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Luke 1:26-38
Advent 4B
Comments and Observations: Biblical scholars call passages like Luke 1 “type scenes.” A modern kind of “type scene” might be something like this: one evening while channel-surfing, you run across a movie already in progress. It’s obviously a Western with two cowboys standing about thirty yards apart in the middle of a dusty street. Each…
Romans 16:25-27
Advent 4B
Comments, Observations, and Questions We’re almost there. The journey is almost ended. Joseph and Mary are nearing Bethlehem; the manger is in view for us now. The long period of waiting is nearly over, so in this lectionary reading from the epistles we turn from eschatology to doxology. As the angels will soon fill the…
Matthew 25:31-46
New Years Day B
Sample Sermons Note: This text was also a Year A “Reign of Christ” lection about six weeks ago. So for this New Years’s Day service I am posting a full sample sermon of mine, a few portions of which I utilized some weeks back and so regular readers on the CEP site may have a…
John 1:(1-9), 10-18
Christmas 2A
Comments and Observations The Lectionary may get the last laugh here, and savvy preachers can curl up the corners of their mouths to join the mirth. Because here it is the first Sunday of a new year. For weeks now, starting well before American Thanksgiving even, it’s been all Jesus, all the time. The Muzak…
Ephesians 1:3-14
Christmas 2A
Comments, Observations, and Questions to Consider On this second Sunday after Christmas, I wonder how many children could answer the question, “What did you get for Christmas?” I’m guessing that some have forgotten at least a few of the many they received. Not me. When I was a kid, back when we walked three…
Luke 1:47-55
Advent 3B
Notes and Observations While this is obviously not what’s popularly called a psalm, it is Luke’s record of Mary’s song of praise to God upon learning that she’s pregnant by the Holy Spirit with Jesus. Since it’s quite familiar to most worshipers, those who preach and teach Luke 1:47-55 may want to think about some…
John 1:6-8, 19-28
Advent 3B
Comments, Observations, and Questions Among you stands one you do not know.” Those were John the Baptist’s words as recorded in John 1:26. Of course, at that time it was literally true that a quiet carpenter’s son from the backwaters of the Roman Empire was rubbing shoulders with lots of people—including the crowds that jostled…
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Advent 3B
Comments, Observations, and Questions After the heavy duty apocalyptic warnings and the stern commands of II Peter 3:8-15a, our reading for this third Sunday of Advent feels a bit lightweight, like a snow flurry of commands that don’t really fit the Advent season, except that our reading ends with Paul’s final reference in this letter…
Mark 1:1-8
Advent 2B
Comments and Observations Imagine yourself a Kindergarten teacher who gathers a group of wide-eyed five-and six-year-olds onto the square of carpeting in the classroom that is reserved for “Story Time.” You smile into their innocent faces and begin your story. “Once upon a time a little girl named Goldilocks was fast asleep in a lovely…
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Advent 2B
Comments, Observations, and Questions Our text for the second Sunday of Advent is a vivid reminder that Advent is not only about the coming of the “tender and mild” baby Jesus at Christmas, but also about the Coming of God in the terrifying Day of the Lord. Frankly, no one really wants to think about…
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