Gospel Reading from Liturgy of the Palms: Matthew 21:1-11 The Rev. Fleming Rutledge refers to Palm Sunday as “the Trojan horse of the Christian year.” As she writes, “We get lured in by the festivity, but before we know it…
Ezekiel 37:1-14 There’s something difficult about stepping into the pulpit to preach on a day when every lectionary reading begins at a point of death. For Ezekiel, it’s being confronted with a valley filled with the remains of the dead.…
Old Testament: Exodus 17:1-7 Is the Lord among us or not? It’s a timeless and familiar question, and there’s no way to know how often – in one form or another – it’s asked today. It’s certainly asked when natural…
Old Testament: Genesis 12:1-4a My journey to ordained ministry was one made up of many years, many steps, and many voices. The voice of a friend who nearly 30 years ago found out he’d been accepted into seminary and yet…
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11 [W]hen we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of…