Aletheia Church, Cambridge

When Gabriel announced Jesus’ birth to Mary, he addressed her as “favored one.” What God does for Mary is a small taste of what he does for the entire world through Jesus. In this sermon we look at how God’s favor impacts Mary, because that same favor is available to everyone who believes in Jesus.

There is a deep longing in our hearts for the promises of God. In this sermon, Pastor Donny shares how God speaks to our longing through Jesus, who becomes for us the proof that God keeps his promises.

We love the idea of being helped by others but have we stopped to consider being a helper to others? In this sermon, we will learn about God’s nature as our helper and how it is the foundation of our love, our hope, and our encouragement.

God is a giver. In this first week of our Big Give teaching series, we look at God’s first gift—life itself. What kind of life has God given us? What response is required of us?

Those who love the lofty city with its promises of immediate gratification await God’s judgement. In contrast, those who remain faithful to God will reap the rewards of the heavenly city. God’s message through Isaiah tells us that what we love today, what gives us joy and pleasure, reveals where we live.

Chapters 13–23 are full of judgment passages against seven different nations. The passage addressed to Egypt makes the target clear—pride. God confronts their pride, yet judgment is the very instrument God uses to transform Egypt into a worshiping nation. In this sermon, we explore what Egypt’s story has to do with us.

We all have our coping mechanisms, and so did Ahaz. When Ahaz ruled Judah, he faced a threat from surrounding kings. God sent Isaiah to tell him that he didn’t need to fear, only to trust. Ahaz chose to trust in something other than God. We face the same choice and the same outcomes.

God promised to transform Judah from something rotten into something beautiful. But how? Instead of getting the “how” we get to the “who.” God promises to use Isaiah in the transformation process. Isaiah’s call informs the call of every disciple of Jesus, and shows us how God uses us in his plan to renew our world.

We kick off season one of a series in Isaiah this week. The first chapter introduces us to the book as a whole, and what we see is a promise of transformation for Judah. It leaves us with the question: How will this Judah become that Judah? And that question leads to other questions: How will this church become that church? How will this me become that me? Isaiah 1 points us to the answer.

Sadness is a fact of life for everyone. But sadness doesn’t need to lead to despair. In this sermon, we look at how the Scriptures equip us to deal with the reality of sadness by hoping in God.