Tag: discipleship
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“Power, Fear, and Freedom”
A sermon based on Luke 8:26-39, for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, which this year happens to fall on Juneteenth as well as Father’s Day
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Studying Mark 10 46-52
Jesus heals Blind Bartimaeus in the story we are studying for Sunday, September 19 as told in Mark 10:46-52. The story exemplifies Christ’s call and the ideal human response. [Here are some questions on this text.] Here are a few notes on that text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: We are reading this story in Mark’s gospel.…
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Reflecting on Luke 5 1-11
Simon does a favor for Jesus with his fishing boat, then experiences the catch of a lifetime, then leaves everything and follows Jesus, in Luke 5:1-11, the text we are studying for Sunday, January 10. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are some questions we might want to think about: When we read…
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Study Notes – Matthew 7 1-6, 15-23
We are studying Matthew 7:1-6 & 15-23 for Sunday, July 28. This is some, not all, of the concluding section of the Sermon on the Mount. [Some discussion questions for this text are here.] Here are my notes on this text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: This is our fourth [and last, for awhile] week studying the…
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Study Notes – Matthew 28 16-20 and Acts 1 6-8
We are studying Matthew 28:16-20 along with a little bit of Acts, Acts 1:6-8, for Sunday, April 28. The Matthew text is what we often think of as “the Great Commission.” The Acts text is a portion of Luke’s account of the ascension that corresponds to Jesus’ statement in Matthew. One way to think about…
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Matthew 10 1-15
We are studying Matthew 10:1-15 for Sunday, April 7 – a text that relates Jesus’ commissioning of “the twelve,” along with the first part of his instructions for their mission. [Notes on the text are here.] Here are a few questions we might want to consider before class, or together in class: In v1, “the…
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Matthew 4 12-22
We are studying Matthew 4:12-22 for Sunday, March 31. This text includes a prologue to Jesus’ ministry that presents Jesus as fulfilling a prophecy in Isaiah[*], and then tells the story of Jesus calling Simon [Peter], Andrew, James, and John. [Study notes on the text are here.] Here are a few questions we might want…
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Mark 1 16-20 and Luke 14 25-33
We are studying Mark 1:16-20 and Luke 14:25-33 for Sunday, March 10. The Mark text is the short story of Jesus calling Simon, Andrew, James and John to follow him and let Jesus make them into fishermen of a whole different kind. The Luke text is Jesus’ address to the crowds following him to Jerusalem…
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Study Notes – Mark 1 16-20 and Luke 14 25-33
We are studying two texts for Sunday, March 10: Mark 1:16-20 and Luke 14:25-33. Both are – at least on the surface – texts about leaving everything to follow Jesus. Maybe this is no coincidence, since Sunday is the first Sunday in Lent this year. The Mark text is Mark’s account of Jesus’ calling the…
Matters of Interpretation 