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In the cold of earliest morning at Pendle Hill Quaker Center, I venture from my room to the Main House, where kitchen lights already shine welcome. The coffee tastes even better than it smells. Slipping (...)

Discussion on texts for Third Sunday of Advent (Dec. 14, 2014): (Gospel) John 1:6-8, 19-28; (1st Reading) Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Psalm 126; (2nd Reading) 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24.

Regarding the Gospels, many lectionary preachers may approach Year B in the Revised Common Lectionary with less than uplifted hearts. Gone are Matthew’s barbed directions and Luke’s breathtaking parables. At best Mark is deceptively simple; (...)

Clothing and food — celebrated necessities — describe God’s abundant gifts to creation in an Isaiah passage that shows up twice in December’s lectionary: once on Advent’s third Sunday (December 14), where it concludes the (...)

Discussion on texts for All Saints Sunday (Nov. 2, 2014): (Gospel) Matthew 5:1-12; (1st Reading) Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 34:1-10, 22; (2nd Reading) 1 John 3:1-3. Recorded with live audience at the 2014 Celebration of Biblical (...)

The rapture is declining, according to Wheaton College’s Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals. The nineteenth-century notion that Christians will escape the planet before widespread tribulation heralds the world’s end — a notion popularized (...)

Discussion on texts for Reformation Sunday (Oct. 26, 2014): (Gospel) John 8:31-36; (1st Reading) Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 46; (2nd Reading) Romans 3:19-28.

Sermon development takes place somewhere in-between passivity and activity. What I mean by this is that there are times when I sit down to work on a sermon, times I set aside for prayer, reflection, (...)

Editor’s Note: WorkingPreacher.org published commentaries that correspond with the readings for Season of Creation 2014: Series A (The Spirit Series). A full listing of worship resources (including liturgies to accompany the readings) can be found online at http://seasonofcreation.com/worship-resources/readings/. It is said that (...)

Discussion on texts for Holy Cross Sunday (Sept. 14, 2014): (Gospel) John 3:13-17; (1st Reading) Numbers 21:4b-9; Psalm 78:1-2, 34-38; (2nd Reading) 1 Corinthians 1:18-24.