This week I am amazed to have reached Thursday night without posting for you my “Monday Meditation.” Well, I’ve never had a week quite like this. Saturday morning, at a synagogue maybe a mile from my home in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, a man armed with an assault rifle and several handguns came in and […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year B, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, John 6:56-69
Since Jesus was God in the flesh, he must have been able to see into the future — right? But can we reasonably think that in this week’s lectionary Gospel he was gazing forward into 21st century American Christianity and trying to tweak every branch of the Church simultaneously? I know: That’s a bit absurd. […]
Letters to a Young Pastor: The Children’s Sermon — Is it Gospel?
Dear ______: Thanks for asking me to clarify. I said something about how children’s sermons often reveal a preacher’s real theology, for good or for ill. I suspect it is because pastors do not think of the children’s sermon as a sermon. They think of it more as a conversation. If they have a warm, […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year B, 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mark 3:20-35
The Gospel for the 10th Sunday in Ordinary time (Mark 3:20-35) is what I think of as a “sandwich” passage. A Mark 3:20-35 Sandwich There are two stories, more or less related, but instead of putting them one after the other (as was the case last week), one story is split in two like slices […]
Letters to a Young Pastor: The Children’s Sermon — Is it True?
Dear ______: I do think you’ll be well on your way to a solid children’s sermon if you take up my challenge to make it one salient point from the text you are preaching to the grown-ups. But that isn’t the whole journey. You still need to work hard at finding kid-friendly ways to get […]
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