Sutherland Church Sermons

Much of our energy and angst in life comes from fairly constant focus on what will happen. Our faith calls us to consider what God has done. f

What are the first things in faith? What are the first things we should pray for others in virtually any circumstance?

What might Mary and Joseph have been thinking as they made their way to Bethlehem? If they had been visited by angels proclaiming God's presence and blessing with them, why did they find themselves on this dusty road with no assurance of accommodation for the impending birth?

What happens when you feel God's presence and direction, but then things don't turn out as you might have hoped? Mary and Joseph had angelic visits, but they may have later asked, "If God is performing miracles with us, then why could he not have booked a room?"

Advent in the Christian Calendar, is the season of waiting. It is marked by prayerful consideration of the birth of Jesus, the incarnation and by awaiting the coming again of Jesus. Many Christians learned about the Second Coming of Jesus in ways that were fearful and even in ways that distorted the love of God. How might we recover the concept of the Second Coming as hopeful? One day, Jesus will make all things right.

Guest speaker Daniel Burgi preaching on the Sunday before Advent. In many Christian denominations this is called, "Christ the King Day".

Intercessory prayer is one of the greatest tasks and blessings in the Christian life. We pray to God for our friends, our families, our community, and our world. This act of prayer reflects the love of God in Jesus Christ and the ongoing intercession of the Holy Spirit.

When we think of healing prayer we often think of physical healing. Prayers of healing may well point to the physical but they also point beyond that to salvation and to the communal not only the individual.

Hanna prays at God's blessing in her life. One of those who had been healed of leprosy returns to give thanks. Job declares his trust in God no matter the circumstance. As Christians we are called to pray prayers of praise, from our lives, from an awareness of God's goodness, from a regard for creation and for the sake of the world.

In our series on Prayer, we consider Prayers of Lament. One of the greatest gifts that we can offer our world is to share in the suffering, sorrow and grief, to lament on behalf of the world. As Christians we can do this because pain and sorrow exist within the larger truth of Hope and Salvation in Christ.

What comes to mind when you hear "prayer of deliverance"? Israel was delivered from Egypt, but it would take a whole lot longer and another deliverer to have Egypt delivered from them. This morning we look at what deliverance looked like for the Israelites and for us as well.

Blessing prayer reminds us of God's goodness and of our opportunity to recognize this goodness and pronounce blessing in the world. We consider this call as we take up 100 Days of Prayer.

The Psalms express the messiness and complexity of living out our faith in God. "Are you troubled, afflicted, broken-hearted, crushed of spirit? Don't worry God is on your side! Really?! Because it seems to me if God were on my side then...oh never mind." But then often, through the rawness and honest of the Psalms, hope comes, and if you look hard, you can see shadows and glimpses of Jesus, the One who helps the troubled, heals the afflicted, draws near the broken-hearted and saves the crushed of spirit. "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!"