Editor’s note: David Schmitt provides this homiletical help as the first of four in a sermon series on the lectionary’s successive readings from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. By David Schmitt, In a culture that is redefining what it means to be family, the Christian church has devoted significant efforts to defending God’s design of the ..
By Victor Raj Justice God’s Way I began to study this text rather carefully on tax day, April 15. Especially in that context, the theme of accounting surfaced in my mind almost instantaneously as I read along. Thoughts about managing wealth, budgeting, income and spending, and claiming deductions on tax returns could not be disregarded. ..
By Jeffrey Kloha James 3 and 4 stand among the harshest condemnations found in the NT. To be called “earthly, unspiritual, demonic” is certainly not the life to which the saints have been called. But it is nevertheless evident among us: bitter jealousy (3:14), strife (3:14, 16), disorder (3:16), foul deeds (3:16), quarrels, fights, (4:1–2), ..
By Reed Lessing Comments on the Text: The sermon’s focus is on 1 Timothy 2:1–6, thus the comments only pertain to these verses. Verse 1: The apostle’s repeated use of πάντων, “all,” begins here. “First of all … for all people” (1 Tm 2:1) … “on behalf of all … so that we may live ..
By Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. You Can Kill the Prophet, but You Can’t Kill the Message The text gives a gloomy picture of what happens to God’s prophets. Through Jeremiah, Yahweh has convicted Judah for breaking the covenant he made with their forefathers by turning to false idols and disobeying his word. The response? Men ..
By David I. Lewis Introduction: Today’s Gospel reading contains a parable that is unique to Matthew’s Gospel, the so-called parable of the workers in the vineyard. A title that better reflects the pragmatics of this parable might be, “Jesus’s parable of warning to his disciples against focusing upon the rewards for discipleship and then making sinful ..
by Tim Dost Introduction Preachers who take up this text take up a daunting task, especially if they wish to proclaim the gospel and not simply generate a diatribe based on the law. The paral- lels to our society are striking, but I suspect that in every time and place there are those who lie, ..
By David Schmitt Literary and Liturgical Setting Our reading is the second of three passion predictions in Mark. In the literary context of Mark, these three passion predictions are held together. First, they span the period between the Galilean ministry of Jesus (1:14-8:30) and his Passion (11:1-15:47), between the revelation of who Jesus is and ..