Palm Sunday l 28-Mar-2010
(Duration: 23:14 | size: 14.7MB)
Preacher : Rev. Dr. John Illsley
Bible Reading : Luke 19: 28-40

Today is Palm Sunday, the start of the week that leads to Good Friday; it commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem preceding his passion. As he entered, the people of Jerusalem recognized Jesus as their king, saying “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They waved branches from palm trees. Traditionally in the Western Church the Palm Sunday service begins with the “blessing of the palms,” where the palms used in the procession that follows are blessed. It is during this time that the story of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem is read. Then a procession into the church building follows. If there cannot be a procession from the outside of the church, a solemn entrance, taking place entirely within the church, may be done. The hymns and psalmody are related to Christ's office as King.

Traditionally the Gloria Laus (i.e. All Glory Laud and Honour). Palm Sunday is also called Fig Sunday, because figs were traditionally eaten that day, memorializing the fig tree cursed by Christ after his entry into Jerusalem.

The founder of the Methodist Church was John Wesley. He preached a vast number of sermons and one of his recorded sermons was entitled “The Almost Christian.” These are people who try and live the good life, care for people, are generous with their money, etc., but have not accepted Jesus as Saviour AND Lord – they hold back. Theirs is a great tragedy. They know all that is needed but something holds them back. One such man was Herod. He dealt with John the Baptist whom he admired, and accepted his message. But Herod could not make the final step. In the end he was tricked into executing John, and he himself died a failure, even rejected by the Jewish people for the execution of John. Our question for today is, are we an ‘Almost a Christian’ or an ‘Entirely a Christian’? It will make a bigger difference than anything else in the world!

Series of the Miracles:
Faith l 14-Mar-2010
(Duration: 24:13 | size: 15MB)
Preacher : Rev. Dr. John Illsley
Bible Reading : Luke 7: 1-17

Today sees our final session on the theme of the miracles of Jesus. We have looked at many stories of healings, walking on water, the dead being raised and miraculous feeding stories. We have also seen how John, in his Gospel account, describes these as SIGNS – pointing to something more than just the miracle. Today we read of a servant being healed and of a widow’s son being raised from the dead.

The question we need to finish with is “so what?” Was Jesus just a miracle worker, like others at the time, or was he, and is he still today, something more. Most Christians go through periods of questioning their faith. How do we know that this Jesus-thing is true? I hope today will give you at least my answer and my stance on life.

Series of the Miracles:
People’s reaction l 07-Mar-2010
(Duration: 20:22 | size: 13MB)
Preacher : Rev. Dr. John Illsley
Bible Reading : Mark 5: 1-21a

We return to the story of the demon-possessed man who Jesus healed and set free. A few weeks ago we looked at Luke’s record of this story and noted how Luke saw what had happened to the man as not just healing but salvation. We commented that God is, of course, interested in our healing but he is much more interested in our salvation. Salvation is for eternity.

Today, we look at the different reactions of the characters involved. We will note how the demons tried to resist, but no evil can ever resist Jesus. We note the reaction of the man healed and how he wanted to be with Jesus – the reaction of anyone who has had a miraculous meeting with God. But we will note the crowd. They were frightened and wanted Jesus to go away. He disturbed them and upset their accepted patterns.

The question will be about our reaction.