Sermons from Christ Presbyterian Church in Burke, VA

This Lord’s Day, missionary Tom Mirabella, serving in Chiba, Japan with Mission to the World, preached from John 21:1–21 on failure, hope, and the restoring grace of the risen Christ. The disciples had returned to their boats — back to what they knew — and caught nothing, until the voice on the shore directed their nets and filled them to breaking. What follows is one of the most tender scenes in all of Scripture: Jesus meeting Peter in his failure, asking him three times “Do you love me?”, and re-commissioning him not with condemnation but with a calling. The God who calls is the God who restores, confirms, strengthens, and establishes — even those who have denied him — and his final word to the broken is still “Follow me.”

This past Lord’s Day, Pastor Harlow preached from Acts 3:1–26 on the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate and the proclamation that followed. The miracle was not accomplished through Peter’s own power or piety, but through faith in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Author of life whom God raised from the dead. Peter’s sermon does what every faithful witness must do: name, praise, and point to the risen Christ as the fulfillment of all the prophets, the one sent to turn us from our wickedness. The passage leaves us with a searching question: will people feel like they’ve been seen by Jesus because they’ve been seen by us?

This Lord’s Day, Pastor Hasler opened Acts 2:42–47 to examine what the life of the early church actually looked like. Luke’s snapshot of the Jerusalem believers reveals a community shaped by the apostles’ teaching, bound together in fellowship, sustained by the Lord’s Table and prayer, and marked by a generosity that flowed from genuine faith. The passage presses us to consider what it means for a church to truly belong to one another, not merely to occupy the same room on Sundays. The growth the early church experienced was not the fruit of its own strategy, but the Lord’s own work, adding to his people those he was saving.

We also bid farewell to the Hasler family as they depart for Abeline, Texas. This is Pastor Hasler’s last sermon with us as a pastor of CPC Burke.

This past Lord’s Day, Pastor Harlow opened Acts 2 to show how God’s ancient promises find their fulfillment in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What the prophets foretold and Israel waited centuries to see, God delivers on that morning in Jerusalem, just as He said He would. Peter’s sermon, anchored in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ, cuts his hearers to the heart and calls them to repentance and faith. The promises don’t stop there: three thousand souls are baptized that day, and the same promise extends to us and to our children.

This past Lord’s Day, Pastor Harlow preached from Acts 1:9–26 on the ascension of Christ and what it means to wait for His return. After Jesus was taken up into heaven, the angels’ message was clear: this same Jesus will come back, and that promise shapes everything about how His people are to live in the meantime. The disciples returned to Jerusalem as an obedient, expectant, praying, and united community, grounded in God’s Word as they faced the vacancy left by Judas. Rather than being paralyzed by uncertainty, they moved forward in faith, trusting God’s sovereignty and pressing on in the work of ministry.

This Lord’s Day, we started a new series on Acts. Pastor Harlow preached on Christ’s ascension and the kingdom He establishes through His people. In Acts 1:1-11, Jesus spends forty days with His disciples after the resurrection, preparing them for their mission and promising the power of the Holy Spirit. Rather than restoring an earthly kingdom to Israel, Christ commissions His followers to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. As Jesus ascends to His coronation at the Father’s right hand, two angels remind the disciples that this same Jesus will return in glory.

This Lord’s Day, Pastor Harlow preached on Psalm 62, where David calls God’s people to find their rest, refuge, and salvation in God alone. In a world that tempts us to trust in power, wealth, and the approval of others, this psalm points us to the only secure foundation for our souls. David reminds us that God is our rock and fortress, the source of steadfast love who alone deserves our trust. When life shakes us and enemies surround us, we are called to pour out our hearts before Him and wait in silence for the One who will never fail us.

Due to inclement weather, Pastor Harlow prepared a special devotional on Psalm 127 for home or private worship, exploring the difference between flourishing and frustration. The psalm teaches that without the Lord’s blessing, all our building, watching, and working amounts to anxious toil. Through four spheres of life – temple, city, workplace, and home – we see that true fruitfulness flows not from our striving but from trusting in God’s sovereign provision. Rather than rising early and staying late in worried labor, we are invited to rest in the One who gives good gifts to His beloved.

This past Lord’s Day, Pastor Hasler preached on the call to worship found in Psalm 103. David’s hymn of praise reminds us of God’s many benefits: He forgives our iniquities, redeems our lives, and crowns us with steadfast love and mercy. As we remember who God is and what He has done, we are compelled to repentance and propelled into joyful worship. Though we are but dust, God’s steadfast love endures from everlasting to everlasting for those who fear Him.

This Lord’s Day, Pastor Harlow preached from the closing verses of Luke’s Gospel on how believers are called to respond to the risen Christ. In Luke 24:44-53, Jesus opens his disciples’ minds to understand how all Scripture points to him and commissions them to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to all nations. Before ascending to heaven, he promises they will be clothed with power from on high. Christ’s resurrection calls us to immerse ourselves in God’s Word, carry his message to others, and depend wholly on the Spirit’s power for the task.