Sermons

Palm Sunday: The People and the Purpose of Palm Sunday Opening Illustration: Imagine for just one moment you were there.  Imagine that you were in Jerusalem.  You were one of an estimated crowd of 100,000 to 200,000 individuals.  You are in Jerusalem with your family to celebrate the Passover Feast.  Suddenly the crowd thickens at the entrance of Jerusalem.  Everyone begins to celebrate.  Palm branches fly overhead.  Shouts of “Hosanna in the highest” ring out from all directions.  You see clothing, coats and tunics, being flung onto the ground covering the streets.   Could it be? Is Caesar entering Jerusalem during the high holy day of Judaism.  Has Rome been conquered by another empire.  Is this new king coming to liberate the Jews?   You peer through the thick crowd to see a man.  Not just any man.  You see a man wearing simple clothing.  He is riding a donkey.  He is closely followed by 12 men.  His associates.  His disciples.   Suddenly music begins playin

According To Luke: Completely Healed   Illustration: Beauty in the Broken On January 24, 1975, the world-renowned pianist Keith Jarrett played in front of a live audience in the Cologne opera house. The album for the concert recording was released in the autumn of 1975 to critical acclaim, and went on to become the best-selling solo album in jazz history, and the all-time best-selling piano album. But all of this didn't come easy. Jarrett had originally requested the use of a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano for the performance. But there was some confusion by the opera house staff and instead they found another Bösendorfer piano backstage—a much smaller baby grand used for rehearsals—and placed it on the stage. According Vera Brandes, the concert's organizer, the substitute piano was "was completely out of tune, the black notes in the middle didn't work, the pedals stuck. It was unplayable." "Keith played a few notes,"