1 Peter 2:2-10 & John 14:1-14. Micah Bales I love our gospel reading this morning. I think that the reason I love it so much because I used to despise it. As a skeptical young person growing up in Kansas, this passage from John was one of the Scriptures most often used as a weapon…
Category: sermon
WHO ARE “ALL”?
Matthew 25:37-40, Acts 2:42-47 Faith Westdorp In today’s reading we see the beginnings of the first church. Matt Skinner writes that this passage “describes a community of faith that operates in the power of God’s Spirit. The virtues of justice, worship, and mutuality are not accomplishments of extraordinary folk; they are signs of the Spirit…
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Luke 24:13-35, 1 Peter 1:17-23 Nathan Hosler Earth Day Sunday was last week. Though I wasn’t here (I’m going off the word on the street) I heard that while mentioned and in some manner included in the prayer time it was not a main theme. In the end, the point is to focus on…
NOW AND THEN
Psalm 16, 1 Peter 1:3-9 Jeff Davidson Sometimes the lectionary suggests passages that don’t seem to make a lot of sense. We’re just a week after Easter. You would expect that we should still be in celebration mode, shouldn’t we? You would think that we should still be shouting “Alleluia!” and rejoicing in the risen…
YEARNING FOR SUNDAY
John 20:1-18, Romans 6:1-14 Jenn Hosler A Saturday Vignette At the end of the meal, one of us stepped out. Judas was often heading in and out, so I assumed it was something with his duties as the keeper of the common purse. We didn’t think anything of it, I guess, but I wondered a…
THERE WILL BE NO TOMAHAWK MISSILES IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Philippians 2:5-11 & Matthew 21:1-11 Micah Bales Our gospel reading this morning is about Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, just days before he would be arrested and executed. Jesus is riding on a donkey, and the people are all around him. There were massive crowds in town for Passover, and Jesus’ arrival in the city…
LIFE – A RATTLING
John 11:1-45, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 8:6-11, Psalm 130 Nathan Hosler When I have read, or heard this passage from Ezekiel (the dry bones) I think I have typically envisioned of something like Halloween. It’s not that I have much experience in this subject—my family lived far from town with a driveway as long as two…
CIRCLES OF LIGHT
John 9:1-41, Ephesians 5:8-14 Jeff Davidson When I started working on this sermon I ran across this reflection from Dr. Rachael Keefe on her blog “Write Out of Left Field.” (https://rachaelkeefe.wordpress.com/) She’s writing in part about our gospel reading from John, and she says, “As for myself, I have been the recipient of social judgments….
GLORIFYING THE STRENGTHS GIVEN BY GOD, FOR GOD
Romans 5:1-11, John 4:5-42, Psalm 95 Emmy Goering I’ve just returned to D.C. after spending the last week in the Chicago area at the Brethren Volunteer Service retreat. There, I was able to get some much needed rest and was able to connect with the friends who I’d bonded with at our orientation. While we…
What is the Spirit of Life?
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17, John 3:1-17 Micah Bales Throughout his ministry, Jesus speaks of a mystery that can only be described in parables and metaphor. We heard a lot of these last month as we went through the Sermon on the Mount together. Jesus tells us that we are the salt of the earth. We’re the…
Washington City Church of the Brethren 