The Year D Project

Ash Wednesday

2012-02-22T15:20:00.000-06:00

Isaiah 57:14-21 Psalm 102John 5:1-18James 1:1-16 OR Ephesians 2:11-22 OR Galatians 1:1-24 CALL TO WORSHIP (see Isaiah 57:14-21) Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way. For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in

Transfiguration Sunday

2012-02-19T10:47:00.000-06:00

Job 36:24-37:24Psalm 11Matthew 8:5-13 OR John 4:43-54Jude (OR Hebrews 13:9-14, 17-25, if Transfiguration preempts Fifth OT) CALL TO WORSHIPThe LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind. For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.Listen, listen to the thunder of his voice and the

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time [Proper 3]*

2012-02-14T09:01:00.000-06:00

Job 36:1-23 Psalm 61Matthew 13:53-582Peter 3:1-7, 15-18 CALL TO WORSHIPSurely God is mighty in strength of understanding.Surely God does not despise any who are his. In his justice he gives the afflicted their right. His eye is ever on the righteous.He sets kings on their thrones and they are exalted. If they are bound and caught in affliction, he declares to them their arrogant transgressions.He

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time [Proper 2]*

2012-02-13T07:11:00.000-06:00

Job 35:1-16Psalm 119:(1-16) 17-32Matthew 7:13-202Peter 2 CALL TO WORSHIPBecause of their many troubles people cry out; they call for help for they are overwhelmed. Yet no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives strength in the night, who teaches us more than the animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’ Look at the heavens and see; observe the

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time [Proper 1]*

2012-02-12T09:41:00.000-06:00

Job 34:21-37Psalm 12Matthew 7:1-122Peter 1:1-15 CALL TO WORSHIP Jesus said, “Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine. For they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.”But direct your worship to the living God, whose promises are pure and who fulfills them perfectly. You, O LORD, will protect us; you will guard us from this

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time*

2012-02-05T08:13:00.002-06:00

Job 34:1-20 Psalm 28Matthew 6:7-15Hebrews 13:9-14 (15-16) 17-25 CALL TO WORSHIP If the LORD should take back his spirit to himself, and gather to himself his breath, all flesh would perish together, and all mortals return to dust.Blessed be the LORD, for he hears the pleas of his people! The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts! So I am helped, and my heart exults,

In which the Obama administration incites the Roman Catholic Church

2012-01-30T07:38:00.005-06:00

Evidently the diplomacy you reap is the diplomacy you sow, even on the domestic policy front. With 77.7 million Catholics in the US, this ham-fisted move has got to come as good news to the thinning field of aspiring Republican presidential candidates, no matter how messed up they get in the nomination process. I mean, Wow. UPDATE: Andrew Klavan writing for a different audience on the subject.

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time*

2012-01-29T14:18:00.000-06:00

Job 33:1-33Psalm 34:11-18Matthew 12:1-21 OR Mark 3:7-19 OR Luke 6:1-16Hebrews 12:(1-3) 4-17 CALL TO WORSHIP Come, O children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the LORD. For God speaks in one way, and in two, though people do not perceive it.In a dream, in a vision of the night, he opens their ears, and terrifies them with warnings. Thus, the LORD calls us away

Thanks for the review and a rejoinder

2012-01-22T20:04:00.009-06:00

Dr. Lucy Lind Hogan has reviewed my book, Groans of the Spirit, in the 2011 issue of Homiletic. First of all, let me say how much I appreciate her doing so. Book reviews require a serious investment of time, care, and consideration of someone's thought, and Dr. Hogan has given me a gift by simply reading and reviewing the book. This is no small task in light of the demands of the times and the "

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

2012-01-22T08:39:00.000-06:00

Job 32:1-22Psalm 89:5-18; 38-52Hebrews 11:(1-3) 4-7, 17-28 (39-40)Luke 5:27-39 CALL TO WORSHIP Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD? The LORD is a God feared in the council of the holy

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

2012-01-15T16:32:00.000-06:00

Isaiah 26:7-27:1 Psalm 109Hebrews 10:1-4, 10-14, 26-39Matthew 8:1-4; 9:1-8 OR Luke 5:12-26 CALL TO WORSHIP The way of the righteous is level, O Merciful God of Justice! You make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the soul’s desire. My soul yearns for you in

How about adding Christians in these countries to your congregation's weekly prayer list?

2012-01-09T07:14:00.000-06:00

With fifty more Sundays left in 2012, how about adding your brothers and sisters in these countries where Christians face the most severe persecution to your congregation's weekly prayer list? Perhaps you could not only pray for them, once per week, in the Prayers of the People, but also ask your members and prayer groups to make them the focus of their daily prayers and intercessions each week.

Baptism of the Lord/First Sunday in Ordinary Time

2012-01-08T16:00:00.000-06:00

Leviticus 16:1-34Psalm 69Matthew 14:1-12 Hebrews 9:1-28 CALL TO WORSHIP (Psalm 69:30-36)I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. Let the oppressed see it and be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive! For the Lord hears the needy, and does not despise

Epiphany

2012-01-06T10:39:00.000-06:00

Deuteronomy 4:9-24 (25-31) 32-40 Psalm 75 OR Psalm 761John 2:3-29John 5:31-47 CALL TO WORSHIP Glorious are you, O LORD our God, more majestic than the everlasting mountains! You, O LORD, are awesome, indeed! Who can stand before you when your anger is aroused?God is known in the land of Judah, his name is great in Israel.

The First Sunday of Christmas

2012-01-01T08:00:00.002-06:00

Genesis 14:1-24Psalm 110Matthew 8:14-34 OR Mark 5:1-20Hebrews 7:1-28 CALL TO WORSHIPBlessed be the God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, Who has delivered his enemies into the hand of his servant.Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has said to his only begotten Son, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your

"Running out of other people"

2011-12-25T23:58:00.002-06:00

One thing you cannot say about this sermon (of a sort) on Zechariah and Elizabeth from conservative demographer Mark Steyn is that it is "individualistic."

Two of the best Christmas songs you have probably never heard

2011-12-25T23:31:00.005-06:00

... or maybe just forgotten: Bruce Cockburn, "Christmas Song" Pat Metheny and Anna Maria Jopek, "Lulajze Jezunis (Polish Christmas Carol)"

How did I miss this?

2011-12-25T23:00:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure how I missed this BBC video on Dubuque, but here it is ... (just don't tell all the folks bailing out of ... you know ... elsewhere).

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T16:00:00.002-06:00

Isaiah 6:8-13 OR Jeremiah 10:1-16 (17-25) Psalm 35 OR Psalm 94John 12:17-19, 37-50Romans 11:2(b)-28 (29-32) 33-36 CALL TO WORSHIP The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens. They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction given by idols is no better than wood. They are worthless, a work of delusion;

Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T15:52:00.009-06:00

Ecclesiastes 7:15-29 OR Micah 7:1-20 Psalm 44Matthew 10:9-23 OR Luke 12:1-12Romans 3:1-22a CALL TO WORSHIPJesus said, “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.”You are my King and my God; you have saved us from our foes;In you we have

A Festival of Lessons and Carols

2011-12-24T09:28:00.006-06:00

A Festival of Lessons and Carols is a service that takes a considerable amount of coordinating with church musicians and readers. Amidst all the other seasonal demands, this liturgical orchestration can often feel burdensome, and in the process of attending to many details, certain other ones can be easily overlooked. Even though this service traditionally relieves the preacher of the

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T09:19:00.010-06:00

Ecclesiastes 5:1-20 OR 7:1-14 OR Ezekiel 33:23-33 Psalm 21Matthew 12:22-50 OR Luke 11:14-36 (37-54)James 1:17-27 CALL TO WORSHIP Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near and listen! Let us consider the work of God. Can anyone make straight what he has made crooked?God is in heaven, and you on the earth; therefore let your words be few. To draw near

More preaching resources for your Kindle

2011-12-19T19:02:00.000-06:00

Fourth Sunday of Advent

2011-12-18T08:05:00.004-06:00

Numbers 14:1-25 Psalm 144 John 3:22-38 Hebrews 5:11-6:20 CALL TO WORSHIP Blessed be the LORD, my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. Blessed be the LORD, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under the rule of his anointed one.O LORD, what are human beings that you regard them, or mortals that

The works of two great theologians recently called home

2011-12-16T18:23:00.005-06:00

John R. W. Stott (1921—2011) Donald Bloesch (1928 — 2010)