Search Results

Jesus intervenes in the conflict between the power of evil and the power of God by doing deeds of power and preaching. This lection has three parts: a healing story, a description of the multitude (...)

Most congregations would drown in this text’s cascade of details. “Six days later.” “A high mountain apart.” “Elijah with Moses.” “Let’s make three dwellings.” “A cloud overshadowed them.”  Each of these items chimes with the (...)

On Ash Wednesday, people in churches, homes, and streets all over the world will receive ashes, beginning a forty-day period the Christian tradition calls Lent.1 Lent is really a journey that takes all of us (...)

This Sunday’s lection comprises three episodes: Jesus’ baptism (Mark 1:9-11), his temptation (1:12-13), and his inaugural preaching (1:14-15). The preacher could justifiably dedicate a sermon to any of these. I suggest an alternative: so tightly (...)

Borne out of a gut-wrenching anguish, Psalm 22 is the cry of one who knows what it is to be bullied by his enemies, rejected by his community, and abandoned by God.1 The threat for (...)

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is a song of hope to the people of Judah exiled in Babylon, assuring them that God has not abandoned them. Suffering servant of the Lord Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is the first reading for (...)

The ending of Mark’s gospel is notoriously odd. While Jesus is mentioned and his promise is invoked, he does not even come by for a cameo. Throughout the gospel Jesus has begged people to keep (...)

Today’s Gospel lection again competes for the preacher’s attention with another of the New Testament’s choice epistolary texts.1 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 is the oldest of all testimonies to our Lord’s resurrection by one among many (...)

As the story begins, the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, erects a massive golden statue and commands that all must bow before it.1 Initially, it appears that the central conflict of the story involves idolatry. However, as (...)

What does an Easter church look like? Acts 4:32-35 provides the second snapshot of the believing community. We encounter the first in Acts 2:42-47, which follows immediately upon the Pentecost outbreak and Peter’s first great (...)