Living the Lectionary

Jeremiah 31:7-14; Psalm 147; Ephesians 1:1-14; John 1:1-18 This will be my 20th year in Texas, but even if I live here another twenty the t...

John 1:1-18 This is John’s Christmas story, minus the manger, Mary and Joseph, angels singing, shepherds adoring, magi gifting or even the ...

Ephsians 1:1-14 I couldn’t figure out what to say or even where to start with this passage that just goes on and on, so I gave up and thank...

Psalm 147:12-20 I don’t mean to dispute the accuracy of the scriptures but according to Israel-travel-trips.com “the weather in most of Isra...

Jeremiah 31:7-14 Jeremiah’s “great company” returning from captivity in the north includes the blind and lame, those with child and those i...

Isaiah 63:7–9; Psalm 148; Hebrews 2:10–18; Matthew 2:13–23 Some people welcome the temperature turning to a more “I’m dreaming of a white C...

Matthew 2:13-22 Herod, remembered by history as “the Great” for his architectural achievements, was also good at killing. His hit list incl...

Descent from the Cross, 1435 by Rogier van der Weyden(1399-1464) Hebrews 2:10-18 I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat and the begi...

Psalm 148 This is an “all God’s creatures got a place in the choir” praise the Lord psalm, though I’d rather not be included in the choir w...

Isaiah 63:7-9 The amazing thing to me is that this less than noteworthy nation on the world’s stage, even during its forty year golden age,...

Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7; 17-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25 I had a new massage therapist this morning who in that little bit of ch...

Matthew 1:18-25 Mary doesn’t need Joseph so why do we? It’s a fair question for a virgin birth. Is it just to provide cover once the baby ...

Romans 1:1-7 The letter to the Romans begins with a seven verse sentence all of which serves as preface to “grace to you and peace from God...

Psalm 80 Psalm 80 is a lament for the Northern Kingdom of Israel that in 722 BCE was conquered by the Assyrians. It started as a family feud...

Isaiah 7:10-16 Ahaz is weary of prophets getting in the way of his politics and so even the offer of a sign as high as the heavens and as de...

Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 1:46-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 Can it be Advent 3 already? I dimly remember a day when Advent took a month of...

Matthew 11:2-10 John is confused by what Jesus is doing, or more accurately, by what Jesus is not doing. One can imagine the questions that...

James 5:7-10 We’ve been patiently waiting for almost two thousand years. Of course every now and then people find a way to profit from pred...

Luke 1:46-55 This is the song of Zion, the song sung at the Christ’s conception, the song Jesus would sing with his life, the song that wou...

Isaiah 35:1-10 Isaiah 35 was written to the children of Israel in exile, weeping by the river of Babylon, tormented by their captors who dem...