James 5:7-10
Advent 3A
[…] were a season that highlights those who can afford the luxury gifts for friends and family and those who cannot, it is (sadly enough) the Advent and Christmas season that does this in spades now. When in verse 7 James begins to counsel his fellow believers with patience and with the reassurance that God […]
Romans 15:4-13
Advent 2A
[…] whose actions betray the very heart of what Christ came to accomplish and the manner by which he accomplished it. In the church during Advent and at Christmas we sometimes give in to the wider culture’s desire to keep everything upbeat, cheery, merry, and twinkly. It seems like a bad time to address head […]
Luke 2:22-40
Christmas 1B
[…] draw together “an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us” (Luke 1:1) he meant business! And so in this lection for the Sunday after Christmas we find the intriguing story about old Simeon and Anna in the Temple on the day when Jesus was formally dedicated to God according to the […]
Hebrews 2:10-18
Christmas 1A
[…] would anyone have been able to pick him out of the other babies in the nursery? Would he have been the baby who, as we sing at Christmas, made no crying? If Jesus’ friends had been choosing sides for their soccer game, would they have known how to pick Jesus out of the pack […]
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Advent 4B
Comments, Observations and Questions: Verse 16 is a glorious refrain, especially in close anticipation of Christmas Eve worship (likely less than 12 hours away). “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” The preacher might well add, “If you want to hear more, I’ll see you […]
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Advent 1B
[…] our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is Advent language. This text can help us remember that Advent is not just about the first coming of the Christ at Christmas, but also about his second coming at the Parousia (which, of course, was the focus of the RCL at the end of this liturgical year). A […]
Isaiah 40:1-11
Advent 2B
[…] those of us who look at it without batting an eye. The Second Sunday in Advent brings us to another location that is at least as un- Christmasy as the First Sunday in Advent’s consideration of the day when all the cosmic lights will wink out as the Son of God prepares to return […]
Psalm 84
Proper 16B
[…] to which the psalmist refers at the end of Psalm 84. Illustration Idea A few years ago my family and I visited China. Our visit stretched over Christmas Day. As we strolled around an ancient walled city among people on whose lives Christmas Day seemed to make little impact, it hardly felt to us […]
Galatians 4:4-7
Christmas 1B
[…] So Paul spends almost the entire first four chapters of Galatians hammering away at the why and the how of this bad idea. On the Sunday after Christmas for which this Galatians 4 passage is assigned for the Lectionary, we have the opportunity to see in the birth of the Messiah the glorious conferring […]
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