December 30, 2007

Here are the readings for the First Sunday of Christmas and the last Sunday of 2007.

Isaiah 63:7–9

Hebrews 2:10–18

Matthew 2:13–23

Rod

Second Sunday of Advent

The readings for December 9, 2007 are

Isaiah 11:1–10

Romans 15:4–13

Matthew 3:1–12

Rod

December 2, 2007

This Sunday begins the new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent. Here are the readings:

Isaiah 2:1–5

Romans 13:11–14

Matthew 24:36–44

Rod

November 18, 2007

Here are the readings for this Sunday. We're getting down to the end of Year C.

Isaiah 65:17–25

2 Thessalonians 3:6–13

Luke 21:5–19

Rod

November 11, 2007

Here are the readings for this Sunday

Haggai 1:15–2:9

2 Thessalonians 2:13–17

Luke 20:27–38

Rod

November 4, 2007

Here are the readings for Sunday:

Habakkuk 1:12–2:4

2 Thessalonians 1:3–12

Luke 19:1–10

Rod

October 28, 2007

Here are the readings for Sunday:

Joel 2:23–32

2 Timothy 4:6–8

Luke 18:9–14

Pastor Rod

October 21, 2007

Here are the readings for Sunday:

Jeremiah 31:27–34

2 Timothy 3:14–4:5

Luke 18:1–8

October 14, 2007

Here are the readings for this Sunday:

Jeremiah 29:4–7 (Here's an interesting article by Tim Keller.)

2 Timothy 2:8–15

Luke 17:11–19

Rod

October 7, 2007

The readings for this Sunday are:

Lamentations 1:1–6

2 Timothy 1:1–14

Luke 17:5–10

September 30, 2007

Here are the readings for this Sunday:

Jeremiah 32:6–15

1 Timothy 6:6–19

Luke 16:19–31

Looks like we'll be talking about money this week.

Rod

September 23, 2007

Here are Sunday's readings:

Jeremiah 8:18–9:1

1 Timothy 2:1–7

Luke 16:1–13

These appear to be some difficult passages. Your input will be especially helpful this week.

Rod

September 16, 2007

Here are the readings for Sunday:

Jeremiah 4:22–28

1 Timothy 1:12–17

Luke 15:1–10

Rod

September 9, 2007

Here are this Sunday's readings.

Jeremiah 18:1–11

Philemon 1–21

Luke 14:25–33

The Jeremiah passage is actually saying the opposite of what most people think it is saying.

When I read Philemon, I wonder why it was included in the canon. What do you think?

Our current ideas about following Christ don't seem to have much in common with what Jesus is talking about. Where did we miss it?

Rod

September 2, 2007

Here are the readings for this Sunday:

Jeremiah 2:4–13

Hebrews 13:1–8

Luke 14:7–14

Rod

August 26, 2007

Here are the readings for this Sunday:

Jeremiah 1:4–10

Hebrews 12:18–29

Luke 13:10–17

Rod

August 19, 2007

Here are the readings for Sunday:

Isaiah 5:1–7

Hebrews 11:29–12:2

Luke 12:49–56

August 12, 2007

Here are the readings for this Sunday.

Isaiah 1:10–20

Hebrews 11:8–16

Luke 12:32–40

This is the word of the Lord!

August 5, 2007

Here are the readings for this Sunday.

Hosea 11:1–11

Colossians 3:1–11

Luke 12:13–21

Rod

July 29, 2007

Here are the Scripture readings for this Sunday.

Hosea 1:2–10

Colossians 2:6–15

Luke 11:1–13

It will be hard to avoid making my "first mistake" this week.

Rod

July 22, 2007

This week's readings are

Amos 8:1–12

Colossians 1:15–29

Luke 10:38–42

Which of these would you choose to preach about?

Rod

July 8, 2007

This Sunday I will be on vacation with my family. Instead of the normal guest speaker, I'm asking each person to come prepared to share his or her favorite Bible story and to tell why it is the favorite. For those of you will be out of town or unable to attend for other reasons, feel free to make your contribution in the comments.

God Bless,

Rod

July 1, 2007

The readings for Sunday are:

2 Kings 2:1–14

Galatians 5:13–25

Luke 9:51–62

Pastor Rod

June 24, 2007

Here are the readings for Sunday:

1 Kings 19:1–15

Galatians 3:23–29

Luke 8:26–39

June 17, 2007

The Scripture readings for this week are:

1 Kings 21:1–21

Galatians 2:15–21

Luke 7:36–50

June 10, 2007

Thanks for all the participation last week. It was very helpful.

Psalm 146

Galatians 1:11–24

Luke 7:11–17

Rod

Trinity Sunday

Here are the readings for June 3:

Psalm 8

Romans 5:1–5

John 16:12–15

The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most important and least understood teachings of Christianity. You can help me by listing misunderstandings and questions that people have about this issue. I would also be interested in analogies that you've found useful in understanding it.

Pastor Rod

May 27, 2007

Here are this week's readings for Pentecost Sunday:

Psalm 104:24–34

Romans 8:14–17

John 14:8–17

May 20, 2007

Here are this week's readings:

Psalm 97

Revelation 22:12–17

John 17:20–26

Rod

May 13, 2007

Here are the Scripture readings for Mother's Day.

Psalm 67

Revelation 21:22–22:5

John 14:23–29

Rod

May 6, 2007

Here are the readings for this Sunday.

Psalm 148

Revelation 21:1–6

Many possibilities here.

John 13:31–35

My guess is that I will focus on this passage, especially verse 34 & 35.

Thanks for all your input,

Rod

April 29, 2007

I'm finding your contributions extremely helpful. Keep up the good work. Here are this week's readings:

Psalm 23

Revelation 7:9–17

John 10:22–30

April 22, 2007

Thanks for the helpful input last week. Here are Sunday's readings:

Psalm 30

 

Revelation 5:11–14

 

John 21:1–19

April 15, 2007

Here are the readings for the Second Sunday of Easter:

Psalm 150

Revelation 1:4–8

John 20:19–31

Resurrection Sunday

Here are the readings for Easter.

It seems to me the purpose of an Easter sermon should be to help people to feel the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and to help them comprehend what that means in their lives.

Isaiah 12:2–6

1 Corinthians 15:19–26

John 20:1–18

April 1, 2007

Here are the readings for Palm Sunday.
Psalm 118:19–29

Philippians 2:5–11

Luke 19:28–40

March 25, 2007

Here are the readings for this week:

Isaiah 43:16–21

God says, “You’ve heard about all the mighty things that I’ve done in the past. But now I am doing something completely new.”

Philippians 3:4–14

Is it possible to know the power of Christ’s resurrection without sharing in the fellowship of his suffering?

John 12:1–8

Was Mary the only one truly understood Jesus’ mission?

Update: I'm struck by Paul's statement about "confidence in the flesh." I'm afraid we've put this into a box so that it no longer bites into real life. We talk about not earning our salvation. But what if we think about this as what we put our trust (or confidence) in.

In other words, do we really trust God? Or do we put our confidence in our 401(k)? There are many things that we put our confidence in rather than God. If we really trusted God for our future, for our happiness, how would our lives be different?

March 18, 2007

Here are the readings with a few comments to get you started.

Joshua 5:9–12
The manna stopped. What does that mean?

2 Corinthians 5:16–21
What does it mean to be "Christ's ambassadors"?

Luke 15:1–3, 11–32
Help me with a new angle on this parable.

Update: I think I will focus on the passage from 2 Corinthians. I see the theme of reconciliation as the key to connecting with our situation. We tend to emphasize individual reconciliation with God, but I think Paul has much more in mind.

March 11, 2007

Here are the readings for March 11. If you have any suggestions or comments please submit them.

Isaiah 55:1–9
I believe that this verse, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,” looks forward to the mystery that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:1–13
I think that “most” in verse 5 might be the key to this passage.

Luke 13:1–9
Last chance?

Wiki Comes to Church

Let's apply the wiki philosophy to sermon preparation. I will post the lectionary readings for the next couple of Sundays. Then you can contribute observations or suggestions to help shape the sermon I preach.

I am especially interested in any pop cultural connections to the themes of the Scriptures. If you see a link with a book or a movie, please explain that. You can add your own comments or reaction to a comment by someone else.

I can't promise to use everything that is submitted. But I will use all the comments as background for the sermon I finally prepare.

Pastor Rod

"Helping You Become the Person God Created You to Be"