11th Hour Preacher Party – Oil with your Prodigals?

Hi there preachers, would-be-preachers, gonna-preach-eventually-preachers, I-know-I-have-words-somewhere-preachers… this is your one stop shop for collective groaning, sharing of goodies (virtual), ideas, words of encouragement and general Oh-my-Goodness-where-did-the-week-go calls for help. It’s the middle of Lent; here in Scotland this means two things this week – it’s Mothering Sunday and time for us to catch up with… Read More

11th Hour Preacher Party: Rooted and Grounded

“I pray that…Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith as you are being rooted and grounded in love.” Ephesians 3:17 This is my favourite passage for beach walking. I’m fortunate enough to live just a few minutes from the beach and, most days, I can be found walking and meditating on this verse. It’s… Read More

Preacher Party: Heatwave Edition

  image from weather.com for Albany Ok, its 55-60 degrees up here in Albany NY, and after -10/15 windchills, we are enjoying are heatwave up here. That means lots of time out and about, after weeks of hibernating, and getting some energy out. Unfortunately, this means there are still sermons to be written! (Plus there’s… Read More

Preacher Party

Hello Friends, Where are you right now? I’m at a coffee shop after a last minute reschedule of coffee with a congregant, and savoring the extra moments of babysitting to spend on my sermon before my three boy-boys get to bed. Where are you? What are you up to? No matter what I’m grateful that you… Read More

Preacher Party – Spring Forward!

Two weeks to Easter and the pace is quickening. There have been some interesting discussions already both on the blog and the Facebook Group. Are you in the Revised Common Lectionary? Considering the fragrance of anointing; the role of Mary of Bethany; the dreams of new things? See the conversation HERE that took place earlier in… Read More

11th Hour Preacher Party – Ooh, Shiny!

Believe it or not, we have reached the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany. Lent will begin this week! Whether you are using the Revised Common Lectionary or Narrative, this week’s texts describe the Transfiguration. What message will your people hear before beginning the journey to the cross on Wednesday? RCL preachers: what do you do… Read More

11th Hour Preacher Party: Christmas – Epiphany Edition

Many New Year blessings to you! Where do you find yourself on this second Sunday of Christmas? This is such a short liturgical season, and attendance is often quite low as folks are spending time with their families to celebrate the holidays. But there are so many important Biblical stories at this time of the… Read More

Narrative Lectionary: God said to Abraham, “Kill Me a Son.” (Genesis 21:1-13; 22:1-14)

I estimate that I’ve participated in or observed, roughly, 29 years of Vacation Bible School. Never, in those years, has the Binding of Isaac been featured as a story to fit with the year’s VBS theme.   We could have a whole child sacrifice/near-sacrifice thing- Isaac, Jepthah’s daughter, Jonathan and Michal, Hosea’s horrifically named children,… Read More