Merisha Janke - Living in the Light

The fourth in our Foundation of Community series is, like the third, brought to us by Merisha Janke, our friend from Help for All Nations. Merisha speaks from her experience growing up in the Lüdenscheid community in Germany. She focuses on confession one to another as a crucial part of living in the light, and the power of the cross to deliver us from all hidden sin.

Teaching given on June 19, 2021, at Christ the Reconciler.

We also have the teaching on video, if you prefer to watch it … Merisha is wonderfully expressive! However, the audio is not quite as good, and the video recording ended about ten minutes before the end of the talk.

Merisha Janke - The Gift of Repentance

Reposting this teaching as preparation for the June 19 CTR retreat

Merisha Janke was invited by Pastor John McComb to give the sermon on Palm Sunday 2021 (March 28). She was asked to speak on the topic of "Repentance and Forgiveness." Merisha invited Thomas Cogdell to give a brief testimony at the end, about both personal and identificational repentance.

The message was recorded by San Marcos Community Church on their Facebook page, and we have uploaded it to YouTube so that you can watch the video, if you prefer.

Amy Cogdell & Caroline Owens - The Advocate Vs. The Accuser

The 2nd teaching in the “Foundations of Reconciliation” series, following Caroline’s teaching on The Accuser of the Brethren.

Amy & Caroline work together to further unpack the ways in which we invite the Accuser into our minds, our lives, and the church - and how to instead welcome the Advocate, the Holy Spirit! Teaching given at Christ the Reconciler on 15 May 2021.

We also have the teaching on video, if you prefer to watch it.

Prince Michael Salm - Identificational Repentance as German Nobility

Michael Salm is a member of the German nobility, and currently leads the association of European nobility. In this talk, he describes his heritage and background - both the glory, and the shame. Explaining his ancestors’ sins against the Jewish people, he repents to the gathering of mostly Messianic Jews.

Prince Michael, from a historically Catholic family, married Princess Philippa from the Castell family, a historically Lutheran family. He describes their marriage of reconciliation.

Talk given at a TJCII dinner in Dallas on 3 Nov 2016.

The concept of identificational repentance is not without controversy. If you are interested in learning more, below are two papers which address the theological basis of identificational repentance.

The short paper “Confessional Repentance (Vicarious Repentance?)” was written in 2004 by Helmut Eiwen, a non-denominational German pastor. It was originally written in German, with translation to English provided by Dr. John Martin. It provides a wonderful introduction to the concept of identificational repentance.

Dr. Gary S. Greig has written a very helpful and comprehensive academic treatise called “The Biblical Foundations of Identificational Repentance as One Prayer Pattern Useful to Advance God's Kingdom and Evangelism.” Dr. Greig surveys the Old Testament concept of confession and repentance, and discusses in some depth verses in Ezekiel (18:2) and Jeremiah (20:23) that are often cited to contradict the idea of corporate / national responsibility. He then addresses the question as to whether the New Testament ends the concept of corporate / national responsibility, or continues it. This is a very important resource for us at Christ the Reconciler.

Caroline Owens - The Accuser of the Brethren

Caroline Owens is on the leadership team of Christ the Reconciler, a community of followers of Jesus seeking to live out John 17. She prepared this teaching for the first retreat back at CTR after a year-long pause because of the coronavirus. The teaching was given on April 17, 2021.

Caroline has been married to her husband Phillip for over 30 years. They have six children. Caroline is a Roman Catholic who has taken vows as a lay Dominican - the "Order of Preachers." Preach it, Caroline!

We don’t typically record community teachings on video. But we had a sense of the prophetic importance of this teaching, so if you prefer to watch while you listen, and see the Scriptures that Caroline references, we encourage you to use the Youtube video below.

George Miley - Leaders Following : Submission

George Miley presents a teaching drawn from the third chapter of his new book on Leadership. He talks about the unusual kingdom characteristic of submission, in a Godly leader.

Teaching given for the Antioch Network Virtual Gathering on 13 March 2021.

If you prefer video, the teaching is available here on the Antioch Network Youtube channel:

Merisha Janke - The Gift of Repentance

Merisha Janke was invited by Pastor John McComb to give the sermon on Palm Sunday 2021 (March 28). She was asked to speak on the topic of "Repentance and Forgiveness." Merisha invited Thomas Cogdell to give a brief testimony at the end, about both personal and identificational repentance.

If you are on Facebook and prefer to watch a video, it is available by clicking on the image below. Note that the video is of the entire service, the sermon starts at about 0:50 minutes in.

Ludwig Benecke - Kingdom Politics

Ludwig looks from his perspective as a German, at the divisive political climate in the USA (and also in Germany). We have much to learn from our German brothers & sisters!

Teaching given for the Antioch Network Virtual Gathering on 13 March 2021.

You can also watch the video on the Antioch Network Youtube channel:

Daniel Malakowsky - Community is a Sign of the Kingdom

Danny speaks of the importance of community in our walk as followers of Jesus. The Protestant Reformation swung the emphasis more to the individual’s relationship with God - a needed corrective for the Church of 500 years ago. Have we overcorrected? Have we neglected the aspect of walking together, as one? Danny brings his usual sharp thinking and humble, careful approach to bear on this important topic.

Teaching given for the Antioch Network Virtual Gathering on 13 March 2021.

Chris Zimmerman - Who Are the Bruderhof?

During the final Wittenberg 2017 gathering, the theme for repentance was Catholics & Lutherans repenting to the Anabaptists, whom both of them had persecuted. We invited Chris Zimmerman of the Bruderhof to come and give us a hopeful picture of a modern-day Anabaptist community.

Talk given in Wittenberg on 3 November 2017.

There were many pictures that Chris showed to illustrate his talk, so you may prefer to watch the video:

Hanna Miley - Kristallnacht Book Reading

In 2011, Hanna Miley was invited to speak to the citizens of Gemünd, Germany on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. In 1938, the citizens of this same town had smashed in the windows of her father’s shop and burned down the synagogue. Now they were honoring a daughter of the town whom their forefathers had expelled, sending her parents to their death in Chelmo, Poland.

What would Hanna say to them? Would she express bitter anger and resentment at a lost childhood and altered life? Would she demand the return of her father’s properties, which rightly would still belong to her as her inheritance?

This recording is of what she said, translated into German for the packed gathering of 150+ who came to hear her. The next morning, she and her husband found that the town had “changed” irreversibly - lightened, become free, redeemed.

Here is a picture of the event, Hanna on the left (barely visible) with Claudia Wiedenmann translating into German on the right.

Hanna - Kristallnacht.jpg

George Miley - Heart, Soul, Mind, & Strength ... and Your Neighbor

George Miley looks at Jesus’ summary of God’s Torah instructions - to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourself. What does this mean? How do we do it? This is the third teaching given in a series on Maturing toward Wholeness in the Inner Life at Christ Church Anglican in Phoenix, on 31 July 2011.

George has also made his notes available, if you are interested.

Advent Week 4 - Hope for the 2nd Coming by Dan Davis with Sandi Pedrotti

This was Dan Davis’ final sermon at Hope Chapel, on 8 September 2019. In all the years of pastoring, he had never preached a single sermon about the return of Jesus. He worked with Sandi Pedrotti to prepare a sermon that drew on Louis Dahlier’s four points of the Spirit preparing the earth for the return of the King. At the end of the sermon, he asks Sandi to close it out for him from his notes, and pray for the congregation.