Welcome to the season of bringing about God’s Kingdom Growth! The Lectionary begins the journey of challenging us again to live out the message and mission of Jesus that we have been remembering through the events of the Church Calendar so far. We hear themes of: the voice of God, the light of Christ, and...
When I think of the Triune God, I think of community and the invitation into radical transformation. What do you think of? Isaiah’s vision, with the triple “holy” of the seraphs, reveals how powerfully transforming a true encounter with the triune God can be. The psalm supports this with its celebration of God as king...
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Here it is, the Day of Pentecost, where the spirit descends and fills us with courage, clarity and purpose. But before we get into the nitty gritty, can we, for a...
As the Easter season draws to a close, the final challenge of this part of the readings, before turning to Pentecost, is for us to commit to Christlike holiness – which, as it turns out, is also a call to unity and community. Two themes: Holiness and Unity 1. Holiness: In Acts, the apostles seek...
The theme of love continues in the Lectionary this week, but the “one another” that we are called to love expands radically. In the Psalm all creation is called to praise God for the righteousness and justice that God brings to all people. In the Acts reading, Peter preaches to a group of Gentiles, with...
The heart of this week’s Lectionary is Jesus’ exhortation to “bear fruit”. There are two emphases in this call. The first is to “remain in” Christ – dwelling in deep, life-giving connection with Christ. The experiences of Philip, who is guided by God’s Spirit, and of the eunuch who comes to faith through Philip’s work are...
This week the challenge to live the resurrection continues. By combining the Good Shepherd metaphor with John’s call for love and Peter’s proclamation of God’s grace in Christ, the readings have some strong words for leaders, but also for all Christ-followers. God’s life is to be enjoyed as a priceless gift, but it is also...
If there was ever any doubt that God expects the resurrection to have an impact on how we live, this week’s Lectionary readings should lay it to rest. All of the readings are very clear that, because of God’s work in our lives, we should live differently, and we should be witnesses to God’s grace...
The Good News of Easter: Christ is Alive! The Easter celebration continues with the familiar upper room appearances from John’s Gospel. The surprising message of this week’s lectionary is one that is deeply needed in our world and our Church at this time. This second Sunday of Easter continues the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, but...
THEMES: The Power of the Cross: Resurrection—new life! This is the heart of the Christian message and what we are always called to witness to. This is the hope we have in Jesus being with us and going ahead of us. Death is stripped of it’s power and there is nothing that we can endure,...
