Commentary posted on December 21, 2020

Christmas 1B Sermon Commentary

The Christmas 1B Sermon Starters include commentary and illustration ideas for Luke 2:22-40 from the Lectionary Gospel; Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3 from the Old Testament Lectionary; Psalm 148 from the Lectionary Psalms; and Galatians 4:4-7 from the Lectionary Epistle.

Related Reformed confession: Lectionary Epistle: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 36 (Lord’s Day 14)

 

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Luke 2:22-40 Sermon Commentary

Christmas 1B

It’s amazing how much detail Luke gives us.  If Luke were a movie, it would have been directed by Cecil B. DeMille with a cast of thousands and long, lingering scenes on most every situation imaginable.  The Gospel of Mark by comparison is like a PowerPoint presentation where the presenter goes way too fast through…

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Psalm 148 Sermon Commentary

Christmas 1B

Some years back at a worship service we used St. Francis of Assisi’s poem “Canticle of the Sun” as part of a responsive reading.  There was, alas, a slight typo in the bulletin that made it sound at one point as though we were worshiping Mother Earth.  This led a rather conservative member of my…

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Galatians 4:4-7 Sermon Commentary

Christmas 1B

Simeon, Luke tells us, “was waiting for the consolation of Israel.” However, most of us don’t like to wait. In fact, nearly every year at Christmastime my wife and I have a quiet debate about waiting. It’s not about how long to wait to buy Christmas presents or put up our Christmas tree. Our annual…

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Isaiah 61:10-62:3 Sermon Commentary

Christmas 1B

If we can successfully deal with a couple of problems in this Lectionary reading, we can preach a sermon on it that will address a perennial and painful question on this First Sunday after Christmas. The first problem is the same one we stumbled upon two Sundays ago when we focused on Isaiah 61:1-3 and…

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