Christ Church Jerusalem

Throughout his final speech to the Israelites on the plains of Moab, Moses reminds the people that the Covenant made with the Lord God is timeless. That is, the Covenant applies to the people who are not there today, yet is spoken of as if they were there. God declares a promise to the Patriarchs, God makes a Covenant with the people at Sinai and they are to teach this Covenant to their children. To Moses, all generations are the same generation.

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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While Jewish roots teaching can bring clarity, it often raises questions about the tri-unity of the Godhead. Rev. David Pileggi answers critics who charge that the notion that Jesus is divine came from later innovators such as Paul or Constantine. He warns that if we take Jesus as just a nice Jewish rabbi, we make a bigger mistake than missing the Jewish context of the New Testament. Jesus reveals to us the fullest revelation of who the God of Israel is. And the Trinity models for us the life of discipleship, that is loving and serving the other. The concept of the Trinity tells us God is not static; God is not self-absorbed but lives in a community of love and service; God is invitational. The goal of discipleship isn't maturity. The goal is God.

Readings: Genesis 1:1-2:4a, Psalm 8, Matthew 28:16-20

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The Book of Deuteronomy gives a distinct call for the Torah to be on the heart of the people of God. Chapter 4 introduces a clear defined monotheism, Chapter 5 retells and comments on the 10 Commandments, Chapter 6 produces the Sh’ma, an oath of loyalty with instructions to love and fear the Lord. Yet Deuteronomy is also the most violent of the books of Moses. Chapter 7 introduces the tension between love and fear God with the command to exterminate without distinction.

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/

On Pentecost Sunday, Mike Kerem speaks about the personal, communal, and global effects of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On the Festival of Shavout, the Holy Spirit joins the nations to Israel for God's redemptive purposes. In Acts 2, Peter invokes Joel in Jerusalem on that festival day, but Joel is speaking globally. What we have now from the Holy Spirit is only a down payment. There is more! Let us hold on in these trying times and allow the Holy Spirit to refresh, equip, and empower us as we pray for the Kingdom of God to invade our time.

Readings: Acts 2:1-24, 32-33; Ruth 1:1-17; John 7:37-39

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

God has been directing Moses to teach the people prior to the conquest of Canaan. Moses has reiterated the 10 Commandments, introduced monotheism, declared the Sh’ma, instructed us to both love and fear (although in the sense of awe) the Lord. Many of these commands are for Israel. Particularly the sons of Aaron! But what about other peoples and nations. Is not God the King of the Universe, has He not spoken to Gentiles too? What about the 7 Laws of Noah? The Laws before Sinai! How do they compare to the 10 Commandments?

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/

In this seventh week of Easter, the Rev. David Pileggi continues sharing from the Acts of the Apostles. Our western worldview, featured in the Beatles’ last recorded song “I Me Mine," puts the self in the center of all things and has become a dangerous impediment today to living out the gospel and being witnesses of that new life found through the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth. Pileggi address the need for unity and challenges the usual view of unity derived from the New Testament.

Readings: Acts 1:1-14; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 1 Peter 5:6-11; John 17:1-11

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

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses calls attention to the ‘One Command’; the one ruling principle amongst all others. The Hebrew is an emphatic statement in single form, this is ‘The Commandment!’, the greatest of commandments that God is telling Moses to teach the Israelites. Moses reminds us all that hearing the Voice of God and learning His instructions (Torah) should give us a healthy fear and awe of the Lord. Fear of the Lord, the wise man once said, is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom leads to obedience and thus also to long life.

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/

17 May 2020 - On this sixth week of Easter, the Rev. David Pileggi tells us how Acts fits into the overarching narrative of the Bible: out of love, God creates the world and desires to come into relationship with humanity. But humanity has rebelled. We choose idolatry -- finding our identity and security in some thing, ideology or person -- and thereby we choose death. Paul sees the effects of this disastrous choice in the Athens of his time. God's message to Athens then and for us today is to turn away from idolatry. The time of ignorance is over. Let us put away all those things that bring us self-destruction and instead let us give glory to God and the Lamb.

Readings: Acts 17:16-33; John 14:15-24

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

Moses has called the assembly together, most likely addressing the elders, tribal leaders and representative heads of each of the communities, thus calling it ‘all Israel’. He proceeds to retell the Laws and Judgements of God, beginning with the 10 Commandments. The people of Israel have already received the Commandments from Mout Sinai, as recorded in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Yet those people have since died in the wilderness and the rest apparently have forgotten the instructions (Torah) of God. We do not know what sort of textual manuscripts Israel had access to while in the desert, nor do we fully understand what the priests have been teaching the people from the Tabernacle during the 40 years wandering. Moses, however, felt compelled to reiterate the Commandments and to elaborate the Spirit of the Law as applicable to the hearts of the people. Moses instructs the people to learn the Commandments. And one way to learn something is to teach it in practise, thus Moses commands that families instruct their children in the Torah. Obedience begins by learning and proceeds by teaching and education.

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/

10 May 2020 - Canon Daryl Fenton, in the fifth week of Easter, shares how the earliest disciples in Acts responded to God’s call through Messiah Jesus, and considers its implications for us today.

Readings: Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31; John 14:1-14

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