Category: Sermons (Page 1 of 14)

Witnessing Effectively for Jesus

June 25, 2025 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

A visual of two people talking to highlight the importance of witnessing as Christians.

Introduction to the sermon titled “Thoughts on Witnessing Effectively for Jesus”. (The video of this sermon and the service could be followed here.)

In my teenage years, a person I met for the first time shared the message of God’s salvation with me and gifted me a copy of the New Testament. That conversation and the subsequent reading of God’s Word, started the process that would eventually lead me to accepting Christ as my Savior.

In the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, Jesus highlighted the need for every Christian to be a witness, sharing the Gospel. He said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations”. Jesus’ disciples took His command very seriously and ensured that the message of Christ would be taken wherever they traveled.

It is believed that among the disciples, the Apostle Thomas brought the message of God’s salvation plan as far as the nation of India – that’s a long way from Jerusalem! This has great significance for me personally, since I live in Sri Lanka, India’s closest neighboring country.

Bringing God’s Healing to the Oppressed (Luke 4:18-19)

June 16, 2025 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

A visual of two people holding hands to emphasize the message of healing.

(The transcript of a sermon titled “Bringing God’s Healing to the Oppressed”, preached at the People’s Church (Assembly of God) in Colombo, Sri Lanka.)

Our main theme over the recent past has been “Completing the Commission”. We are called to fulfill the Great Commission. On this topic, we’ve been dealing with Luke 4:18-19, focusing on the model that Jesus proclaimed over His own ministry. Let’s look at those verses:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

In these two verses, we find five statements that the Lord shared that day. Last week, I mentioned how Jesus walked into the synagogue in the town of Nazareth, which was a small village with probably a few thousand people. As Jesus entered, it appears that the person in charge of the proceedings gave Him a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. It seems clear that Jesus looked for the specific passage which He read that day. He then sat down and said, “The scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

Watch Your Anger – Psalm 37:8 (Sermon Illustration)

March 14, 2025 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

A visual of a clenched fist crushing a paper to denote anger.

A sermon illustration about the danger of anger:

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.

Having a Heart of Thanksgiving

November 23, 2024 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

A visual of a lady praising God with upraised hands to denote the theme of Thanksgiving.

A 5-point sermon on Thanksgiving.

“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.

Renewing Hope Through Stormy Seas (Acts 27)

October 7, 2024 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

A visual of a lighthouse on a stormy day to illustrate finding hope through storms.

Sermon: RENEWING HOPE THROUGH STORMY SEAS

Sermon preached at the People’s Church in Sri Lanka – Sunday, 26^th 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.

Building Blocks for Effective Spiritual Maturity (1 Corinthians 3)

July 22, 2024 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

A visual of a girl reading the bible to denote building spiritual maturity.

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.

Help Someone Along Life’s Journey

July 15, 2024 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

Devotional: Help Someone Along Life’s Journey

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”.

God Will Never Leave You (Deuteronomy 31)

April 18, 2024 / Palitha Jayasooriya / 0 Comments

A photo of an adult holding a child's hand to highlight that God will never leave you.

(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.