preaching

With the Bible readings assigned for Proper 19A, the theme of our worship this week is repentance and forgiveness in the believing community. The passages hold out both the prospects of abundant reward from God where forgiveness exists and the deadly consequences where it does not.  In the Gospel reading from Matthew 18:21-35, we hear…

Following Matthew’s sequence of events, our Lord now returns to home base in Capernaum for a brief time before setting out for Judea and Jerusalem. In our worship, we come to the fourth major teaching discourse of Jesus in Matthew (18:1-35), this one directed to his disciples alone and centered on themes of humility toward…

At Proper 17A, we come to Jesus’ first prediction in Matthew of his crucifixion and resurrection, followed by the signature messianic teaching, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”   In Matthew, Mark and Luke (the Synoptic Gospels) there are as many as three…

Following the Gospel of Matthew in Year A, this week in our worship we contemplate another recorded incident of Jesus and his disciples while north of the Sea of Galilee; this time in the district of Caesarea Philippi, an important city in the region governed by Philip, the son of Herod, and a center of…

At this point in our walk with Jesus in the Season After Pentecost Year A, we are approaching the end of his ministry in the north (mainly Galilee) before he journeys south to Jerusalem and the cross.  The assigned Gospel reading out of Matthew 15:21-28 is the narrative account of Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite…

This week we continue walking with Jesus on the move in his ministry, now coming to Matthew’s account of the miracle of his walking on water. At mid-Pentecost in both Year A and Year B, the church assigns this Gospel reading to follow that of the feeding of the five thousand, “immediately” just as it…

At Proper 13A, following the Gospel of Matthew, we return to the trail of our Lord’s itinerant ministry in Galilee. The assigned Gospel reading is Matthew 14:13-21. Over the course of the three-year cycle, we hear the account of the feeding of the five thousand three times on a Sunday–once here, twice in Year B…

This week the church will have us finish overhearing the remaining parables in Jesus’ third major teaching discourse in the Gospel of Matthew. The themes of growth, value, and abundance in the revelation of the kingdom of God continue to be front and center in our Lord’s teaching.  The Gospel reading from Matthew 13:31-33,44-50 covers…

Following Matthew in Year A, we continue walking with Jesus in our worship and overhearing his teaching during the most prolific period of his earthly ministry. In the Gospel reading appointed for Proper 11A, Matthew 13:24-30, 34-43, we hear our Lord’s presentation and interpretation of what the disciples call “the parable of the weeds in…

In this early stage of Year A, with the Gospel of Matthew as our guide, we are walking with Jesus through the early stages of his ministry in Galilee. Starting with Proper 10A, for three consecutive Sundays, we will sit with the crowds to whom Jesus tells his parables focused on planting, sowing, and growth…

In Year A, having finished three consecutive weeks of Jesus’ hard instructions to his disciples going out on mission, the character of our worship in Proper 9A takes on a more peaceful tone.  The Gospel reading from Matthew 11:25-30 is a bridge assignment between the end of Matthew’s second teaching discourse and the third discourse,…

It is still hard going in this early stage of Pentecost Year A. Through the collect and readings assigned for Proper 8A, the church calls for worship, yielding faith in the face of opposition, even judgment of end-time proportions.  The assigned Gospel reading, Matthew 10:34-42, brings us to the third and final section of Jesus’…