Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 Sermon Commentary
Lent 1A
Illustration One of the most compelling recent apologetics for sin comes, ironically, from Francis Spufford’s book, Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense. Emerging from a long line of once-skeptical British intellectuals returning to Christian faith and finding that it does, in fact, “make surprising emotional sense.” In his second chapter,…
Romans 5:12-19 Sermon Commentary
Lent 1A
This first Sunday in Lent offers those who preach on the Revised Common Lectionary’s Epistolary Lesson a chance to proclaim the gospel through some theology about what Jesus came to do. By the power of the Holy Spirit it may even offer a chance to humbly present a corrective to several narrow emphases about the…
Matthew 4:1-11 Sermon Commentary
Lent 1A
Comments, Questions, and Observations What sort of place is the biblical motif of “wilderness” to you? I added biblical intentionally there because I live in a beautiful part of the world where wilderness is part of enjoying recreation and everyday life. If you’ve ever visited Egypt, Jordan, Israel or Palestine, and retraced the steps of…
Psalm 32 Sermon Commentary
Lent 1A
Although like most Woody Allen films the movie Crimes and Misdemeanors has more than a few comedic moments, in the end the movie is also quite chilling. The more comedic moments in the film involve a hapless documentary filmmaker named Cliff Stern (played by Allen). Cliff’s life is in some ways falling apart. His marriage…
Exodus 24:12-18 Sermon Commentary
Transfiguration Sunday
Worship Connection Transfiguration Sunday offers a bridge every year from Epiphany, the season of light, to Lent, the season of Ash. What light and ash have in common is fire, which creates both. Although the Transfiguration Gospel text from Matthew doesn’t name fire as an element in the Transfiguration of Christ, many of the images…
Matthew 17:1-9 Sermon Commentary
Transfiguration Sunday
There is plenty of reason for Peter and the other disciples to misread the situation on the mountaintop because there is a lot that is eerily reminiscent of key experiences from their people’s story. The legacy lives in their bones and even if they weren’t there, what happened at these holy places is carried in…
2 Peter 1:16-21 Sermon Commentary
Transfiguration Sunday
At first glance this Sunday may seem like a less than ideal Sunday on which to explore what its Epistolary Lesson has to say about the doctrine of inspiration. While, after all, the North American church generally pays little attention to Jesus’ transfiguration, this Transfiguration Sunday gives Jesus’ followers a chance to think about it…
Psalm 99 Sermon Commentary
Transfiguration Sunday
The Lectionary gives us two choices for a psalm lection on Transfiguration Sunday in Year A. Both Psalm 2 and Psalm 99 work the same side of the street in terms of celebrating God as the ultimate King and then also the kings of Israel in Jerusalem who are God’s chosen representatives, who serve as…
Isaiah 58:1-12 Sermon Commentary
Epiphany 5A
Because I prepare about a month early, I am reading these words against the backdrop of ICE raids, of terrorized people and extrajudicial killing in detention facilities and on the streets of Minneapolis. As I settled into my seat to review the text before diving into commentaries, I read these words and my body tensed,…
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.