Romans 5:1-5 Sermon Commentary
Trinity Sunday C
Hope is not just the name of my alma mater’s most heated rival. It’s also that without which no image bearer of God can truly live. While their hearts may beat and brains may still function, people who have no hope are, as Lewis Smedes once noted, basically walking dead people. Conversely even if their…
Romans 8:14-17 Sermon Commentary
Pentecost
No one should be surprised that the Revised Common Lectionary’s editors included Romans 8:14-17 in their “rotation” of Pentecost Sunday Epistolary Lessons. After all, on this Sunday on which the Church celebrates God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to all of God’s people, it speaks of the Spirit four times. In The Heidelberg Catechism Answer…
Romans 10:8b-13 Sermon Commentary
Lent 1C
In the United States across the last decade or so, partisan political divides have been more evident in society than has been true in a very long time. But it’s not just society. Christian congregations have been riven over such issues too. A recent study showed that during and after the COVID pandemic, many congregations…
Romans 8:12-17 Sermon Commentary
Trinity Sunday B
This is not an easy text for preachers who regularly follow the Revised Common Lectionary to preach on. After all, each year the Lectionary cycle includes at least part of it. What’s more, on what we call Trinity Sunday, Romans 8:12-17 doesn’t mention the word “Trinity.” In fact, its readers are left to deduce that…
Romans 8:22-27 Sermon Commentary
Pentecost
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…
Romans 4:13-25 Sermon Commentary
Lent 2B
It sometimes feels as if alienation, hostility and division flourish nearly everywhere we look. Hostilities that have turned violent between Ukrainians and Russians, as well as Israelis and Palestinians. Alienation between American Democrats and Republicans, as well as advocates for traditional and non-traditional understandings of human sexuality. Churches and denominations dividing over race relations, climate…
Romans 16:25-27 Sermon Commentary
Advent 4B
As I read and contemplated this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson, my mind drifted almost immediately to “famous last words.” But almost as quickly as it drifted there, it also sped to the realization that most people don’t remember many last words. Perhaps that has something to do with most last words’ content and focus. I plan…
Romans 14:1-12 Sermon Commentary
Proper 19A
Many English translations of this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson’ agree on the rendering of its first verb. They translate the Greek word proslambanesthe, as “accept.” However, the English Standard Version renders this word as “welcome.” Maybe it’s on to something. In chapter 14, Paul continues to explore the implications of Romans 12:18’s “If it possible, as…
Romans 13:8-14 Sermon Commentary
Proper 18A
Once again the RCL’s editors did preachers and our hearers no favors when they omitted some Scripture, in this case, Romans 13:1-7, from an Epistolary Lesson. After all, in severing this Sunday’s Lesson’s verse 8 from verses 1-7, they stripped away its theological and literary context. So preachers might seriously consider including Romans 13:1-7 in…
Sermon Commentary Library
Our weekly sermon commentaries are Lectionary-based, which across its three-year cycle, encompass a vast array of biblical texts. Filter the Sermon Commentary Library to search Scripture texts by book and chapter to find commentary, illustrations, and reflections to spark ideas.
Looking for something else? View our Heidelberg Catechism sermon resources and our Reformed Connections to the RCL section that traces Lectionary texts to specific parts of the Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgic Confession.