Living the Lectionary

John 3:1-17 The truth of “God so loved the world…” is diminished when we add conditional clauses that limit the ability of the wind of t...

Romans 8:12-17 I will admit I’m in hock to the flesh and cannot conceive a payment plan that will get me out of debt anytime soon. Based...

Psalm 29 Hills skipping and mountains bucking are not that pleasant when one is in close proximity. In the same way we prefer our forest...

Isaiah 6:1-8 The call story of the prophet Isaiah is filled with fanciful details that defy explanation. The hem of the Lord “high and li...

John 15:26-16:15 Pastor Kerstin Hedlund (Calvary intern and my former co-pastor) had a favorite phrase about preaching on a text like th...

Romans 8:22-27 When inward groaning anticipates the cry of new birth the joy anticipated is the hope that endures even if the labor is l...

Psalm 104:24-34 Psalm 104:20 is the basis of the “Come Holy Spirit” prayer of the Cursillo movement. “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts...

Acts 2:1-21 It is a lay reader's nightmare lesson and even those who wear the collar often tread lightly in the linguistic territory...

John 17:6-19 If  you've  read the other Gospels you might agree that John’s Jesus is less than human or if you won’t go that far you...

1 John 5:9-13 The trouble I have with texts like this is that they sound a lot like human testimony. There are those who are in and thos...

Psalm 1 We know the counsel of the wicked is nothing but trouble and lingering in the way of sinners is a dead end street and the seat o...

Acts 1:15-17; 21-26 I wonder if the church today would be okay with calling pastors, electing or appointing bishops, or even choosing th...

John 15:9-17 It is significant that this “status update” from servant to friend occurs in the Gospel of John. After all Jesus’ status wa...

1 John 5:1-6 The way faith conquers the world is not the way the world conquers. Despite the apparent militancy of “Onward Christian Sol...

Acts 10:44-48 Acts chapter ten begins with God telling Peter that shellfish is now in season and he is free to eat whatever he wants. To...

Psalm 98 A new song about marvelous things the Lord has done means before there was this song there were times that were less praiseworth...

John 15:1-8 What choice does a branch attached a vine really have? It  doesn't  choose to grow and it can’t control what nutrients c...

1 John 4:7-21 “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” You would think the church could get this right since the comm...

Psalm 22:25-31 Psalm 22 begins with a lament. “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” In the verses that follow human suffering is s...

Acts 8:26-40 The Ethiopian eunuch was well respected in the court of Candice but in Jerusalem he was denied access to the temple of the ...