The Rev. Ramzi Adcock: “Be Wise With What You Have” (Luke 19:11-27)

Here is a message on the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke from the good people of Jesmond Parish Church in the United Kingdom. The YouTube notes say: “In this parable, Jesus highlights how three different kinds of people respond to the responsibility given to them by their master, and we learn how these examples clearly parallel and speak into our lives today.”

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The Rev. Matt Elder: “Seeing Jesus For Who He Really Is” (Luke 18:35-43)

Here is another message on the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke from the good people of Jesmond Parish Church in the United Kingdom. The YouTube notes say: “There are people in today’s Bible passage that we would expect to understand who Jesus is and follow him, but actually it ends up being the most unlikely of characters who truly see Jesus for who he really is.”

The Rev. Ian Garrett: “Have You Understood the Cross?” (Luke 18:31-34)

Here is another message on the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke from the good people of Jesmond Parish Church in the United Kingdom. The YouTube notes say: “If the worst thing that’s ever happened – namely the death of God’s Son at the hands of men – was part of God’s plan, then we can trust that the worst things that happen to us and around us are also somehow part of God’s plan, allowed for his purposes.”

The Rt. Rev. Jonathan Pryke: “How To Enter The Kingdom” (Luke 18:15-30)

Here is a message on the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke from the good people of Jesmond Parish Church in the United Kingdom. The YouTube notes say: “We’re looking at two encounters that Jesus had – the first with young children, and the second with a rich ruler. They’re very different encounters, but Jonathan shows us how they’re linked by the same issue: how do we enter the kingdom of God?”

The Rev. Ramzi Adcock: “Freedom From The Power of Sin” (Romans 6:12-14)

Here is another message on the sixth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans from the good people of Jesmond Parish Church in the United Kingdom. The YouTube notes say: “Ed Sheeran’s song ‘Bad Habits’ is all about the struggle to resist temptation and a powerlessness to say no to our sin, but Romans 6 speaks wonderfully of the freedom from the power of sin that comes through Jesus! Ramzi Adcock encourages us to remember what we have been set free from and what we have been set free for.”

The Rev. Ian Garrett: “Doesn’t Grace Encourage Sin?” (Romans 6:1-11)

Here is another message on the fifth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans from the good people of Jesmond Parish Church in the United Kingdom. The YouTube notes say: “If God’s acceptance of us depends 100% on what Jesus did and 0% on anything we do, why should we care about living a godly life? Ian Garrett explores how even though we still sin our old relationship to sin has ended, and encourages us to persevere for Jesus.”

The Rt. Rev. Jonathan Pryke: “Death and Life” (Romans 5:12-21)

Here is another message on the fifth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans from the good people of Jesmond Parish Church in the United Kingdom. The YouTube notes say: “If Adam is ‘a type of the one who was to come’ – what does that look like? Jonathan Pryke explores the similarities and differences between Adam and Jesus, and encourages us to receive the gift; by faith in Christ; rejoice in the hope of glory, and live a new life.”

For Easter: from the Peri Pascha of Melito of Sardis

For this Easter, here again is an excerpt from perhaps my favorite Easter hymn from the Fathers, the Peri Pascha of Melito of Sardis. It always takes my breath away both for its beauty and for its being unsurpassed as a homily for this joyous day.

66. When this one came from heaven to earth for the sake of the one who suffers, and had clothed himself with that very one through the womb of a virgin, and having come forth as man, he accepted the sufferings of the sufferer through his body which was capable of suffering. And he destroyed those human sufferings by his spirit which was incapable of dying. He killed death which had put man to death.67. For this one, who was led away as a lamb, and who was sacrificed as a sheep, by himself delivered us from servitude to the world as from the land of Egypt, and released us from bondage to the devil as from the hand of Pharaoh, and sealed our souls by his own spirit and the members of our bodies by his own blood.

68. This is the one who covered death with shame and who plunged the devil into mourning as Moses did Pharaoh. This is the one who smote lawlessness and deprived injustice of its offspring, as Moses deprived Egypt. This is the one who delivered us from slavery into freedom, from darkness into light, from death into life, from tyranny into an eternal kingdom, and who made us a new priesthood, and a special people forever.

69. This one is the passover of our salvation. This is the one who patiently endured many things in many people: This is the one who was murdered in Abel, and bound as a sacrifice in Isaac, and exiled in Jacob, and sold in Joseph, and exposed in Moses, and sacrificed in the lamb, and hunted down in David, and dishonored in the prophets.

70. This is the one who became human in a virgin, who was hanged on the tree, who was buried in the earth, who was resurrected from among the dead, and who raised mankind up out of the grave below to the heights of heaven.

71. This is the lamb that was slain. This is the lamb that was silent. This is the one who was born of Mary, that beautiful ewe-lamb. This is the one who was taken from the flock, and was dragged to sacrifice, and was killed in the evening, and was buried at night; the one who was not broken while on the tree, who did not see dissolution while in the earth, who rose up from the dead, and who raised up mankind from the grave below.

I wish all of you another joyous Easter–may He live in your hearts as surely as He lives today at the right hand of the Father, and may we be at peace, knowing we will live with Him in the world to come.

The Rev. Chris Kho: “Fully Saved” (Romans 5:9-11)

Here is another message on the fifth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans from the good people of Jesmond Parish Church in the United Kingdom. The YouTube notes say: “How can we be sure we’re going to heaven? Chris Kho reminds us how we can rejoice in the fact that if we are justified and reconciled can be sure we’re saved from God’s future wrath.”

Mr. Pete Alston: “Am I A Fool For Believing in Jesus?” (Romans 5:5-8)

Here is another message on the fifth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans from the good people of Jesmond Parish Church in the United Kingdom. The YouTube notes say: “What comes to your mind when you ask yourself the question: is standing with Jesus worth it? What do you worry about losing? How is it possible to be happy standing with Jesus, even if it means losing what we love most? Well verses 5-8 in Romans chapter 5 show us how!”