Psalm 130 During this pandemic it seems appropriate to stick with the Psalms again this week. The psalm appointed for Sunday is Psalm 130: “Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord ...” Out of the depths—isn’t that where [...]
Psalm 23 “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me.” Almost everybody recognizes Psalm 23. “The LORD is my shepherd...” It shows up in the lectionary for this Sunday. [...]
John 4:5-42 In this week’s Gospel lesson a woman Jesus meets in Samaria learns that all the secrets she thought she had were already known. We call her “the woman at the well”—as in the gospel song I’d just as soon forget [...]
John 3:1-17 I remember learning in high school that we could find the message of the whole Bible in just one verse, John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in [...]
Matthew 4:1-11 This is the first Sunday in Lent, and so it’s not surprising that the Gospel lesson would be about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. When we hear this story, it helps us be patient with our own temptations. We know [...]
Service for Ash Wednesday (online here) The very name for this day focuses on “the imposition of ashes”—the moment where the minister dips a thumb into the ashes and traces the sign of the cross on the worshipper’s forehead. It can be [...]
Matthew 17:1-9 This Sunday is the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany. That means among other things that many of us will be singing lots of alleluias, because the word "alleluia" is one of those things that we give up for [...]
Matthew 5:21-37 This Gospel lesson is daunting. Jesus says that we fall short of God's reign if even our most trivial-seeming thoughts and attitudes fall short of mutual love. (Lust, for example, falls short of mutual love; it’s a selfish desire to [...]
Isaiah 58:1-12 The season of Lent is approaching, though still several weeks away. (As a kid, when I first heard the word “Lent,“ I thought people were talking about laundry—I soon learned otherwise.) But one of our readings for this week puts [...]
Luke 2:22-40 Ordinarily this Sunday would be the fourth Sunday in Epiphany. But today, February 2, is also a major feast of the Church. No, I don’t mean Groundhog Day; I mean The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. In the Gospel [...]