Early in the morning the women disciples of Jesus are on their way to the tomb when suddenly they realize they are going to encounter what we moderns might call a technical difficulty. Who will roll away the stone? It’s a big stone, it’s a big problem. But they continue on anyway. Rocks may be…

“What’s in a name?” We’ve all probably heard that phrase used many times. Or maybe we’ve heard, “Who’s your family?” In other words, where do you come from and who do you belong to? In the city of Philadelphia, if you ask Roman Catholics where they’re from, 90% of the time the answer you get…

The lessons we read today seem to be mainly about planting. Most of us probably do not live on farms, but we might have some knowledge about the growth of plants. We know that planting requires someone to sow the seeds. The seeds need to have soil, and the soil needs to be tilled and…

[RCL] Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-10, [11-13], 14-17; Mark 7:24-37 Note: During the 2024 Season after Pentecost, Sermons That Work will use Track 2 readings for sermons and Bible studies. Please consult our archives for many additional Track 1 resources from prior years. It’s a story so common that it could almost be passed…

Jeremiah 2:4-13 In the second chapter of Jeremiah, God is laying out a case against the people of Jerusalem for straying and turning to other gods. What stands out to me in this passage, however, is how God is upset with them for failing to lament: “They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord who…

“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” Good Friday comes every year with its unique burden of grief. We know the story, we have heard it, felt it, wept…

Jesus puts before his audience two stories of lost and found. In each case, the one who loses goes to extraordinary efforts to find what is lost. Having recovered it, the finder calls upon the surrounding community to join in rejoicing that the lost has been found. Jesus applies both stories to what happens when…

[RCL] Joel 2:1-2,12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 103 or 103:8-14; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6,16-21 The Ash Wednesday liturgy is possibly the most meaningful liturgy in our Book of Common Prayer. It offers us an opportunity to stop, reflect on who we are and whose we are, adopt an attitude of humility, hit the reset…

Paul’s twelfth chapter in the letter to the church in Rome and the sixteenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, both seek to open to us the mysteries of a life lived with God. Herein lies the heart of the good news. Characteristically, it is good news that sounds like bad news before we find a way…

The kingdom of heaven, the one of which Jesus speaks, is not at all like the kingdom in which we live. The truths which guide often run counter to all we assume to be true about many aspects of our life: the order of things, the ways of reward and punishment, the best ways to…