Psalm 77 - Lamenting unanswered prayer
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
Release Date: 05/04/2026
Psalm 77 - Lamenting unanswered prayer
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
Sermon summary Florence preaches on Psalm 77 as part of a series on lament, trust, and praise, focusing especially on lamenting unanswered prayer. She begins by naming the “noise inside our heads” — worry, doubt, distress — and explains that the Bible does not sugarcoat painful realities. Biblical lament is presented as a faithful practice: crying out to God, bringing complaints honestly, asking God to act, remembering what he has done, and ultimately reaffirming trust. Psalm 77 shows Asaph in deep distress. He cries out to God, prays through the night, cannot sleep, and asks raw...
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Psalm 58
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
Derek’s sermon on Psalm 58 explores how Christians should respond to widespread injustice, corrupt rulers, and evil actions in the world. He explains that lament is biblical: believers do not need to pretend everything is fine, but should bring suffering, injustice, and wrongdoing honestly before God in prayer. He distinguishes lament from grumbling. Lament brings complaint to God in faith; grumbling complains without prayer and can imply giving up on God’s goodness or power. Psalm 58 is then presented as both a lament and an imprecatory psalm—a prayer asking God to restrain or punish...
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Psalm 51 - 19th April 2026
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
Vijay preaches on Psalm 51, David’s great psalm of repentance after being confronted by Nathan over his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. The sermon begins by distinguishing between healthy and unhealthy guilt. False guilt can burden people for things that are not their fault, while real guilt can become unhealthy if it traps us in the past. But healthy guilt faces sin honestly and leads us towards repentance, change, and restoration with God. Vijay explains that Psalm 51 teaches us that repentance begins not with ourselves, but with God’s character. David appeals to God’s steadfast love and...
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Psalm 13 - Lament
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
In this opening message in our Psalms series, Florence introduces Psalm 13 and shows how biblical lament gives us a faithful way to bring our pain, confusion, and sorrow to God. Lament is not grumbling or faithlessness. It is an honest expression of faith that teaches us to: cry out to God complain to God honestly ask Him to act reaffirm our trust in Him Through Psalm 13, we see David move from “How long, Lord?” to renewed trust, rejoicing, and praise. Even when circumstances do not immediately change, God remains good, present, and worthy of our trust. This sermon encourages us not to...
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"Hope Against Hope" — 5th April 2026
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
"Hope Against Hope" — Easter Sunday Sermon Vijay opens with a vivid image: a man walking through a village destroyed by a storm finds a rooster standing on the wreckage, chest out, crowing with full confidence. It seems absurd until you realise the rooster isn't responding to the ruins. It's responding to the risen sun. That image sets up the whole sermon: Christians can speak of hope even amid devastation, because of what God has done through the resurrection of Jesus. The central idea is that hope is not denial of reality. It's giving more weight to God's promises than to what...
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Palm Sunday
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
Dave opens with a lighthearted reflection on early birds vs. night owls, using his five-year-old son Douglas (who storms in at 5am in full builder's gear) as a bridge into the day's theme - Palm Sunday and the clocks going forward giving him a welcome extra hour's sleep. He then explores the Palm Sunday story from Matthew 21 through four questions: Where : Jerusalem was deeply significant, chosen by God as his dwelling place since the time of David and Solomon, and a city Jesus clearly loved and wept over. Its history stretches back to Abraham's encounter with Melchizedek, and it was always...
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Jonah and the sign of Jonah
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
Mhairi’s sermon centres on Jonah and the “sign of Jonah” in Matthew 12, showing how Jonah’s story points forward to Jesus’ death and resurrection. She begins by connecting Jesus’ words to the Old Testament story of Jonah. Jonah was called by God to go to Nineveh and preach against its wickedness, but instead he ran away in the opposite direction. His disobedience led him into danger at sea, where a violent storm threatened the ship. Even there, God used Jonah’s failure for good, because the sailors came to fear and worship the true God. After Jonah was thrown overboard, God...
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Transfiguration
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
James reflects on the Transfiguration of Jesus in Mark 8:27–9:10, describing it as a true “mountaintop experience” that gave the disciples a preview of Christ’s glory and the coming kingdom of God. He begins by setting the scene near Caesarea Philippi, likely placing the event on Mount Hermon. Before the disciples go up the mountain, three major truths are established at “base camp”: First, Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Second, Jesus explains that being the Christ means he must suffer, be rejected, die, and rise again. This shocks the disciples, especially...
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Sermon on the Mount - Part 10
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
"Building on the Right Foundation" Core Illustration The sermon opens with the Leaning Tower of Pisa, an impressive structure undermined by a shallow foundation on marshy ground, as a metaphor for lives built on the wrong things. The Two Houses (Matthew 7:24-29) Jesus closes the Sermon on the Mount with a parable of two houses. Both face the same storms; only one survives. The difference isn't appearance, it's the foundation. Rock vs. sand. Everyone Has a Worldview The preacher argues that everyone "lives in a house" meaning everyone operates from some philosophy of life, whether they...
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Sermon on the Mount - Part 9
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
David continues the church’s Sermon on the Mount series, framing it like crossing a mountain pass: you can’t relax too early or lose focus before you’re “all the way off the mountain.” He says Jesus’ teaching demands a response, not just hearing, but doing (quoting James 1), like the kids at the church’s Spark group who often know the right answers but don’t always live them out. The sermon focuses on Matthew 7:13–23 and presents three “choices” Jesus sets before listeners as the series reaches its final section (“the kingdom response”): 1) Choose the narrow gate (not...
info_outlineSermon summary
Florence preaches on Psalm 77 as part of a series on lament, trust, and praise, focusing especially on lamenting unanswered prayer.
She begins by naming the “noise inside our heads” — worry, doubt, distress — and explains that the Bible does not sugarcoat painful realities. Biblical lament is presented as a faithful practice: crying out to God, bringing complaints honestly, asking God to act, remembering what he has done, and ultimately reaffirming trust.
Psalm 77 shows Asaph in deep distress. He cries out to God, prays through the night, cannot sleep, and asks raw questions about whether God has rejected him or forgotten to be compassionate. Florence emphasises that these honest questions are included in Scripture, showing that God can be approached with raw emotion.
The turning point comes when Asaph chooses to remember God’s past faithfulness. His focus shifts from his circumstances to God’s character. Florence draws out four movements in the psalm: Asaph looks around, looks in, looks up, and looks back. Remembering God’s works leads him to praise God’s holiness, power, and faithfulness.
The sermon then points to the Exodus, where God made a way through the Red Sea — “a pathway no one knew was there.” Florence applies this to those who feel trapped in sorrow or weariness, suggesting that God may still be leading them through, even when they cannot yet see the way.
Finally, she connects the “way” to Jesus Christ, who calls himself the way in John 14:6. Unlike Asaph, Christians can also look forward to the hope of eternal life, where God will wipe away every tear. The closing encouragement is: whatever is happening in life, look around, look in, look up, look back, and look forward.
00:00 Introduction: the noise inside our heads
01:21 The Bible does not sugarcoat reality
01:36 Recap of the lament, trust, praise series
02:42 What biblical lament is
04:08 “Hallelujah Anyway” and remembering God’s goodness
05:13 Psalm 77: lamenting unanswered prayer
06:37 Asaph looks around: crying out to God
08:23 Crying out as a faith-filled step
09:55 Asaph names his struggle and complaint
11:06 Lament is not a quick formula
12:04 God’s timetable and growing trust
13:41 Asaph’s honest questions to God
15:30 Raw questions are welcomed in Scripture
16:20 The mismatch between belief and experience
17:17 God’s character is reliable despite our feelings
18:53 The dark before the dawn
19:14 Asaph looks in: remembering what God has done
20:46 The importance of what we think about
22:48 Asaph looks up: praising God’s character
23:40 Remembering God’s works leads to praise
25:04 Practising praise in private prayer
25:49 Keeping our eyes on Jesus
27:00 Asaph looks back: God’s rescue at the Red Sea
28:27 Feeling trapped in sorrow or hopelessness
29:21 A pathway no one knew was there
30:45 Jesus as the road, the way
31:50 Following Jesus does not exempt us from sorrow
32:27 Summary: look around, in, up, and back
33:39 Christians can also look forward
34:43 The future hope of no more tears
35:03 Closing encouragement: look around, in, up, back, and forward