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…
John 16:12-15 Sermon Commentary
Trinity Sunday C
Even on the best of days, if ever anything counted as information that we “cannot bear,” the nature of the Trinity is one of them. The nature of the three persons and their union will forever be out of our reach, but at least we know that we will have some inklings about it because…
Psalm 8 Sermon Commentary
Trinity Sunday C
Some years back I was slated to preach a sermon from Hebrews 2 as part of the major annual Worship Symposium we have held for many years at Calvin University and Seminary. The portion of Hebrews 2 I preached on quotes Psalm 8 and applies some of the psalm’s language to Jesus. In particular it…
Proverbs 8 Sermon Commentary
Trinity Sunday C
Worship Idea: The lectionary offers a sermon series for the first month of the season of Pentecost, before it dives into the prophetic texts for most of the summer. These readings help us flesh out the gifts and attributes of the Holy Spirit. You could consider framing up a short series using the Hebrew Scripture…
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b Sermon Commentary
Pentecost
Let’s stipulate that the primary aim of preaching is not to condemn people or hurl about accusations and judgments. The primary aim of preaching is to proclaim the Good News that just is the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Even so, skipping over Psalm 104:35a as the Lectionary apparently would have us essentially do…
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…
Acts 2:1-21/Genesis 11:1-9 Sermon Commentary
Pentecost
The people of the earth have just been through it. The whole of their lives drowned in a flood. Because of their wickedness. And because God is a Holy God, God is not afraid to punish wickedness. But now that God has set the people on dry ground, they are still a little shook. So…
John 14:8-17 (25-27) Sermon Commentary
Pentecost
Though many of us return to Acts 2 for Pentecost, writing these gospel commentaries for the last number of years has made me appreciate the work of the Holy Spirit that much more. I mean, don’t get me wrong, flaming tongues are pretty cool to imagine—and a friend of mine once made a pretty rocking…
John 17:20-26 Sermon Commentary
Easter 7C
This section of Jesus’s lengthy prayer in John 17 is a good summary of the whole: it reveals the heart and intent behind the prayer, as well as what’s at stake. Given the fact that along with pastoring I’m currently working on a PhD in the History of Christianity, I consider myself someone a little…
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.