When you should apologize -- and when you shouldn’t
Church leader, when someone is upset with you or with something that has happened in the ministry, should you apologize? Sometimes.
Frederick Buechner's Weekly Sermon Illustration: He Will Strengthen You
In our blog post every week we select a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, and pair it with a Frederick Buechner reading on the same topic. Next Sunday we will celebrate the Second Sunday after Epiphany. Here is this week’s reading from 1 Corinthians 1:1-9...
Lance Moore: Preaching on Quantum Physics?
Quantum Theory seeks big cosmic truths by looking at the nature of the tiniest sub-atomic particles, which sometimes act in paradoxical ways. Can this speak to our view of God in the postmodern era?
Frederick Buechner Sermon Illustration: Lord of All
In our blog post every Monday we select a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, and pair it with a Frederick Buechner reading on the same topic. Here is his comment on Acts 10:34-36...
Frederick Buechner - Heaven - A Meditation for New Year's Day
Today we celebrate New Year’s Day. Here is this week’s reading from Revelation 21:1-6a and an excerpt by Frederick Buechner...
Frederick Buechner Sermon Illustration - Word
In our blog post every Monday we select a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, and pair it with a Frederick Buechner reading on the same topic. Next Sunday we will celebrate the Second Sunday after Christmas. Here is this week’s reading from John 1:1-14...
Frederick Schmidt: Four Models of Ministry
This is about four ways of thinking about the priesthood and the ways in which you are implicated. Spoiler alert. Three of them are only part of the picture. The fourth and last way of thinking about this service makes sense of all the others.
Frederick Buechner: A Face in the Sky - Christmas Day
The following Christmas day sermon, entitled “The Face in the Sky,” was originally delivered to Buechner’s students when he was Director of the Religion Department at Phillips Exeter Academy. Here it is for your enjoyment...
Frederick Buechner Sermon Illustration - Herod the Great (1st Sunday after Christmas)
In our blog post every Monday we select a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, and pair it with a Frederick Buechner reading on the same topic. Next Sunday we will celebrate the First Sunday after Christmas. Here is this week’s reading from the gospel of Matthew...
Bishop Michael Curry's Christmas Message: The Light Shines in the Darkness
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it,” Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop and Primate Michael Curry says in his Christmas Message 2019.
Henry Brinton: Service of the Longest Night and the challenge of ACEs--Adverse Childhood Experiences
My congregation will offer a Service of the Longest Night, sometimes called Blue Christmas in other traditions. It's focused on the pain and hurt that many people feel during the holiday season. Gatherings like these are times to acknowledge grief, loss and ACEs: Adverse Childhood Experiences.
Frederick Buechner's Weekly Sermon Illustration: Emmanuel
The following Christmas article, entitled “Emmanuel,” was originally solicited then turned down by The New York Times Magazine for being “too theological.” Here it is for your enjoyment: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us). --Matthew 1:23...
Frederick Buechner's Weekly Sermon Illustration: Advent 3: Be Patient
In our blog post every Monday we select a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, and pair it with a Frederick Buechner reading on the same topic. Next Sunday we will celebrate the Third Sunday in Advent. Here is this week’s reading from James 5:7-10
Bishop Elizabeth Eaton: Midnight Stillness
Advent—a season of expectation. God is up to something. We are urged to watch and wait. “Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’” (Isaiah 40:9). “At midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him’” (Matthew 25:6).
David Crumm Interviews Peter Wallace: Rediscovering the Emotions of Jesus in ‘Heart and Soul’
ReadtheSpirit.com editor David Crumm interviews Day1 host Peter Wallace about the new book he edited, "Heart and Soul: The Emotions of Jesus," by Robert Law. Plus Duncan Newcomer offers his insight on the book and its provocative topic.
Frederick Buechner's Weekly Sermon Illustration: John the Baptist
In our blog post every Monday we select a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, and pair it with a Frederick Buechner reading on the same topic. Next Sunday we will celebrate the Second Sunday in Advent. Here is this week’s reading from Matthew 3:1-12...
Peter Wallace: How to Spend 30 Days with Abraham Lincoln - Foreword to the New Book
Recently we presented an interview of Duncan Newcomer--author of the new book "30 Days with Abraham Lincoln"--by David Crumm. Day1 host and producer Peter Wallace wrote the foreword to the book, and here it is.
Frederick Buechner's Weekly Sermon Illustration: Advent
In our blog post every Monday we select a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, and pair it with a Frederick Buechner reading on the same topic. Next Sunday we will celebrate the First Sunday in Advent. Here is this week’s reading from Matthew 24:44...
ReadtheSpirit.com: The Hope of Unity on Our National Day of Thanksgiving, 2019
As bad as our national divisions are today, they were far worse in October of 1863. Duncan Newcomer writes in his newly released 30 Days with Abraham Lincoln about what the founder of Thanksgiving, Abraham Lincoln, found to unify a bleeding nation.
Frederick Buechner's Weekly Sermon Illustration: Reign of Christ (Psalm 46)
In our blog post every Monday we select a reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday, and pair it with a Frederick Buechner reading on the same topic. Next Sunday we will celebrate the Reign of Christ. This week's reading is Psalm 46:10a...