the ‘lower lights’. He then asked the Pilot, “Where are the lower lights?”, to which the Pilot replied, “They must have gone out, sir.” The Captain then asked, “Can you make it into the harbor?” The Pilot replied, “We must sir, or we will perish in this storm.” As they tried to maneuver the ship into the harbor in the darkness, it hit the rocks and sank. Many lives were tragically lost that night. (Adapted from Hymn History – Enjoying the Journey)
‘The Lower Lights’ – These are lights located away from the lighthouse that light up the water line and give ships safe entry to the harbor.
Introduction to sermon titled “Building Blocks for Effective Spiritual Maturity Spiritual:
I wonder how many of you received a letter in the post recently. Sadly, we don’t get too many letters by post now, but we do get letters mainly through email. We also get messages on WhatsApp. Maybe you got a letter saying that you’ve got a promotion, or you’ve got a salary raise—some good news. Or maybe you got a letter that wasn’t so pleasant, that was a bit difficult to receive. Or maybe you even received a letter that brought some correction or some guidance into your life.
Well, whatever it may be, we know the value of receiving a good and meaningful letter from someone.
Proposition: I would like to share a sermon today titled, ‘Building Blocks for Effective Spiritual Maturity’, based on the Apostle Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthian Church.
As we look at this book, and the background to this book, we find that the church in Corinth, which was a city in Greece, had been founded by the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul founded that church while he stayed there for 18 months, teaching the word of God. It happened through a vision that he received from the Lord (Acts 18:9), and this particular church was very precious to the Apostle Paul. He was like a father to the congregation.
Scripture: “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre” (1 Samuel 16:18)
Today’s Reading – 1 Samuel 16:14-23
Illustration:
Award winning songstress Gloria Estefan has often spoken about the challenges she faced as a foreign student in her early school life, mainly due to her inability to communicate in English.
Gloria however received assistance in her English language skills and was given confidence to persevere by her year one teacher, Dorothy Collins. She eventually won the class reading prize and went on to study languages at University.
Showing respect for her teacher, Gloria once said, “My year one teacher didn’t just teach me the language; she helped me find my voice”.
(This is an outline of a sermon titled ” God Will Never Leave You”, preached at the People’s Church in Sri Lanka on Sunday, 7th April 2024).
Opening Illustration: Shared a memory of being let down by someone during a moment of crisis.
Introduction: Refer to Deuteronomy 31:1-8
a) The nation of Israel was preparing to enter the promised land.
b) Moses says that he is now 120 years old and unable to lead them any longer.
c) The Lord had told him that he would not be crossing the Jordan to enter the promised land.
This was a pivotal and important moment in Israel’s history. The people would have been deeply disturbed by Moses’ statement. However, Moses assures them with a powerful promise.
A sermon showing lessons from Jesus on trust and wealth.
Introduction:
Last week I read about a very wealthy businessman. He was a landowner who rented his estates to other merchants, to do business on his land. Payment was made at the end of a season on the produce and earnings they made from the estate.
This owner had an Operations Manager who possibly had been given comfortable accommodation too. After a while however, this manager began mismanaging the owner’s estate and money began to leak out, possibly because of wastage. So, at one point, the boss got to know that this was happening, and he called the manager up and said, “You know, you better give a report on your management because what’s happening is not good”. He was also probably given marching orders to step down from his job.
This is the transcript of a sermon preached at The People’s Church in Colombo, Sri Lanka – Fulfilling God’s Purpose (Genesis 28)
You know, I was reading about the well-loved preacher Billy Graham a couple of days ago. It is said that when Billy Graham joined Bible College in the 30’s, he was once asked to preach a sermon impromptu. He apparently preached four borrowed sermons in eight minutes! But that day he felt a clear call to preach, and from there on, he used every opportunity that he could, to preach, which wasn’t many at that time. As a result, he used to take a boat and go across the river and preach to the surrounding trees, birds, and alligators. That’s how he built his preaching ministry and God’s purpose..
Sometime later, while on a walk in the night, he fell on his knees and he said, “Lord if you want me to serve you, I will do it.” That day the ministry and God’s purpose in Billy Graham’s life was clearly set.
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