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Luke 15:1-10 Sermon Commentary
Proper 19C
Some parables are meant to be overheard by those who are not (apparently) the primary audience. As Luke frames these parables in chapter 15, there are two audiences: there are the Pharisees who are out on the fringes, sneering at Jesus for the bad company he was keeping at table. But then there were the…
Psalm 51:1-10 Sermon Commentary
Proper 19C
Some years ago a psychologist who works in Britain’s penal system described the startlingly loopy ways by which criminals attempt to sneak out from under their own crimes. He opened his article by reminding readers that in his pseudo-suicide note years ago, O.J. Simpson had the audacity to write, “Sometimes I feel like a battered…
1 Timothy 1:12-17 Sermon Commentary
Proper 19C
We’re heading into a number of weeks reading Paul’s advice and encouragement to his partner in ministry, Timothy. Timothy was Paul’s closest companion in ministry, his trusted confidante, his mentee, someone he trusted to do the important work of guiding the church. Paul trusted Timothy so much that he left Timothy with the embattled Ephesus…
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Sermon Commentary
Proper 19C
If our last reading from Jeremiah 18:1-11 offered a note of hope (and it did with that fourfold repetition of the little word “if”), there seems to be absolutely no such note in this reading. Which makes it a very tough text to preach today. Oh, if all we do is explain what the text…
Commentary posted on September 9, 2019
Proper 19C Sermon Commentary
The Proper 19C Sermon Starters include commentary and illustration ideas for Luke 15:1-10 from the Lectionary Gospel; Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 from the Old Testament Lectionary; Psalm 51:1-10 from the Lectionary Psalms; and 1 Timothy 1:12-17 from the Lectionary Epistle.
Related Reformed confession: Lectionary Psalm: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 7 (Lord’s Day 3)