Christ Church Jerusalem

3 January 2020 - On the Second Sunday of Christmas, Rev. David Pileggi says the voice of the Word made flesh that “in the beginning” commanded light to shine in the darkness and created life now calls each one of us into the ultimate reality of a God who wants to dwell with us and to live in us. Sadly, many who affirm the Incarnation, the divinity of Jesus and more have allowed these theological t...

27 December 2020 - Rev. David Pileggi, on the first Sunday of Christmas, reminds us that Jesus comes into this world fragile and susceptible to political, religious, and economic powers. Jesus identifies with most of the human family because we all live in similarly fragile situations. The one whose name is Salvation came to save us from sin and so much more. To be saved, to walk in the light and...

Chapter 22 covers a range of issues and commandments for the emerging Israelite society focusing on laws of kindness and community responsibility. Several of the laws also deal with various issues of separation. These rules were for the people of Israel in Canaan, so how would any of this have any bearing on Gentiles living in foreign lands today? Jewish exegesis of the Bible rests on the principl...

20 December 2020 - When the angel Gabriel appeared with a shocking message, Miriam -- that is Mary in Hebrew -- humbly accepted the LORD's assignment. On the fourth Sunday of Advent, Canon Daryl Fenton says that a disciple's spiritual maturity is proportional to the disciple's capacity for obedience. In Mary the mother of Jesus, we have a model of faithfulness, obedience, and humility that all dis...

How much did the Maccabean revolt and the Hasmonean period influence the setting of the New Testament? In this lecture, Deacon Aaron Eime looks at the issues of martyrdom and messianism and how they created the backdrop for many of the themes we see in the New Testament. If we look at the text closely, we can see the themes of Hanukkah permeating the thinking of the Second Temple Period. Blessed b...

Once again we encounter the troubling practice in the ancient world of multiple wives. Let us not superimpose present-day morality on the past. The Bible is not presenting multiple wives as the ideal (neither do we advocate polygamy). The issue being addressed by Moses is the concern for an unloved wife and the right of the firstborn. The firstborn held special honour in Biblical tradition. Exodus...

13 December 2020 - John came as the Voice. And now we are the voice, says Deacon Aaron Eime, pointing to the Light, to the Messiah. We are the voices that bring hope, faith, and goodness to a world that needs it. In a world in darkness and despair during this pandemic, the world truly needs the light of Christmas Readings: Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; Psalms 126; John 1:6-8,19-28 B...

The final two verses of Chapter 20 describe the rules of engagement in war regarding proper treatment of the Creation. Nature is not to become a victim in human warfare. Then in Chapter 21, having noted that blood pollutes the earth and has consequences, Moses introduces legislation for atonement for an unsolved murder. The ceremony includes the washing of hands, reflecting innocence of the crime,...

6 December 2020 - As it is written in the Prophets, a voice cries out in the wilderness for us to repent in preparation for the coming of God into our midst, the God who restores and immerses us into fellowship with Himself. God’s heart speaks tenderly to our heart to repent and to walk faithfully with Him, to boldly lift our voice to declare his Name. The Rev. John Howanstine, on the second Sunda...

Warrior gods were certainly not uncommon in the ancient world. Battle between nations held both theological and political implications for the peoples that adhered to those gods. Success or failure could induce a religious crisis and faithlessness in a particular deity. God had already fought for Israel during and after the Exodus. Israel was no stranger to the rigours of battle, having defeated t...

29 November 2020 - A troubled world searches for the reasons why trouble has come. Scripture regularly explains why troubles came in the past, are with us in the present, and will be with us in the future. The Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton, on the first Sunday of Advent, says today's scriptures give us answers to the questions of the minute. Readings: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-2,17-19; Mark 13:14-37 Ble...

The Israelites will ultimately triumph in conquest over the peoples of Canaan. In establishing a society that will reflect the character of God to the nations, Moses instructs the Hebrews to allocate three cities as cities of refuge. The chapter begins with Moses declaring they should do this, ‘after the Lord your God has destroyed the nations of Canaan’. God is acknowledged as the victorious one,...

22 November 2020 - On Christ the King Sunday, Deacon Aaron Eime tells us that the good shepherd is both king and judge. Judgment is a part of the messianic age in which all things that are wrong will be made right, and we are not excluded from that process. Our obligation to God is be holy like him, to imitate His character and behavior. We are not excluded from the coming judgment. The good news,...

Moses has been the teacher, guider and lawgiver of Israel since the Exodus from Egypt. The Israelites have known no other leader. Moses however, will not be joining Israel as they cross the Jordan, and the people of Israel may have expressed anxiety as to their future rulers. God has indicated that He will chose future kings over Israel, and He has already chosen priests. Now Moses says that the L...

15 November 2020 - Rev. John Howanstine reminds us that the Church proclaims in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed that Messiah Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. We rejoice that He has placed his Cross between His judgment and our souls. Now redeemed from sin and death and made heirs in Him of everlasting life, when He comes again in power and great triumph to judge the...

The tribe of Levi was given no territorial allotment, except several cities of refuge spread throughout the Land of Israel and across the Jordan. With limited access to farming land, the refuge cities will produce some light industry and some agriculture but not much. The Levites must be sustained by their fellow Israelites. How will this be done? Through the tithe paid by the other tribes, as not...

8 November 2020 - The eternal perspective is an anchor of the Christian worldview, says Canon Daryl Fenton. A disciple of Jesus lives in that eternal perspective, knowing that there will be an end to moral time. For those of us who have chosen to follow Jesus, our mortal journey is about learning to be like him and accomplishing his purposes on earth. We are to be his hands and feet, bringing just...

As Sir Winston Churchill once said of democracy, 'Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or allwise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.… ‘ and as Mark Twain would quip, ‘If voting made any differenc...

1 November 2020 - The Feast of All Saints is the perfect opportunity to be reminded of the biblical nature of holiness, vindicating some points of both Roman Catholic and Protestant views. This feast day, says Rev. David Pileggi, also allows us to express our gratitude for those who have gone before us and have shown us how to live faithfully in troubled times – in war, persecution, epidemics, or...

Idolatry was the ancient bugbear that constantly vexed the people of Israel. In Israel’s sacred history they had left Mesopotamia (the great eastern empire) and its gods, through the family of Abraham, and they had left Egypt(the great western empire)and its gods, guided by Moses. Israel is placed in the centre of these two great powers, revealing the true monotheistic God of the Universe to the G...

25 October 2020 - The severe critique that Jesus unleashes on the Pharisees in Matthew 23 is often seen out of context, says Rev. David Pileggi. Jesus himself was close to world of the Pharisees, following many of their customs. (He was an itinerant teacher, raised up disciples, was obedient to Torah, believed in eternal life, and more.) We forget, or may not realize, that this discourse was an in...

18 October 2020 - The world is full of images and false advertising. Much of what is presented to us through the media, film and television is rarely accurate. So what of the image of God? Is the image that the world has of God a true reflection of His character? Rev. Aaron Eime reminds us we are called to follow the Lord and to imitate Him. The role of the believer is to present the true characte...

God is the master of time. He exists outside of it and dwells within it. His involvement in His creation occurs at specific times, and God has provided a sacred calendar to record sacred time. Moses, however, focuses his speech to Israel towards the three pilgrimage festivals, seemly downplaying the other Feasts of the Lord. In this portion Moses expounds on Shavuot (Weeks/Pentacost) and Sukkot (B...

11 Oct 2020 - The Bible often uses the imagery of a feast or banquet to describe God's care and provision for His people. However, in the texts assigned tor this Sunday, we see that God not only wants to bless us, but He invites us into an inter-active relationship of trust and transformation. And that requires a response to His goodness. Sermon by Rev. David Pileggi. Readings: Exodus 32:1-14, Isa...

Moses describes the three pilgrim festivals, all rooted in the agricultural cycle, that required travelling to the Temple. It appears that these pilgrimage festivals were of more importance to the ancient Israelites, perhaps because of the actual existence of a physical Temple. Moses does not mention the other four feasts of the Lord. In discussion we mentioned that one reason could be that these...