Preface for Parents and Pastors Here’s a children’s sermon on Mark 1:40-45. It is actually the text assigned in the lectionary for the 6ᵗʰ Sunday after Epiphany. This year Easter came on the early side, so on Epiphany 6 we were already celebrating the Transfiguration. As I write, the coming Sunday is Pentecost. Since I’ve […]
A Children’s Sermon on Matthew 5:21-37
Developing a children’s sermon on Matthew 5:21-37 is challenging on two fronts. First, this passage is not a story. Second, it contains several distinct and difficult teachings. Here he talks about four separate kinds of law. I think it is wise to take just one topic for a children’s sermon. That leaves the question of […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year A, Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Matthew 5:21-37
Last week’s lectionary Gospel ended with a few verses that, in context, are actually an introduction to this week’s reading. In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus spoke about thelaw of Moses. He didn’t come to abolish it but rather came to fulfill it – presumably as part of his reconciling work, since we broken sinful people have […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year C, 6th Sunday after Epiphany, Luke 6:17-26
The Gospel text for the 6th Sunday after Epiphany (Luke 6:17-26) is familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. The heart of it is the “Beatitudes,” the seemingly winsome but then difficult and paradoxical declarations by Jesus of what makes a person “blessed” or, in some translations, “happy.” Matthew’s version is much more prominent in […]