"suffering" Tagged Sermons

"suffering" Tagged Sermons

Gospel Courage | Acts 24:1-27 (Paul before Felix)

I remember the first time I jumped off the high-diving board in my hometown pool. This wasn’t an Olympic high-diving board, nor was it a diving board at pool level. You had to climb up four or five rungs. I was young enough to be wearing a life vest, and I was scared. And I went out to the end of the diving board. I looked down at the water. And then I turned around, and I climbed down. As…

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel | Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:78 (Christmas Eve Homily)

O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. I tried to lead our college and young adults group to sing this song last weekend, and while the words were beautiful, my rendition was pretty awful. Part of the reason for that is because there’s a bunch of different verses, and I wasn’t always sure which one to sing.…

Freak Accidents | Acts 20:1-12 (Eutychus’s fall)

*Content Warning! The audio version (and maybe the written version) of this message, may be highly troublesome to those who have experienced disabilities and/or seizures. I have done my best to make the written manuscript easier to read. – Pastor Jonathan Today I’m talking about freak accidents. I am going to tell a true story of sudden death, a tragedy that hit me personally. Our Elders and Deacons recently did a mental health training through Harbor Christian Counseling in Boston…

An Upside-Down Church | Acts 17:1-9

My wife and I watched the Broadway Musical Hamilton last summer on Disney+. All the songs are brilliant, but I was reminded of one of them as I thought about today’s sermon. Have you heard the one about the battle of Yorktown? Washington is trying to defeat General Cornwallis, and he sends Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton to capture two key positions. In the musical, as they’re going into battle, they sing about what they’re trying to accomplish. They’re trying to…

Understanding Christian Persecution | Acts 16:16-40

Christianity is like a nail; the harder you hit it, the deeper it goes.[1] In 1966, Mao cast out Western missionaries and persecuted Christians. A Star in the East reports, “Ironically, the persecution of Protestants may have been the single most beneficial event for the success of the Christianity in China!” It transformed the Chinese Christian movement into a local movement led by the Chinese. It got rid of the liberal missionaries who didn’t believe in Christ. Those who endured…

Joy in Adversity | Acts 5:17-42

How can we have joy in adversity? How can we experience happiness when we’re also experiencing setbacks or even suffering? I want to read you the last words in our passage. Acts 5:40b (NIV) …They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles, who are the twelve disciples including Peter and John and all the rest, are arrested by those in power…

Praying with Christ | Psalm 22

I love listening to people pray because we all pray a little bit differently. I appreciate how people from a Catholic background or a more formal (aka. liturgical) church setting pray. Their words always seem so reverent and thoughtful. But I also like listening to people pray who just talk to Jesus like they’re talking to a friend. Their prayers seems so relational and honest. I even like hearing people pray who are going through a hard time. There’s something…

Discipleship 101: Disciples who Suffer | Philippians 4:10-23

Have you ever finished reading a book and wondered, what did I just read? I have lots of books on my bookshelf that I know I’ve read, but I have trouble remembering what they are about. To try to solve this, I’ve become a lot more interactive with my books. Now when I read, I underline and try to paraphrase points in the margins, writing down a word or two that will remind me what it’s about. *Please click “Save”…

Discipleship 101: The Difficulties of Discipleship | Philippians 1:12-26

As I was preparing this sermon on the difficulties of following Jesus this, I began to think about places we face hardship, and I thought of boot camp. I have not gone through boot camp, but my brother went to the Marine Corps boot camp. Boot camp is known for being really hard. You constantly drill, study, workout (sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, running), and this all culminates at the end in the crucible. The crucible is a 54-hour test where you’re…