Psalm 15 Sermon Commentary
Proper 11C
It’s quite the list. Is blameless (so commits no sin presumably) Does what is righteous Speaks the truth and so never lies Never slanders a neighbor or utters any kind of slur against anyone Despises the vile but honors the good Keeps promises no matter what it costs Gives interest-free money to the poor and…
Luke 10.38-42 Sermon Commentary
Proper 11C
As soon as I read this week’s text, I remembered the last person who was described as sitting at the feet of Jesus: the Gerasene man after the demons were exorcised (Luke 8.26-37). If there is a place to be that is good, it is at God’s feet. At his feet, we are people who…
Genesis 18:1-10 Sermon Commentary
Proper 11C
Divine Revelation Genesis 18:1-10 is a duplicate telling of the same information—a technique quite familiar to the reader of Genesis. Note, for example, the double telling of creation. Biblical criticism accounts for this through the naming of various narrative voices in Hebrew Scripture. Leaving that intensive evaluative technique aside for the moment, what we read…
Colossians 1:15-28 Sermon Commentary
Proper 11C
My maternal grandfather had to drop out of school after completing the sixth grade in order to help his widowed mother provide for his ten siblings. Yet while his formal education was limited, my Grandpa Steenbergen remained a lifelong learner. His almost insatiable appetite for learning made him a voracious reader. One of the books…
Luke 10:25-37 Sermon Commentary
Proper 10C
The story of the Good Samaritan is so ubiquitous that most of the world, Christian or not, knows it: we’ve used the title to describe people who put themselves in harm’s way or help out strangers in need. So how do we preach a text that is so familiar and is already being used in…
Psalm 25:1-10 Sermon Commentary
Proper 10C
Some years back I was a guest preacher at a local church and they told me that the service for that Sunday was going to be focused on education. They were celebrating that spring’s graduates in the congregation as well as noting the importance of running Christian day schools as in my Reformed tradition we…
Colossians 1:1-14 Sermon Commentary
Proper 10C
This is a fruitful season of the year in the world’s northern hemisphere. So my wife and I thoroughly enjoy watching freshly picked fruit and vegetables appear at our local farmstand. While most of our local strawberry plants have finished bearing fruit for the season, we’re now enjoying delicious peaches that have been harvested from…
Deuteronomy 30:9-14 Sermon Commentary
Proper 10C
Some bible verses should come with content warnings and I think this week’s Hebrew Scripture lectionary text is a good example. Sometimes Scripture puts promises in God’s mouth that do not match our boots on the ground experience of God. “The Lord your God will help you succeed in everything you do—in your own fertility,…
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…
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.