John 2:1-11 Sermon Commentary
Epiphany 2C
Every time the lectionary brings us back to this story, I appreciate the symbolic nature of Jesus’s miracle more and more. Perhaps it’s because I’ve lived another three years and had all the more time to experience the goodness of the Lord—that is, if I was curious enough to wonder where the good times came…
Psalm 36:5-10 Sermon Commentary
Epiphany 2C
Psalm 36 contains a striking line about God: “In your light we see light.” It is a curious turn of phrase, seeming very nearly tautological. What does it mean that we can only see light when we are in the midst of some other light? It may be a way of saying that we cannot…
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Sermon Commentary
Epiphany 2C
On this third Sunday in the year of our Lord, 2025 the RCL turns our attention toward the end of Paul’s first letter to the sometimes-contentious bunch of Jesus’ followers who live in Corinth. Hard on the heels of scolding them about some of their practices surrounding the Lord’s Supper the apostle directs his hearers’…
Isaiah 62:1-5 Sermon Commentary
Epiphany 2C
Embarrassingly Loved If you blush easily, prepare yourself for this week’s lectionary text out of Hebrew Scripture! After all the desolations of the early chapters of Isaiah, we saw the turn last week with Isaiah 43. Less than 20 chapters later, reading Scripture can feel almost like eavesdropping the sweet nothings of young lovers or…
Psalm 29 Sermon Commentary
Epiphany 1C
This is the Sunday to observe things related to the Baptism of Jesus and each of the four assigned Year C readings tie in with baptism. The Acts 8 passage is a little bit of an outlier in that no water is involved but instead baptism is mentioned even as the Holy Spirit gets poured…
Acts 8:14-17 Sermon Commentary
Epiphany 1C
While baptism is among the most central practices of the Christian faith, it also remains among Christianity’s most divisive issues. Baptism is one of the two sacraments that Protestant Christians recognize. Yet Jesus’ followers remain deeply divided about especially when and how it should be administered. It’s perhaps disappointing, then, that on this Sunday on…
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Sermon Commentary
Epiphany 1C
We’re well into the new year now. The decorations have come down, holiday breaks are over, life is getting back to normal and we’re all getting back to it. When it comes to Jesus’s ministry, Luke, it seems, also wants to get on with it: unlike Matthew and Mark and John, Luke puts Jesus’s baptism…
Isaiah 43:1-7 Sermon Commentary
Epiphany 1C
Illustration/Image: One of the blockbuster movies from this past holiday season for a movie adaptation of the musical, Wicked, the story of The Wizard of Oz as told by the “wicked” witch of the West. In both the original musical and this latest spin-off, the presence of the Wizard looms large. He is lauded with…
Ephesians 1:3-14 Sermon Commentary
Christmas 2C
On this Sunday on which most people stand just inside the doorway to a new year, many of us naturally look ahead to the future. 2024 is already to many of us “so last year.” We’re ready to seize the moment and plunge ahead. But Ephesians 1 invites Jesus’ friends to slow down enough 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.