Psalm 103: (1-7), 8-13 Sermon Commentary
Proper 19A
The first half dozen verses of Psalm 103 are familiar to some of us because a lot of churches use those words as the words of Thanksgiving following a celebration of the Lord’s Supper. At our church, the pastor reads the words and the congregation then echoes them. They are such fitting words following…
Romans 14:1-12 Sermon Commentary
Proper 19A
For millennia, Christians have professed Christ “will come again to judge the living and the dead.” But some of Jesus’ friends have struggled to reconcile that assertion with our profession of God’s saving grace. How and why, some of us wonder, will God judge those whom God has already graciously rescued? Earlier commentaries (https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2017-09-11/romans-141-12/ and…
Matthew 18:21-35 Sermon Commentary
Proper 19A
As we discussed last week, Peter’s question about forgiveness escalates as it personalizes the conversation about wrongs done against one another. Whereas last week intentionally sets accountability front and centre, this week forgiveness takes center stage. The two belong together. We might understand the parable as describing internal accountability: we have been forgiven and therefore…
Exodus 14:19-31 Sermon Commentary
Proper 19A
Illustration The story of the exodus is a potent motif for shaping the story of oppressed people. In the US context, we know this from the way the story was used in songs written by enslaved people. “Go down Moses and tell old Pharaoh, ‘let my people go.’” Harriet Tubman, who famously led hundreds to…
Psalm 119:33-40 Sermon Commentary
Proper 18A
A few weeks back, for the last Sunday in July, the RCL took us to a snippet of Psalm 119 (verses 129-136), and now here we are again – but this time verses 33-40. So to review all the basics: Psalm 119 is the longest of all the psalms clocking in at 176 verses. Those…
Romans 13:8-14 Sermon Commentary
Proper 18A
In this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson Paul continues his extended discourse on God’s call to love not just God above all, but also our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. In fact, while Romans 13:1-7’s treatise on Christians’ relationships with earthly authorities may seem to interrupt that discourse, it’s actually an integral part of it….
Exodus 12:1-14 Sermon Commentary
Proper 18A
Illustration Back-to-School season has evolved since my day. A trip to Walmart for a Trapper-Keeper and new colored pencils, maybe a special new outfit has been elaborated with specific first-day-of-school social media posts, maybe a clap-in at school, a “Blessing of the Backpacks” at church. None of it is wrong … it’s just become elaborate,…
Matthew 18:15-20 Sermon Commentary
Proper 18A
These are tricky times, full of cancel culture, rejection of woke culture, scandals and “rehabs” leading to readmittances—well at least for some. In times like these, how do we make sure we’re living the spirit of this passage rather than the literal letter of the procedure Jesus describes here? Looking at the textual clues around…
Exodus 3:1-15 Sermon Commentary
Proper 17A
From the banks of the Nile to a parched mountain (the literal translation of Horeb), we find Moses settled into the humble lifestyle of a nomadic shepherd just about as far from Pharaoh’s court as humanly possible. The King James tells us that, as the curtain rises on this scene, Moses is hanging out with…
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.