Discussion for July 13, 2008
The following are the passages for this Sunday's lectionary: Proper 10A/Ordinary 15A/Pentecost +9
Genesis 25:19-34 This is the continued story of the descendents of Abraham focusing now on Isaac, his wife Rebecca and their children Esau and Jacob. The two struggle from the beginning in their mother’s womb. Jacob becomes mom’s favorite while Esau is his dad’s. It also is the story of trickery on mom and Jacob’s part to get Esau’s birthright. Struggle and rivalry are present throughout this story. And isn’t it that way throughout life, yet God’s promise of a people who will be a blessing would be fulfilled. Where is the message your congregation needs to hear? Are there internal struggles or rivalries or personal struggles and rivalries? What is God teaching you in the midst of these struggles and rivalries?
Psalm 119:105-112 or Psalm 25 (UMH 756)
Romans 8:1-11 I have always like that, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Paul then elaborates further on how this can be. Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death. We are now in the spirit not in the flesh, since the Spirit of God dwells in us. How then can we be condemned? What does life look like through the lenses of the Spirit? How is that we condemn others? How can this passage be lived out in our lives?
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 This is the parable of the sower and the seed in 1-9 and then explained in 18-23. You can preach this from the sower standpoint, the seed, or the soils. Or you can preach it from the stand point of having ears to hear, why Jesus told stories anyway. It is a familiar passage to most people. If you have a congregation that has their own little garden or farm, they may relate. If they are urban and don’t, how will you preach this passage to them? In the places you and the people of your congregation live, work, and spend their time, where are the people likely to be caught along the beaten down pathway? Where and how are folks not having much "root in themselves" to receive the word of God's kingdom? Where is the word of the kingdom getting choked out by other concerns? How are you or others trusting that God can bring a fruitful harvest even from such places? How are you or others joining God's word, declared in this parable, to convert that soil into good soil? ( I borrowed these questions from Planning Helps at the GBOD website.)
I am preaching on the Matthew passage as we continue our way through the Gospel at St. John. I am taking the tact of how are we prepared to hear and understand the word? I borrowed from Homiletics the idea of the (N)Nitrogen, (P)Phosphorous, and (K)Potassium that is in the fertilizer. I am working on what they represent in what we “fertilize” our hearts with so we can be prepared to hear and understand the word. I have a baptism Sunday and will mix that in too. Now to work out all the components of this idea.
Which passage are you preaching on? Where are you headed this Sunday? What thoughts and ideas has the spirit given you for Sunday? Are you preaching on a series, let us know. What will you do for worship? Look forward to hearing from you all.
Psalm 119:105-112 or Psalm 25 (UMH 756)
Romans 8:1-11 I have always like that, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Paul then elaborates further on how this can be. Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death. We are now in the spirit not in the flesh, since the Spirit of God dwells in us. How then can we be condemned? What does life look like through the lenses of the Spirit? How is that we condemn others? How can this passage be lived out in our lives?
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 This is the parable of the sower and the seed in 1-9 and then explained in 18-23. You can preach this from the sower standpoint, the seed, or the soils. Or you can preach it from the stand point of having ears to hear, why Jesus told stories anyway. It is a familiar passage to most people. If you have a congregation that has their own little garden or farm, they may relate. If they are urban and don’t, how will you preach this passage to them? In the places you and the people of your congregation live, work, and spend their time, where are the people likely to be caught along the beaten down pathway? Where and how are folks not having much "root in themselves" to receive the word of God's kingdom? Where is the word of the kingdom getting choked out by other concerns? How are you or others trusting that God can bring a fruitful harvest even from such places? How are you or others joining God's word, declared in this parable, to convert that soil into good soil? ( I borrowed these questions from Planning Helps at the GBOD website.)
I am preaching on the Matthew passage as we continue our way through the Gospel at St. John. I am taking the tact of how are we prepared to hear and understand the word? I borrowed from Homiletics the idea of the (N)Nitrogen, (P)Phosphorous, and (K)Potassium that is in the fertilizer. I am working on what they represent in what we “fertilize” our hearts with so we can be prepared to hear and understand the word. I have a baptism Sunday and will mix that in too. Now to work out all the components of this idea.
Which passage are you preaching on? Where are you headed this Sunday? What thoughts and ideas has the spirit given you for Sunday? Are you preaching on a series, let us know. What will you do for worship? Look forward to hearing from you all.
Picture of Fertilizer produced in Muscle Shoals munitions facilities
T.E. Robinson, Bakewell, Tenn., 1946
T.E. Robinson, Bakewell, Tenn., 1946
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