Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16 Sermon Commentary
Proper 9C
This Sunday brings us to the end of the Revised Common Lectionary’s very brief tour of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Galatia. The epistle’s tone is among the strictest if not harshest of all the Pauline letters. Yet the apostle ends it with verse 18’s “The grace [charis*] of our Lord Jesus Christ be…
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Sermon Commentary
Proper 9C
These words are utterly familiar and yet so few of us (myself included) actually take up the fullness of the call that Jesus gives to the seventy in this passage. Do we even take it up in part? Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem and he commissions pairs of his followers to go out…
Psalm 66:1-9 Sermon Commentary
Proper 9C
To read Psalm 66 while bombs are dropping in Israel, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, and maybe other places is an odd, disconcerting experience. “All the earth bows to you, they sing the praises of your name.” Really? “His eyes watch the nations, let not the rebellious rise up against him.” Is God just watching, just observing? …
2 Kings 5:1-14 Sermon Commentary
Proper 9C
How status works: The kings in this story set up a stark distinction. First, the narrator highlights the king of Aram’s many and great military victories. Ordinarily, this is an ancient near-eastern literary device to demonstrate, according to the CEB Study Bible “that a country’s gods were able to give victory to their people in…
Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Sermon Commentary
Proper 8C
Our three sons are taller than my relatively tall wife and me. They range in height from about 6’2 to 6’6. So it can be challenging for us to walk with them. When our sons are walking with purpose, they walk far faster than my wife and I do. They, in fact, must often slow…
Luke 9:51-62 Sermon Commentary
Proper 8C
These two discipleship scenarios are an interesting pair. On the one hand, the first scene depicts matters post-decision to follow Jesus. In the other, we have a series of stumbling blocks to saying yes. Going a little deeper than connecting them as discipleship stories, these two scenarios say something about how we are disciples of…
2 Kings 2:1-14 Sermon Commentary
Proper 8C
Illustration: I am a younger sister. My brother is five years older than I, which meant two things: I thought he was the coolest and he got to do a lot of things I wasn’t allowed to do yet. Which means I know what it feels like to get left behind, envious of the great…
Psalm 16 Sermon Commentary
Proper 8C
We have all seen the latter portion of Psalm 16 used at Christian funerals. It gets printed on the memorial folder or the funeral service bulletin. Or we preachers are asked to base our funeral sermon on Psalm 16, especially verses 9-11. And we have occasionally seen verse 9b engraved on headstones at the cemetery. …
Galatians 3:23-29 Sermon Commentary
Proper 7C
Some advertisements thrive on presenting various “before-and-after” scenarios. Diet pills and plans like to place side by side pictures of people who were overweight before they went on their regimen but looked healthier after they completed it. Remodelers and others also employ pictures of kitchens before and after they did their work in order to…
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.