Genesis 12:1-9 Sermon Commentary
Proper 5A
Go! Have you ever been struck by the fact that this is God’s very first word to Abram? Go. Leave. Hit the road. Have you ever been struck by how unattractive this must have sounded to Abram at his advanced age? Why would he want to go anywhere? He had his home. He had established…
Matthew 9:9-13,18-26 Sermon Commentary
Proper 5A
Each of the main characters that interact with Jesus in this story go through a significant transformation that rewrites their future. They share the fact that they are all in need (whether they know it or not). And, they all seem to act with a simple faith that who Jesus is and what he says,…
Romans 4:13-25 Sermon Commentary
Proper 5A
This week’s Epistolary Lesson draws those who follow it back to the theme of, among other things, hope. It does so, however, not long after we contemplated it in an earlier commentary. While that may seem repetitive, any “reading” of 21st century culture suggests that hope remains in short supply. In fact, one might argue…
Psalm 50:7-15 Sermon Commentary
Proper 5A
In an episode of the original Star Trek series titled “The Apple,” the crew of the USS Enterprise visits a planet that is ruled by a god by the name of Vaal. One inhabitant of this planet named Akuta has what looks like a small antenna attached to his neck and it is through this…
Genesis 1:1-2:4a Sermon Commentary
Trinity Sunday A
Science has long been fascinated with both the cosmic beginning and its ending. Both involve a certain amount of speculation, though at least with the universe’s beginning there is real evidence to look at. But since the end has not yet come, there is no data to examine, and so theory and speculation are all…
Matthew 28:16-20 Sermon Commentary
Trinity Sunday A
As we begin Ordinary time with Trinity Sunday, we are reminded by Jesus’s closing words of God’s great promise and God’s great calling (or commission) for those who follow him. We know these words quite well; they have driven missions movements, been used in countless baptism liturgies, and closed many conferences, worship services and meetings….
2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Sermon Commentary
Trinity Sunday A
The Revised Common Lectionary invites those who follow it to observe the first Sunday after Pentecost as Trinity Sunday. So we’re not surprised that the RCL chooses part of 2 Corinthians 13 as its Epistolary Lesson. Paul’s second letter to Corinth’s Christians ends, after all, with what we sometimes call a “Trinitarian Formula.” However, there…
Psalm 8 Sermon Commentary
Trinity Sunday A
There is a sense in which Psalm 8 comes down to just one question asked of God by the psalmist: How in the world are you even able to see us at all? Dwarfed by and mystified by the expanse of a starry sky on a cloudless night and long before there was such a…
Acts 1:1-21 Sermon Commentary
Pentecost
It’s hard to remember a Pentecost Sunday on which the brokenness and division of the world into which God sent the Holy Spirit was on fuller display than 2023’s. So much pulls groups of people and nations apart that if people are to be united, something drastic must happen. Yet Luke begins his description of…
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.