Tag: Sermons
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First Sunday in Advent
[A sermon, “Something to Know By Heart,” delivered this morning at a small church in southern Indiana; the main text is Deuteronomy 6:1-9; also refers to Luke 21:34-36] Today, as we know, is the First Sunday in Advent. Here is what the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship says about the season of Advent: ‘Advent’ means…
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Trinity Sunday
This is a sermon for Trinity Sunday; the text is Romans 8:1-4, 12-17, with a nod to Psalm 34; more or less as preached at Corydon Presbyterian Church this morning. Today is Trinity Sunday, when we are encouraged to think about what might be the most difficult thing we ever try to think about as…
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Fourth Sunday of Easter
[A sermon delivered at a small Southern Indiana church] The NT reading this morning is Revelation 4. It’s the opening of the vision of heaven reported by the author we know as John in the book we know as “Revelation.” That word in Greek is “apocalypse,” a word that means “uncovering,” so the image there…
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First Sunday in Advent
Yesterday, our pastor explained to our tiny congregation that the First Sunday in Advent is the “Christian New Year” – at least in the sense of it’s being the first Sunday of the new liturgical year. Happy New Year. Every year, Christians who have this liturgical consciousness embark on an annual cycle of observance, remembrance,…
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Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[A sermon on Acts 8:26-40, the Uniform Series text for Sunday, August 13, 2017.] What in the world are we supposed to make of this story? This peculiar story about a meeting, as it turns out, an appointment, arranged by the Holy Spirit no less, so that from one side at least it looks for…
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Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Something a little less than a sermon on the Uniform Series text for this Sunday, Acts 6:1-8:] As we look in on this episode from Acts, this story of the life of the early Church, here’s what we see: a conflict is taking shape. That’s the first thing. These early Christians do their best to…
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Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The text today continues the exploration of God’s call in the book of Judges, with the call of Samson – although the call is more properly, as we’ll see, the call of Samson’s mother. Scripture doesn’t tell us her name, but we know she must have had one, and according to Jewish tradition it was…
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Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
The text for this sermon (the Uniform Series text for June 18) is the beginning of the story of Jephthah, one of the Judges, whose story is told in chapters 11 and 12 of the book of Judges. We are continuing our study of “call stories” in the book of Judges with this text; this…
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Fourth Sunday in Lent
I’m guessing at least a few people here have heard those “good news, bad news” jokes. Like the one where the doctor comes into the room and says to the patient, well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news … the good news is, we’re going to name a disease after you.” Or…
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1st Sunday after Christmas
One of my New Year’s resolutions last year was to read some of the books I’ve bought over the years that I haven’t read, especially ones that might be useful for religious studies. One of those was the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I finally finished up last night. One of the things I…
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23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
The first words of the book of Joshua, which begin the reading for today, connect it closely to the narrative of the death of Moses that comes at the end of Deuteronomy. In fact, the book of Joshua is so closely connected to the story that unfolds through the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy, bringing…
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22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Over the centuries, people have come to realize that the book of Hebrews is one of the more mysterious books in the Bible. We don’t know who wrote it. Many have thought it was Paul, but today we’re taught in seminary to echo the church Father Origin in saying “God alone knows who wrote it.”
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21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
The lectionary’s gospel text for the 21 Sunday after Pentecost is Luke 13:10-17, a story of Jesus healing a woman with what we modern people would probably recognize as severe arthritis, although perhaps her condition was something different. She is sometimes called “the bent woman,” because of the way her condition forces her to stand…
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20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Several themes came up in the Hebrew Bible text for the 20th Sunday in ordinary time, from the fifth chapter of Isaiah, including the element of justice that involves the consequences of actions; isolation vs. responsibility for community; and the problematic character of texts that deal with judgement in a world in which we are…
Matters of Interpretation 