Dear Working Preachers, this Sunday begins one of the most important weeks of the church year. As you already know. A lot of weight falls on Palm/Passion …

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Do we really? Do we actually want to see Jesus? Or do we pretend, feign interest, when in fact, seeing Jesus just …

John 3:16. Not an easy verse to ignore or pass over when it comes to preaching. And sometimes, Dear Working Preachers, we simply can’t. Often our …

Dear Working Preachers,

Something different this week. I preached on this text a few weeks ago at a continuing education event in Colorado talking about …

“He said this openly.” No wonder Peter responded as he did. Rebuke seems appropriate when you are hearing something you don’t want to …

The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, always the first Sunday of Lent, is an unnervingly muted event in Mark. Unlike Matthew and Luke, where we hear …

Yes, Jesus. It is good to be here. Isn’t this just the right summary of the Transfiguration? Indeed, how good it is to be here and yet how good it …

I’ve had a persistent problem with this passage. First blush was always suspicion and resentment. I mean, after all, Simon’s mother-in-law is …

“They kept on asking each other, what is this? A new teaching?”

There’s the rub of the Gospel and why the Gospel was put to death.

This past week, I had an appointment with my therapist whom I had not seen in eight months. This session was likely the last time I will meet with her in …

If you are a regular listener of Sermon Brainwave, you have come to expect that my co-hosts and I are frequently “adders.” That is, we rightly …

Every three years, when Year B rolls around in the lectionary, my podcast co-hosts and I inevitably have the same conversation about Mark’s version …

Then Simeon blessed Mary and said, among other things, “your child is destined to be a sign that will be opposed.” It seems a part of being …

I debated about writing a column for Christmas this year. In part, because of the 4th Sunday of Advent falling on Christmas Eve. In part, because I presume …

“Here I am, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.” I wonder what the world would be like if more people responded …