Home »
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Advent 3B
After the heavy duty apocalyptic warnings and the stern commands of II Peter 3:8-15a, our reading for this third Sunday of Advent feels a bit lightweight, like a snow flurry of commands that don’t really fit the Advent season, except that our reading ends with Paul’s final reference in this letter to “the Parousia […]
Advent 1: At That Time
[…] try to answer a couple of questions. First, how should we understand a passage like this one? Second, why does church tradition always begin the Season of Advent with dark passages like Luke 21? In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, just prior to his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus delivers apocalyptic sermons like the one before […]
Advent 1: God’s Hopeful Story
[…] that don’t easily give way to the holly jollies of the season. And we hear deep in our hearts a note of ambivalence, if not downright cynicism. Advent is here! Advent is the church’s unique and important penitential season before Christmas. What is so very important about it is that it delivers us from […]
Psalm 126
Advent 3B
On this third Sunday of Advent the Lectionary directs our attention to the third post-Exilic Psalm in a row (see previous articles on Psalms 80 and 85). Each of these three is focused on the word “restore.” But in Psalm 126 the tone is decidedly different than Psalms 80 and 85, where there was […]
Advent 1A: The Days of Noah
[…] await. And that is why an apocalyptic text from the four Gospels is always the text the church has traditionally turned to for the First Sunday in Advent. Even as we gear up to anticipate and look forward to a celebration of Christ’s first advent or arrival in Bethlehem, we look forward with equal […]
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Advent 1C
Comments and Observations We would never guess that this reading is an Advent text, until we come to the last words of verse 13, where the coming (Greek, parousia) of the Lord Jesus is mentioned. Before that word, everything is very commonplace. Paul is writing about everyday life, particularly about the love he has […]
Advent Resources Year B
Advent – Year B A collection of Advent resources and Christmas resources including sermon ideas, whole sermons, sermon series ideas, and more. Home » You searched for Advent Advent Resources 2023 Quick Links First Sunday in Advent, December 3, 2023 Second Sunday in Advent, December 10, 2023 Third Sunday in Advent, December 17, […]
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Advent 1B
[…] the Revised Common Lectionary were thinking when they chose the texts for the three year cycle. I mean, take the reading for today, the first Sunday of Advent. It is the very same text the RCL used for the second Sunday of Epiphany in this same year. Come on, people. Surely, there are other […]
Advent 2A: Advent Disappointment
[…] that were all the rage some while back. Crossan asserted that what explains this fundamentalist and evangelical fervor for Jesus’ second coming is disappointment over his first advent. Despite all the enthusiasm with which Christians have always celebrated Easter and the like, when Jesus left this earth, the people who had crucified Jesus were […]
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Advent 3B
Comments, Observations, and Questions After the heavy duty apocalyptic warnings and the stern commands of II Peter 3:8-15a, our reading for this third Sunday of Advent feels a bit lightweight, like a snow flurry of commands that don’t really fit the Advent season, except that our reading ends with Paul’s final reference in this […]
Search Results: Advent