Ephesians 2:11-22
Proper 11B
[…] hope, but also without God. It’s a bleak picture that resonates with some 21st century experiences. Epidemics of despair are perhaps even more contagious than that of COVID-19. While even God’s adopted children struggle with them, Paul might argue that those epidemics are particularly endemic among those outside the adopted family of God. Those […]
Romans 10:5-15
Proper 14A
[…] we should listen to learn about our salvation from these and other problems. I hear, for example, countless voices proclaim that “only science can save us” from COVID-19. Christians profess that while God often uses science to richly bless us, salvation of all sorts comes from God alone. Yet how would anyone know that […]
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
Easter 3A
[…] Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” came to her life’s end eventually too. Everyone does. And for all of us who manage to not die of COVID-19 (whether we contract the virus and recover or dodge it altogether) we may be able to sing Psalm 116’s praises to God eventually but we will […]
Romans 6:1b-11
Proper 7A
[…] blood. In baptism God reminds and assures us that Christ’s blood is even more effective at washing away sins than soap and water is at washing away COVID-19 particles. So, for instance, in I Corinthians 1:12-13 Paul points a divided church to its baptism. “How can you possibly claim that you belong to Paul […]
1 Peter 2:2-10
Easter 5A
[…] shown you and me great mercy so that we can, in turn, show great mercy to others. So God’s priests pray, “Lord, bless those people who have COVID-19 or are adversely affected by this pandemic. Help those who are caring for and about its various victims. Be merciful to people who must make complex […]
Psalm 8
Proper 22B
[…] our devices and screens to focus on what is really important in life. There has been precious little anyone has found to be remotely good about the COVID-19 pandemic. And if anyone had told us during the early lockdown days in April of 2020 that 2,000 Americans would still be dying of a new […]
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Proper 28A
[…] God whose grace we’ve received with our faith. That hope that we nourish, however, isn’t tentative like, for instance, our hope that we’ll develop a vaccine for COVID-19 before Christmas. We know that God will give us what we hope for because it’s based, as Paul goes on to write in verses 9-10, on […]
1 Peter 1:3-9
Easter 2A
[…] walking through as religious extremists extensively and repeatedly persecute them. But it isn’t just overseas Christians who suffer grief in all kinds of trials. While the suffering COVID-19 imposes certainly isn’t unique to Christians, the pandemic and all of the uncertainty that clings to it are affecting Jesus’ followers. Think too of what family […]
John 17:1-11
Easter 7A
[…] message to preach at all times and at any time. But as many of us continue in a time of social distancing and isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, can we preachers stress strongly or often enough how wonderful it is to know we are never alone. We cannot social distance from the God […]
John 14:15-21
Easter 6A
[…] preachers were about as passionate as a CPA doing a dreary tax audit. That would be an unhappy prospect at any time. But in this time of COVID-19 pandemic, dry sermons on this text would be not just unfortunate but downright tragic. Homiletical malpractice and all that! Because sunk right into the middle of […]
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