Sermons from Christ Presbyterian Church in Burke, VA

This week, our Pastoral Intern preached on Luke 8:40-56, where Jesus brings a synagogue ruler named Jairus’ daughter back to life and then heals a woman from chronic bleeding.  In addition to presenting Jesus’ miraculous power to heal the sick and the broken, he discussed why God, through the Holy Spirit, gives us multiple testimonies of singular events in different Gospel narratives.  We examined why the Gospels may also include subtle and not so subtle differences in different narratives.  We learned why we should embrace and understand the differences to grasp the theological purposes in God’s inspired word.

This Sunday, out pastor preached from Luke 8:22-25 where Jesus calms the raging storm on the Sea of Galilee. In this passage, we see both Jesus’ humanity and divinity on full display. We also sang the historical hymn, This is My Father’s World; a psalm Preserve Me O God (Psalm 6); and a recent hymn Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor. 

This Sunday, our pastor preached from Luke 8:19-21 on the Love of God our Father who not only adopts us as his children but also puts us in a new family – a spiritual family – with new brothers and sisters in the church. We sang the historical hymn Be Thou My Vision;  one psalm, Psalm 5, set to the traditional English tune Scarborough Fair (a prayerful psalm set to a plaintive tune); and an historical hymn set to a recent tune by Indelible Grace: Jesus With Thy Church Abide.

During this service, our pastor preached the second of three sermons on hearing, heeding, and doing God’s Word from Luke 8: 1-18. We examined the “good soil” in Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, and how hearing and holding fast to God’s word in a heart of integrity and honesty produces faith and good works. We also saw how the light of God’s word keeps us on the path of righteousness and exposes the sin in our life.  We praised God and acknowledged our need for His grace and power in singing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Psalm 81 in Sing Aloud to God our Strength, and Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me.  The worship bulletin is attached.

During this service, our pastor preached on the parable of the seed and the soils in Luke 8:1-15. He talked about faith, the necessity of being born again, and we prayed for revival in our hearts, our families, our church, our city, and our nation. We sang Psalm 23 (a more traditional version set the Irish melody St Columba), the traditional hymn O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing and another traditional hymn from 1765 set to a new tune in 2018, Whate’er My God Ordains is Right.

During this service, our pastor preached on one of the two most beloved parables in the Gospel of Luke: the parable of the two debtors in Luke 7:36-50. Like the parable of the prodigal son, we saw the extravagant grace of God for sinners; and, in this one we saw the extravagant response of love and devotion from a forgiven sinner. We sang praises to the God who rescues from Psalm 121, I Lift My Eyes Up to the Hills; and we sang the traditional hymns I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say and My Jesus I Love Thee. The bulletin is attached.

Our sermon passage was a reminder that, in the Christian’s Life, “waiting” is often the rule and not the exception. In Luke 7:18-35, we found John the Baptist in prison, waiting to see if Jesus will open his prison as the prophet Isaiah indicated the Messiah would (Isaiah 61:1). We saw that John had doubts about Jesus, and we saw him bring his doubts to Jesus. John provided us with a model for how to handle our doubts about God while we are waiting upon him to do something.

A guest preacher, PCA Chaplain Mark Moore, preached from Psalm 56 on what we should do when we are afraid. We considered the causes of our fears and the reasons that we should turn to the Lord who can relieve our fears. During the service, we sang Psalm 98 “Sing a New Song to Jehovah,” the traditional hymn, “Jesus Paid It All” (written in 1865 by Alexandria, Virginia, native Elvina Hall), and the recent hymn “In Christ Alone” among others.

Our pastor preached on Jesus’ greatest miracle–a work He did only 3 times–raising a person from the dead. In this miracle we see Jesus display the Divine power to give life. We considered Jesus’ compassion for the person’s widowed mother who had been left alone with no one. We also considered Jesus’ compassion for us and His power to raise us to new spiritual life now (and new physical life one day). We also sang Psalm 95 “Now with Joyful Exaltation,” Francis Scott Key’s “Lord with Glowing Heart I’d Praise Thee,” and a traditional hymn set to a new tune by Indelible Grace “All Must Be Well” among one or two others.