RCL: Genesis 3:8-15; Psalm 130; 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35 Note: During the 2024 Season after Pentecost, Sermons That Work will use Track 2 readings for sermons and Bible studies. Please consult our archives for many additional Track 1 resources from prior years. Genesis 3:8-15 “Sin” can be a difficult word for Episcopalians (and, to…

RCL: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Psalm 130; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 David models for us how to express grief as a community. Israel had lost its king and David had lost Jonathan, the man he loved. It was a time for public grief, for weeping (v. 24). David delivered a…

RCL: 1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15); Psalm 138; 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35 1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15) The people are clamoring, demanding a king. They have been burnt by the rule of judges; Joel and Abijah, Samuel’s sons, are corrupt and have accepted bribes. The Israelites want to “keep up with the…

1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15) One of the great problems of human life in community is what the sociologist Max Weber called the “routinization of charisma.” Is it possible to take what we have achieved under the leadership of a single, extraordinary individual and create rules and systems that will allow that success to…

Genesis 3:8-15 Imagine that Adam and Eve have kindly invited you to Eden and you arrive (clad in a loincloth, as they had asked) around suppertime. After the meal, you three hear the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden by the evening breeze. Could you find God in the garden by this…