Welcome to the preacher party!
My internet has been down the last few days, so this post is brought to you by my cell phone’s hotspot. Have you been a part of the internet outage across the US? I’ve tried to take advantage of my forced offline status, reading a book I got for Christmas, playing games with the family, and reading some actual paper commentaries on Matthew’s gospel to prepare for the coming season of the Narrative Lectionary.
The Narrative post from earlier in the week is here. Are you preaching Matthew’s genealogy?
The RCL post from earlier is here. Are you pondering where we’ve misplaced Jesus, as Mary and Joseph do in Luke 2?
Epiphany is around the corner. Many Revgals do some version of Star Words in their congregations. I’ve heard of a few people doing them this week. For more information, there is a blog post and resources here. If you’ve adapted the idea for your context, feel free to share that too.
Ideas for a Time with the Children? RevGal Joann Lee has been sharing pictures on Facebook during advent of nativity images from around the world, with some lovely multicultural portraits of Jesus and Mary. I’ve done a version of that as a Children’s sermon before, showing the kids images of Jesus from other countries.
I’ve got a ton of holiday baked goods that wonderful and loving church members have given me. I’m happy to share them with you. For real. Come and eat them. So many cookies in my house right now!
This meme sums up my week:
How ’bout you?
Join the party!
Marci Auld Glass is the pastor of Southminster Presbyterian Church and lives with her husband and sons in Boise, Idaho. She is a graduate of Trinity University and Columbia Theological Seminary. She serves on the Clergy Advocacy Board of Planned Parenthood and the Mission Agency Board of the Presbyterian Church USA. Marci blogs at Glass Overflowing and is among the contributors to the RevGals book,There’s a Woman in the Pulpit (SkyLight Paths).
RevGalBlogPals encourages you to share our blog posts via email or social media. We do not grant permission to cut-and-paste prayers and articles without a link back. For permission to use material in paper publications, please email revgalblogpals at gmail dot com.
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my brain is in denial about it being Saturday afternoon already, but Sunday will soon be here, in a very warm Australia. It has been 95 F here today, and still 90 F at 7.00 pm. It has been this hot for a few days, and a few more to go.
I am working on Matthews genealogy. i have preached on it before, but for a certain place and time. This time i am thinking of focusing on what we learn from the inclusion of the women. i found this article helpful
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That is a great article. Thanks for sharing. I also liked this one.
https://robertwilliamsonjr.com/women-matthews-genealogy/?fbclid=IwAR3qsKQLsPvfWAPKwgV6_FNIsiOxqpvc3fsT2xDjsFFZpVBGTUF9sOAi5dY
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calling it done. it is longer than i usually write, and lots of copying and pasting from a few articles. I think tomorrow might be a non-robing day, if i can find something suitable to wear, pocket for the mic pack and a collar for the mic to clip to. it is forecast to be another hot day.
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It does seem too hot for a robe. Hope you can stay cool.
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Merry Christmas, Everyone! No sermon this week — one service instead of two, and it’s a contemporary Lessons and Carols. I am relieved — a wedding this afternoon, and I don’t have to preach at either! I do kind of wish I had the Matthew genealogy — at my home church years ago, we did a four-part Advent adult ed on the women and that was wonderful. (Sad to read Ross Douthat on the genealogy in the NYT a couple of weeks ago and see how oblivious he was to the women; he somehow managed to describe Tamar entirely in terms of men.) But I am really worn out, and much in need of time to gather my thoughts before preaching and teaching again. Enjoy your Sunday, whatever it brings!
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Glad you get a low key weekend!
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Lessons and Carols here as well and I am tag teaming the reading with a 12 year old who is an excellent liturgist. I am only giving a very short intro to the general theme of “Who Will Show Us The Way?” by using Anna Carter Florence’s look at the verbs. We are only singing selected verses of the carols that illuminate the passage.
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Great idea. Anna taught me most of what I know about preaching.
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Addendum: Snow in the forecast for Sunday and Monday so low Sunday may be lower than normal. If we have any children I am going to ask them to share what their favorite gift was…and then segway into God’s gift for us.
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great idea. We’re having snow this morning. Hope it won’t snarl things up on Sunday.
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I am in a funk, which has not been made better by the fact that WordPress just lost my comment! I am stuck with a sermon neither I nor my two reader-friends like, but I am not sure how to fix it. This passage in Luke confounds me, because it seems as though Jesus is being very snarky to his mother, but it’s ok, because, I mean, he’s Jesus. When I try to put that into a sermon, I risk sounding heretical. It may be because I have a very snarky 17 year old in my house right now who has broken my heart twice in the past week with the way she has treated me and her sibs and grandparents. In any case, finding good news here is not easy today. I’ve got less than three hours to get something together before I have to leave to visit two folks before our community meal this evening. This “slow week” has turned into three people being hospitalized and one put on hospice care, and my getting a cold. moan and complain. I hope y’all are doing better, and lessons and carols seem like a good plan for next year. Peace.
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Prayers it all comes together for you.
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Last night my husband and I had a similar conversation – he doesn’t like the story of boy Jesus in the Temple because it seems like Jesus is being naughty, but he’s just allowed to get away with it. What gives? We had a good theological discussion about whether Jesus ever sinned (whether running away and then talking back to his parents was sinful) and whether it would make a difference to his work of salvation on our behalf.
I decided all that was too complex for a sermon, but I’m supposed to be leading a Bible study on Luke in Jan/Feb, and it will definitely come up there. Good luck to you!
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I thought I had preached on this text before, but can’t find it. I like the idea that it reveals Jesus is “fully human”. Maybe it helps us remember to be more gentle with each other when our fully human behavior gets on each other’s nerves.
And i can see the helpful reminder in this story that we find Jesus at church (or in the temple). Maybe we think that we don’t need community. But maybe we gather in church because it’s where we’ll find Jesus.
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Due to a series of unfortunate events, it’s nearly 4pm on Saturday, and I’ve got only vague ideas about tomorrow’s sermon. On Luke and Samuel, talking about children growing in favor with the Lord, and all of us being called to something. I think. Suggestions welcome!
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I am dealing with Matthew’s genealogy tomorrow, and I am strongly considering beginning—before the reading—with the story about the missionary who thinks translating the genealogy is a waste of time but he does it anyway, only to find that the people he is working amongst are completely blown away and find it the most important thing he could have done, because only real people (not spirit beings) have genealogies, and Jesus’ is longer than theirs, he must be a real person, not just “white person magic.” (From “tales for the pulpit” by Richard Jensen…it’s a story I’ve had in my Evernote file for ages just waiting for this moment!)
Then, after telling that story, talking briefly about the differences between Luke and Matthew and what we can learn from what they are trying to tell us, and then literally just reading the genealogy and pausing to mention a few of the notable things about some people mentioned—especially the women, but also others we have encountered in the readings this autumn. Then a wrap up about Jesus, God WITH us, having a place in a real human family, with all its human failings and complexities and stories people would rather forget and celebrated people and nobodies and everything in between.
The beauty of this plan is that it doesn’t require actually *writing* anything. I could just literally open a pew Bible and do it, sort of expository-preaching style…
And then I go on holiday on Wednesday! Making this plan all the more appealing. Haha.
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