Adventurous Lectionary -Christmas I -Dec. 31, 2023

December 27, 2023 By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – December 31, 2023 – The First Sunday of Christmas Isaiah 61:10-62:3 Psalm 148 Galatians 4:4-7 Luke 2:22-40 Our congregations need to be reminded that Christmas is a season not just a day. The twelve days of Christmas take us through incarnation, amazement, and tragedy. In celebrating the twelve days of Christmas, we embrace the tragic beauty of life and become midwives of divine embodiment. The first Sunday of Christmas often considered a “low Sunday” in spirit... Read more

Adventurous Lectionary – Christmas Eve/Day – December 24/25

December 18, 2023 By Bruce Epperly

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The Adventurous Lectionary – Christmas Eve and Day , December 24/25, 2023 Isaiah 9:2-7 Luke 2:1-20 John 1:1-14 Even with the diminishing importance of Christian holy days, Christmas Eve is usually the best-attended worship service in the Christian year. Family members and visitors who don’t normally attend church (The C&E Christians, now more accurately these days, the C Christians) show up not only as a matter of obligation to their parents, but also hoping to experience wonder amid the bells,... Read more

Adventurous Lectionary – 4th Sunday of Advent – December 23.

December 18, 2023 By Bruce Epperly

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The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fourth Sunday of Advent/Christmas Eve – December 24, 2023 Luke 1:26-55 What shall we do on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, also Christmas Eve this year? Some churches will celebrate Christmas Eve at the morning service, while others will focus on Mary in the morning and the birth of Jesus at the afternoon and evening services. Somehow we must include both, and many churches choose a Lessons and Carols service throughout the day to embrace... Read more

Adventurous Lectionary – Third Sunday of Advent – December 17, 2023

December 11, 2023 By Bruce Epperly

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The Adventurous Lectionary – The Third Sunday of Advent – December 17, 2023 Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Psalm 126 Luke 1:46b-55 I Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:6-8, 19-28 Rejoice, for God is in our midst! Rejoice, for God’s realm is on the horizon! Rejoice, the moral and spiritual arcs of history bend toward justice! On this Third Advent Sunday, we proclaim that despite appearances to the contrary, good news is coming! Glimmers of hope remind us that life can be different. The... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Second Sunday of Advent – December 10, 2023

December 4, 2023 By Bruce Epperly

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The Adventurous Lectionary – The Second Sunday of Advent – December 10, 2023 Psalm 40:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 Advent is the season of wakefulness. “Stay awake,” “be woke,” are the mantras of Advent. God’s realm is coming – it is here – and we need to be prepared for a moment of decision, for God or self-interest, transformation or status quo, growth or stagnation, peace or division. One of my favorite songs from... Read more

Adventurous Lectionary – First Sunday of Advent – December 3, 2023

November 27, 2023 By Bruce Epperly

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The Adventurous Lectionary – The First Sunday of Advent – December 3, 2023 Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 I Corinthians 1:1-9 Mark 13:24-37 The Advent Spirit: Today’s Sunday might be described as New Year’s Day in the Christian liturgical year. Advent is a season of awe and wonder. It is a time of waiting, not just for Jesus’ birth, but for the transformation of our lives and the world. Something is being born in us and we are waiting for... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Christ the King/Kin Sunday – November 26, 2023

November 19, 2023 By Bruce Epperly

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The Reign of Christ November 26, 2023 Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100; Ephesians 1:15-23; Matthew 25:31-46 To follow Jesus is to embrace the world in all its messiness and political challenges. This Sunday is the New Year’s Eve – the last Sunday – of the Christian year. We are living between Thanksgiving celebrations and Advent possibilities, and Christmas is less than a month away. The Reign or Realm of Christ, often known as Christ the King, Sunday. The... Read more

Adventurous Lectionary: Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost – November 19, 2023

November 12, 2023 By Bruce Epperly

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The Adventurous Lectionary – Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost – November 19, 2023 Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18.; Psalm 90:1-12; I Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30 On the descending edge of Pentecost, the lectionary passages are challenging and also inspirational. They fit in with the threatening images of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” soon to be blasting on the radio. “You better watch out, you better not pout…he’s checking his list, he’s checking it twice, he’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.”... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twenty Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – November 12, 2023

November 5, 2023 By Bruce Epperly

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The Adventurous Lectionary – November 12, 2023 – Pentecost 24 Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 Psalm 78:1-7 I Thessalonians 4:13-18 Matthew 25:1-13 What does it mean to be a monotheist? What does following God mean in daily life and when we must choose between competing goods? What are the practical implications of following the One True God rather than the many deities of our own creation? The objects of our faith, what Paul Tillich describes as our “ultimate concern,” shape our character... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twenty Sunday after Pentecost – November 5, 2023

October 29, 2023 By Bruce Epperly

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The Adventurous Lectionary – November 5, 2023 – Pentecost 23 Joshua 3:7-17; Psalm 1071-7, 33-37; I Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23:1-12 Today’s readings reflect on different aspects of spiritual and temporal leadership. For the children of Israel, leadership was connected with fidelity to God, and fidelity to God was connected with victory over the inhabitants of Canaan. While Jesus also touts the relationship between fidelity and leadership, his vision of leadership in relational not coercive, and sees power in terms of... Read more