Frederick Buechner Sermon Illustration: Messiah (Acts 3:12-19)
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 of Easter. Here is this week’s reading from Acts 3:12-19...
Dr. Raj Nadella: Preaching Thomas and Embodied Solidarity (John 20:19-29)
In the story of post-resurrection appearances in John 20, Thomas seems to ask for proof of Jesus’s resurrection. But was he also asking for something else?
Nathan Kirkpatrick: Greeting our return when the old is gone and the new is here
As we resume in-person ways, churches are uniquely equipped to welcome people back, writes a managing director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.
Greg Cootsona: In Praise of John Polkinghorne - Science for the Church
The Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne, an internationally recognized mathematical physicist who stepped down in his late forties from a Cambridge University professorship to become an Anglican priest, will undoubtedly remain a preeminent voice in faith and science. He died March 9th at age 90.
Walter Brueggemann: Solidarity that Counts: Second Sunday of Easter (Psalm 133; Acts 4:32-35)
Easter is the good news that God’s power for life has defeated death; this is matched by the good news that God’s power intends the defeat of poverty.
Frederick Buechner Sermon Illustration: Thomas (John 20:19-29)
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 of Easter. Here is this week’s reading from John 20:19-29...
Bishop Michael Curry's Easter Message: Hallelujah Anyhow
Our work goes on. Our labor for love continues. We will not cease, and we will not give up until this world reflects less our nightmare and more God’s dream where there’s plenty good room for all God’s children. Hallelujah anyhow.
Drew Rick-Miller: Signs of New Life - Science for the Church
New life, like resurrection, is a theme for Easter and every other Sunday of the year. We proclaim it at baptism, we preach it to motivate folks to come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior, we celebrate it whenever we see it, and we offer it as balm to those facing difficult and dark days.
Frederick Buechner Sermon Illustration: Easter (Matthew 28:1-10)
Next Sunday we will celebrate Easter. Here is some commentary by Frederick Buechner from this week’s reading from Matthew 28:1-10...
Frederick Buechner's Special Sermon Illustration for Good Friday (John 19:28-30)
On April 2, 2021 we will observe Good Friday. Here is a sermon illustration from Frederick Buechner based on a reading from John 19:28-30...
Frederick Buechner Special Sermon Illustration for Maundy Thursday: The Lord's Supper
On April 1, 2021 we will observe Maundy Thursday. Here is a sermon illustration from Frederick Buechner based on 1 Corinthians 11:23-26...
Drew Rick-Miller: Mangoes from Heaven - Science for the Church
Many conceptions of missionaries focus on the Great Commission, the teaching of the Christian Scriptures and faith, and truth be told, quite a bit of colonialist baggage. Missionaries I have known live out the Great Commission and the Great Commandment by both showing and telling God’s love.
Dr. Mary Foskett: Invisibility Is No Longer an Option
Many of us have been overwhelmed this week by a lifetime of painful memories and trauma flooding our minds and breaking our hearts.
Walter Brueggemann: Beyond the Spreadsheet
The linkage between the God of the Gospel and economics is deep, wide, and inescapable. One cannot have the God of the Gospel without the neighborly economy willed by the God of the Gospel.
Frederick Buechner Sermon Illustration: The Truth of Stories (Mark 15:2-5, John 18:33-38)
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 Palm Sunday. Here is this week’s reading from Mark 15:2-5...
Jessica Gulseth: A Year Later, Who Are We?
Lately I’ve wondered, after this year, who am I now? What has changed in and around me? Not to spoil the ending here, but I’m going to ask you the same questions. But first, here’s what I’ve been curious about as I reflect on this question.
Susan Sparks: Just Keep Swinging!
If Jesus came back, I think he would return as the late, great Hank Aaron.
Ellen Raffety: Lenten Hope in a Pandemic
My point is not just that hope and disability can coexist, but that experiences of pain, uncertainty, and disability cultivate a different, faithful kind of hope that we Christians need.
Greg Carey: The Bible and Ethics
Naturally, we Christians turn to the Bible when we have moral questions. Christianity and its Bible have been turned to all kinds of uses, some good and some evil. Here in the United States, we’ve done so especially with respect to matters of race, gender, and sexuality, piling up verses on one side or the other to support what we already believe.
Greg Cootsona: When the Body Can Gather Again
When the effects of the pandemic subside—and when we can safely do so—should we go back to church? What do science and Scripture say?