Acts 2:42-47
Easter 4A
[…] the world-changing significance of Christ’s Resurrection in Peter’s startling realization that God includes people from every nation in his covenantal embrace. Then we backed up to Peter’s Pentecost sermon, which reminds us of three things: the Easter message at the heart of the Christian faith, the Easter response we ought to expect as the […]
Acts 19:1-7
Epiphany 1B
[…] not explained how that prediction had been fulfilled already. Still stuck in the ministry of John the Baptist, perhaps Apollos had not declared the Good News of Pentecost. Paul adds to the confusion by asking what may seem a non-sequitur. “Then what baptism did you receive?” Was that merely an allusion to the fact […]
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
Easter 6C
[…] linked to the Roman “nation” that occupies it. Jerusalem remained a place to which the scattered Jews diaspora returned for major religious celebrations. So on the first Pentecost, for example, Jews from “nations” like Egypt, Libya and countless other parts of the known world came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Weeks. […]
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Lent 5A
[…] bones live? Jesus’ disciples were like the breathless bodies in our Old Testament lesson. They had flesh, bones and skin, but no real life. Jesus’ followers, before Pentecost, were largely afraid to speak the gospel. On the first Pentecost, however, God blew his Holy Spirit right into the dry bones that were Jesus’ followers. […]
Matthew 25:1-13
Proper 27A
[…] lives of disciples—no matter when they find themselves living. As we close out Ordinary time, the lectionary leads us through three of them, underscoring the season after Pentecost’s focus on everyday discipleship. In the parable of the ten bridesmaids, Jesus provides his eschatological aim at the very beginning, saying that the kingdom of heaven […]
Acts 5:27-32
Easter 2C
To my great surprise and delight, the RCL moves to the book of Acts on this Second Sunday of Eastertide and stays there until Pentecost. Clearly the intent is to follow the trajectory of Easter. What happened to the church and the world after Jesus rose from the dead? Did that single historical act […]
Not Every Spirit
A sermon preached for Pentecost at Eastern Avenue CRC, Grand Rapids, MI on May 27, 2007.
Psalm 5:1-8
Proper 6C
[…] focuses on the evil we commit ourselves, while Psalm 5 deals with the evil perpetrated against us. The other Old Testament readings for this fourth Sunday after Pentecost are vivid examples of such evil. In I Kings 21 we have the bloody story of Ahab and Jezebel committing murder in order to steal the […]
Acts 10:44-48
Easter 6B
[…] that faith may have been—they baptized. Whenever they could see evidence that the Holy Spirit had moved into the hearts of others just as assuredly as at Pentecost that same Spirit had taken up residence in their own (surprised) hearts, they baptized. They baptized people in towns where there was no faith community subsequently […]
Acts 10:34-43
Easter Day C
Easter (Special Days); Pentecost (Special Days); Easter (Church Seasons); Revelation (Theological Topics); Lectionary (Preaching and Worship Practice); Sermon (Preaching and Worship Practice)
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