Sermon Starter Help for RCL Year B 14th Sunday after Pentecost
Here are several sermon starters for RCL Year B 14th Sunday after Pentecost for 8/29/21 preaching. I’m on vacation this week.
Psalms
Bidding Prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent
Come, let us pray for the people of God here and everywhere. (People silently or out loud offer their prayers.) Bringer of peace and hope, we turn our hearts and minds to you. We see your people in need all around us, all around the world. You frequently remind us that all people are your … Read More
Recognizing Reality: The Stress of Pandemic
Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain. Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways. Psalm 119:36-37 Here we are on the brink of another church program year, a year very different from previous ones. With the possible exception of epidemiologists, none of us could have … Read More
Bidding Prayer for the Wilderness Journey
Come, let us pray for all those who worship the One who created all that is and loves the whole of the Cosmos.(silence or time for people to quietly give voice to their concernsEver-present, Creator God, hear our prayers for all your people, those who gather in the name of Christ and those who worship … Read More
Simple (and nearly impossible) Requirements
This post originally appeared on RevGalBogPals as the Revised Common Lectionary Post on January 28, 2020. I have been thinking a lot about discipleship these days. It’s not a word that progressive, predominantly white churches are all that comfortable with. Yet, with the lectionary moving from the Magi showing up to pay homage to Jesus … Read More
A Poem for the Year’s End
Jesus Replied (Luke 23:43) Year ends. God reigns whether we notice or not. Promises made long ago remain true – all are loved, all are valued, no one excluded. Advent draws near, calling us to pause and listen, watch, prepare, and begin again. The days are surely coming when all feet everywhere will travel in … Read More
Something about Bees, Glass, and Humility
Once again I find myself thinking about Peggy Way’s “fact of glass.” She uses this line, borrowed from a poem, to describe human reluctance to accept fragility and finitude. The poem, “Up Against It” by Eamon Grennon, describes the difficulties bees have sorting out this fact of glass. We humans have the same struggle with … Read More
A Confessional Prayer
Ever-patient God, Jeremiah’s ancient words stir within me You let truth tumble from his lips down through the ages to land on my restless spirit sour grapes are frequently easier to ingest than the word You would inscribe on my heart this troubling truth awakens desire in me yet do I reach for society’s sour … Read More
A Season of Lament
There is so little room for grief in western society, yet it is not something anyone can avoid. Today grief sits heavily on my heart. I’m returning home from a trip to my childhood home for the Celebration of Life for the woman who was often more maternal than my own mother. She had been … Read More
Psalm 82 for Today
RCL – Year C – Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 18, 2019Isaiah 5:1-7 with Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19Jeremiah 23:23-29 with Psalm 82Hebrews 11:29-12:2Luke 12:49-56 Photo: CC0 image by Ralph