For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.
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Find this Sunday’s readings and more observances of the church year.
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We offer a large archive of sermons, as well as a new sermon every week.
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Our weekly Bible studies are produced by our very own Episcopalian seminarians.
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Weekly inserts teach about the theology, history, and people of The Episcopal Church.
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Find lesson plans written by experienced church teachers.
Upcoming Sermons
Rising Up, Ascension Day (C) – May 29, 2025
[RCL] Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47 or Psalm 93; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53 Human beings have been trained to measure life based on outcomes. In the secular world, your professional acumen is tied to deliverables and visible and outward results of the tasks set before you. Judgments are assigned when others fall short of goals, desired…
For the Healing of All Nations, Easter 6 (C) – May 25, 2025
[RCL] Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35 These days, in our nation, in the public square, in many churches, there is a tendency toward Christian nationalism. To many of our fellow Christians, this may seem attractive and persuasive, because it includes the teaching that God favors America above all other nations. It can…
Us and Them, Easter 5 (C) – May 18, 2025
[RCL] Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35 So, we are really getting into Easter now – it is the Fifth Sunday of Eastertide. The weather has gotten warmer, maybe, the days certainly longer, and maybe saying “Alleluia” still feels like a privilege after our Lenten deprivation. We have two more Sundays, three more…
Bestowing Life, Easter 4 (C) – May 11, 2025
[RCL] Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30 Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life. Psalm 23 — and the idea of the Good Shepherd — saturate Western society. Not that that’s a bad thing! “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need,” “The…
Jesus Will Meet Us, Easter 3 (C) – May 4, 2025
[RCL] Acts 9:1-6, (7-20); Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19 John’s Gospel ends with four appearances that the resurrected Jesus makes to different groups of disciples: four scenes of Christ revealed alive, four assurances that death could never contain the life that Jesus lived and lives. First, on Easter Day, we heard how Mary encountered…
Returning, Easter 2 (C) – April 27, 2025
[RCL] Acts 5:27-32; Psalm 118:14-29 or Psalm 150; Revelation 1:4-8; John 20:19-31 This sermon was inspired by the work of theologian Shelly Rambo in her book, “Resurrecting Wounds.” Once upon a time, in a small French alpine village, strange incidences occurred: People who were once dead were alive again. They made their way to their…
Upcoming Bible Studies
Bible Study: Pentecost 2 (C) – June 22, 2025
RCL: 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a; Psalm 42 and 43; Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a Fearing for his life and in the depths of despair, Elijah journeys, not by his own strength, to the mountain of God. Awesome forces of nature go before God, but Elijah knows the Lord well enough…
Bible Study: Trinity Sunday (C) – June 15, 2025
RCL: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15 Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 The book of Proverbs is a collection of traditional cultural lessons—propositional statements, observational sayings, analogies, and ethics—structured as the teachings of a father to a son. This kind of “instructional literature” is one of the ways a family nurtures how a child…
Bible Study: Day of Pentecost (C) – June 8, 2025
RCL: Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; Romans 8:14-17; John 14:8-17, (25-27) Acts 2:1-21 In this description of the day of Pentecost from the book of Acts, we have the momentary undoing of the linguistic differentiation and ensuing confusion and tribalism that occurred at the Tower of Babel all the way back in Genesis 11. Pentecost…
Bible Study: Easter 7 (C) – June 1, 2025
RCL: Acts 16:16-34; Psalm 97; Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26 Love In a Waiting Room They stood in the hollow of time. In the ache between what had been and what had not yet begun. Jesus was gone. The Spirit—that wild, uncatchable thing—had not yet whispered their names. They were between stories, between breaths.…
Bible Study: Easter 6 (C) – May 25, 2025
RCL: Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5; John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9 Acts 16:9-15 Hospitality in the first century Roman Empire was risky. It was not simply inviting someone over for dinner or even offering them a place to stay for the night. Instead, it carried with it an offering of protection and provisions…
Bible Study: Easter 5 (C) – May 18, 2025
RCL: Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35 Another Impossible Commandment They sat around the table, not yet knowing it was the last time. The bread was still warm, the air still full of ordinary things, but something in the room had shifted. The water had barely dried from their feet when he spoke—“Love…
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