Movies for Preaching
The Force Awakens (2015) & The Return of the Jedi (1980)
The Force Awakens (2015). Written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt. Directed by J. J. Abrams. Starring Daisy Ridley, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Adam Driver. 136 mins. Rated PG-13. The Return of the Jedi (1980). Written by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. Directed by Richard Marquand. Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford,…
Reading for Preaching
The Fruit of the Spirit
Additional content related to Fruit Of The Spirit
Ephesians 4:1-16
Controversy about how to faithfully respond to God’s grace continues to roil parts of Christ’s Church. It sometimes seems as if some of Jesus’ 21st century North American friends struggle to find our unity in anything but our Christian ethics. Quite simply, we spend a great deal of time arguing about and dividing over what…
Romans 8:22-27
It is a grace that patience is one of the Holy Spirit’s fruits. Otherwise patience would be in far shorter supply, if not non-existent in 21st century society. After all, in an age of things like high speed internet and microwave ovens, we just don’t get much practice at being patient. Is that a reason…
1 Timothy 1:12-17
21st century culture is not, by and large, a patient one. It easily becomes impatient with the slowness of its electronic devices. Its citizens avoid friends who take too long to warm up, and politicians who take too long to enact legislation. It’s not just the 21st century’s oatmeal that we want to be “instant.”…
Easter 5B: Fruitfulness or Productivity
Jesus says, “Remain in me as I remain in you.” To my mind, that’s one of the lousiest translations I can think of. It completely ignores the personal and spiritual dimensions of what Jesus is talking about here. In Greek, the word is menein. It’s one of the most important words in this whole gospel,…
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
It comes up repeatedly in our conversations with our Jewish friends and acquaintances. “How can you live without God’s law to guide your life?” The observant Jews we know and love can’t imagine living without the structure Torah gives them. “Doesn’t it lead to some kind of anarchy?” is one form of the questions they…
Luke 18:9-14
“I am so glad that Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, Jesus loves ME!” “How vast the benefits divine which WE in Christ possess!” “Blessed assurance, Jesus is MINE!” We sing such sentiments in church all the time. So before we get all squinty-eyed in regarding the Pharisee in Luke 18 as the quintessential spiritual…
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Ouch! We have been noticing recently that 2 Corinthians can be a hard letter to read. There is so much personal, professional, and pastoral pain in the background for Paul. But at the end of this Lectionary selection Paul brings the hammer down pretty hard: he is being perfectly loving toward the Corinthians—as he always…
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Most of Galatians can be summed up through a subtle reversal of a traditional saying: “Don’t just do something, stand there!” Paul has whacked and whacked away at the false teaching that infiltrated Galatia—the teaching that we can and must add something to the cross of Christ for salvation to be truly effective. Get circumcised,…
Preaching Connection: Fruit Of The Spirit