Stan Mast was the Minister of Preaching at the LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church in downtown Grand Rapids, MI for 22 years. He graduated from Calvin Theological Seminary in 1971 and served four churches in the West and Midwest regions of the United States. He also served a 3 year stint as Coordinator of Field Education at Calvin Seminary. He has earned a BA degree from Calvin College and a Bachelor of Divinity and a Master of Theology from Calvin and a Doctor of Ministry from Denver Seminary. He is happily married to Sharon, and they have two sons and four grandchildren. Stan is a voracious reader and works out regularly. He also calls himself a car nut and an “avid, but average” golfer.
Stan wrote weekly sermon commentaries for the CEP website from 2012 to 2019.
Numbers 21:4-9
Commentary
Lent 4B
In our Lenten journey this year, the RCL has been focusing on the theme of God’s covenant—with Noah and all creation, with Abraham and his descendants, with Israel at Sinai, and next week with the world as promised through Jeremiah’s words to the Exiles. In our reading for today, we have a vivid picture of…
Exodus 20:1-17
Commentary
Lent 3B
On this Third Sunday of Lent, the RCL continues its focus on the theme of covenant. Though our immediate text does not mention covenant, it is very clear from the context (Exodus 19-24) that the Ten Commandments are part of a covenant making ceremony between the God who liberated his people and those liberated people. …
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Commentary
Lent 2B
As any regular reader of my Sermon Commentaries on these Old Testament readings can easily tell, the theme for Lent in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary is covenant. Every one of our Lenten readings has to do with God’s covenant in one way or another, even our upcoming lesson from Numbers 21, which…
Genesis 9:8-17
Commentary
Lent 1B
As we begin our annual Lenten journey to the cross and the tomb, our Old Testament reading takes us to the new journey of the human race after The Flood. In words that almost directly parallel the Genesis account of creation, the opening verses of Genesis 9 lay out God’s mandates for the new human…
2 Kings 2:1-12
Commentary
Epiphany 6B
The compilers of the Revised Common Lectionary have done us preachers a real favor by pairing this Old Testament reading with the story of Jesus Transfiguration in Mark 9. This juxtaposition of texts will save us from preaching on the importance of mentoring (as many folks will do because the relationship between Elijah and Elisha…
Isaiah 40:21-31
Commentary
Epiphany 5B
Sample sermon: “What Can You Reasonably Expect from God?” I once preached this sermon, focusing particularly on the beloved verse 31. I received a phone call the other day from a modern-day daughter of Job, whom I will call Mary. At one time Mary had been a pastor’s wife with 2 young children and a…
Deuteromony 18:15-20
Commentary
Epiphany 4B
A couple of weeks before the Presidential election in the US, Pat Robertson gave another of his fantastic prophecies: President Trump would win the election, widespread civil discontent would follow, and five years later a huge asteroid would hit the world. Robertson has been giving spectacular prophecies for years now. He has predicted the exact…
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Commentary
Epiphany 3B
If you pay attention to the liturgical year, you know that we are still in the season of Epiphany. At first reading, I wondered what the story of Jonah has to do with Epiphany. Upon further meditation, I saw that it is a revelation of the grace of God in the most unexpected places– at…
1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20)
Commentary
Epiphany 2B
On this Second Sunday after Epiphany, the parallels between this Old Testament reading and the Gospel reading (John 1:43-51) are obvious and instructive. Both are about calling, of Samuel and of the first disciples. Both are about God revealing himself, through his spoken word and through the Word made flesh. Both calls evoke a life…
Genesis 1:1-5
Commentary
Epiphany 1B
This First Sunday after Epiphany celebrates the Baptism of Jesus, that spectacular epiphany of his glory as he began his public ministry. All of the Lectionary readings for this Sunday were chosen because they have to do with water, whether the primeval waters of Genesis 1 or the waters of the Mediterranean that spawn a…
About Stan Mast