Date: Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Texts: Genesis 12:1-4; Psalm 96; 1 Corinthians 7:17-24; Mark 5:1-20 Context: Something different this week.  I’m preaching in two small congregations in Northern Arizona on Sunday and the pastor serving them both is preparing a sermon for the previous Sunday (8/22) entitled Go When God Calls.  Since he’s setting… Continue reading Reading Ramblings – August 29, 2021

Date: Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 22, 2021 Texts: Isaiah 29:11-19; Psalm 14; Ephesians 5:22-33; Mark 7:1-13 Context: Whenever this reading from Ephesians 5 comes up I feel compelled to focus and preach on it because it is so misunderstood in our time.  The readings as a whole today have a theme of the… Continue reading Reading Ramblings – August 22, 2021

Date: Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost ~ August 15, 2021 Texts: Proverbs 9:1-10; Psalm 34:12-22; Ephesians 5:6-21; John 6:51-69 Context: Pastors are trained to interpret Biblical texts.  It ought to be a lifelong practice of not just personal reflection but also continued study in the art of exegesis, with reference to how others have interpreted the… Continue reading Reading Ramblings – August 15, 2021

Date: Tenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ August 1, 2021 Texts: Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 145:10-21; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:22-35 Context: In 2012 I noted how switching the Gospel readings to John 6 for the next three weeks provided a more in-depth reflection on the feeding of the 5000 we read a few weeks ago in Mark. While I… Continue reading Reading Ramblings – August 1, 2021

Date: Ninth Sunday after Pentecost ~ July 25, 2021 Texts: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 136:1-9; Ephesians 3:14-21; Mark 6:45-66 Context: God is the Creator of all things.  This means God is master of all things.  There is nothing that happens without God’s either direct will (the Flood) or permission (Job).  This is how we are to… Continue reading Reading Ramblings – July 25, 2021

Date: Eighth Sunday after Pentecost – July 18, 2021 Texts: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 23; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-44 Context: Just starting the reading at Jeremiah 23:1, we might be inclined to interpret the words as directed towards the priests as shepherds of God’s people.  However if you start at Chapter 21 you see this is… Continue reading Reading Ramblings – July 18, 2021

Date: Seventh Sunday after Pentecost ~ July 11, 2021 Texts: Amos 7:7-15; Psalm 85; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-20 Context: The Word of God often stands in stark contradiction to the rules of polite society or the transitory whims of human nature, not to mention the insistent rebellion of outright evil.  Speaking the Word of God… Continue reading Reading Ramblings – July 11, 2021

Date: Sixth Sunday after Pentecost ~ July 4, 2021 Texts: Ezekiel 2:1-5; Psalm 123; 2 Corinthians 12:1-10; Mark 6:1-13 Context: It remains my longstanding tradition not to preach sermons for secular holidays.  I don’t preach about dads on Father’s Day, or love on Valentine’s Day, or our nation on July 4th.  As such, I will… Continue reading Reading Ramblings – July 4, 2021

Date: Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, June 27th, 2021 Texts: Lamentations 3:22-33; Psalm 30; 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43 Context: The lessons for today don’t appear to work together very well.  The reading from Lamentations is a brief ray of sunlight in an otherwise very dark and sorrowful book.  The psalmist rightly directs praise to… Continue reading Reading Ramblings – June 27, 2021