Christ Church Jerusalem

April 18, 2021 - Third Sunday of Easter - There is a debate of where specifically the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus took place. For some, faith seems diminished by not being able to pinpoint the exact locations. Our confidence in the resurrection, Rev. David Pileggi tells us, does not lie in identifying the place. The proof is found in 2,000 years worth of lives changed by the joy of knowing the risen Jesus.

Readings: Acts 3:12-19; 1 John 1:1-5; Luke 24:36-48

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The last act of Moses is to break into song! We always knew he had it in him. The song is formed kike a psalm, using Hebrew-style parallelisms. The song of Deuteronomy 32 assumes that the children of Israel are already in the Promised Land, have succeeded in the conquest but have fallen into idolatry. Thus this final portion of the Last Words of Moses is heavily prophetic. The Song of Moses became very important during the Second Temple period, having some form of liturgical use in the Temple and in some Jewish communities.

Led by Aaron Eime.

Notes for this study can be found at http://www.christchurchjerusalem.org/sermons/study-last-words-of-moses-deut/ ‎

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11 April 2021 - Second Sunday in Easter - Death. If death is normal, then why do we have so much trouble with it? It does not feel normal. We are wired to hate death. Many in the world cope by saying there is nothing after death or by holding on to a fuzzy hope of an uncertain eternal existence. The resurrected Jesus gives us another view of death, says Canon Daryl Fenton. Disciples who encounter the resurrected Jesus can live in transforming power, obedience, and even joy in the face of death.

Readings: 1 John 1:1-2:2; Psalm 28; John 20:19-31

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This sermon is also available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/christchurchjerusalem

4 April 2021 - What are we to make of Mark's abrupt resurrection account? Is it clumsy writing? Or does it fit right into a narrative that starts abruptly and highlights Jesus as the frustrated rabbi to his fearful and blind disciples? Rev. David Pileggi has us consider the words of the young man in the empty tomb, who offers the frightened women a word of peace and reconciling mercy from the resurrected Messiah. Only an encounter with the Resurrection embodied will heal our blindness, fear, and doubt.

Readings: Acts 10:34-43; Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 114; Mark 16:1-8

Blessed by our teachings? Consider saying thank you with a small (or large) donation. www.christchurchjerusalem.org/donate/

This sermon is also available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/christchurchjerusalem

Listen to this sermon and more on our podcast. Search for Christ Church Jerusalem in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast app.

28 March 2021 - On Palm Sunday, we remember Jesus' triumphal but humble entry into Jerusalem. Jesus enters not only as a king but as a prophet warning Jerusalem -- not wagging his finger but weeping over his beloved city and his people. Rev. David Pileggi exhorts us to hear Jesus' critique of the corrupt Temple and search our hearts for the same arrogance and compromise that warranted God's judgment.

Readings: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Mark 11:1-17

Blessed by our teachings? Consider saying thank you with a small (or large) donation. www.christchurchjerusalem.org/donate/

This sermon is also available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/christchurchjerusalem

Listen to this sermon and more on our podcast. Search for Christ Church Jerusalem in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast app.

Music Credit: Rise Again by Alexander Nakarada

Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4897-rise-again

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Moses is coming to the end of his monologue as well as his life in general. God has decreed Moses will not cross the Jordan and that the day of his speech, his 120th birthday, will be his final day in this world, putting in place a tradition that says heroes of God die on the same day as they are born. Moses says God Himself will cross the Jordan with the Israelites. God has been with the people in Egypt, partook of the Exodus with them and has dwelt among them in the wilderness. He has never left them despite their rebelliousness, and that is a comforting thought for all of us. God has led Israel in a joint venture with Moses, God and Man working together, and now both will go in to take possession of the Land.

Led by Aaron Eime.

Notes for this study can be found at http://www.christchurchjerusalem.org/sermons/study-last-words-of-moses-deut/ ‎

Blessed by our teachings? Consider saying thank you with a small (or large) donation. www.christchurchjerusalem.org/donate/

21 March 2021 - Fifth Sunday in Lent - To have eternal life is to have God's life. Before new birth, however, there has to be death to self, to the world's definition of life. Rev. David Pileggi encourages us to rediscover that Jesus' life -- his teaching, example, death, and resurrection -- not only saves us but shapes what our salvation looks like. We are invited not just to remember Jesus' death but to participate in it.

Readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33

Blessed by our teachings? Consider saying thank you with a small (or large) donation. www.christchurchjerusalem.org/donate/

This sermon is also available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/christchurchjerusalem

Music Credit: Rise Again by Alexander Nakarada

Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4897-rise-again

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Moses concludes his retelling of the Torah, the deuteronumos or mishna torah, linking everything once again to the individual's heart and soul. The initial future of Israel, however, was not going to be too promising. The previously mentioned blessings and curses of chapters 27 and 28 were to befall the people of God. The future was exile. In its success of the conquest of Canaan, Israel was going to fail to maintain the covenant. This is an interesting thought, that blessing from God and success can lead to spiritual decline, idolatry and subsequent punishment. If exile is the future, why enter the Land in the first place? Why not just stay where they are and continue to wander the desert? Perhaps a wider question can be asked of ourselves: why is it that revelation rarely seems to change our behaviour?

Led by Aaron Eime.

Notes for this study can be found at http://www.christchurchjerusalem.org/sermons/study-last-words-of-moses-deut/ ‎

Blessed by our teachings? Consider saying thank you with a small (or large) donation. www.christchurchjerusalem.org/donate/

14 March 2021 - Fourth Sunday in Lent - In Numbers 21, the children of Israel sin and bring a plague upon themselves. God in his mercy allows them to restore their relationship with him through a strange device, a bronze serpent on a pole. One thousand years later, Jesus tells Nicodemus he is the one who will restore relationship between God and his people. Canon Daryl Fenton reminds us that relationship cannot be restored by a mere transaction; repentance, a change of heart, is required.

Readings: Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21

Blessed by our teachings? Consider saying thank you with a small (or large) donation. www.christchurchjerusalem.org/donate/

This sermon is also available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/christchurchjerusalem

As Moses’ speech draws close to its end, he once again reiterates the sacred history of the people following the Exodus from Egypt leading up to a reiteration of the Covenant of God. The opening verse almost reads as though there were actually two covenants given to Israel, one at Mount Sinai(called Horeb) and the other here on the plains of Moab. Some Jewish commentators, like Rashi, say that Moses is adding to the previous words at Sinai while others say that this is a reiteration to the new younger generation of Israel, as the majority of those Sinai have passed away.

Led by Aaron Eime.

Notes for this study can be found at http://www.christchurchjerusalem.org/sermons/study-last-words-of-moses-deut/ ‎

Blessed by our teachings? Consider saying thank you with a small (or large) donation. www.christchurchjerusalem.org/donate/