Hello Everyone,
This will be my last email on the Lectionary Readings until January 5th. I will be on vacation next week, back on the following week to celebrate Christmas and then on vacation again the week after. Therefore, this will be a simple listing of the readings for each week and maybe a short sentence or title about each.
Sunday, December 13
Zephaniah 3:14-20 – After much doom and gloom, “A Song of Joy”.
Isaiah 12:2-6 – Thanksgiving and Praise for God’s salvation.
Philippians 4:4-7 – “Rejoice in the Lord; again, I will say “"Rejoice”
Luke 3:7-18 – John the Baptist tells the people about how to live right.
Sunday, December 20
Micah 5:2-5a – The new ruler will come from the lowly town of Bethlehem and will be the one of peace.
Luke 1:46-55 – While visiting Elizabeth, Mary sings a song.
OR Psalm 80:1-7 – The first half of a pray for the restoration of Israel.
Hebrews 10:5-10 – We have been sanctified through Christ’s offering of his body on the cross.
Luke 1:39-45 (46-55) – Mary visits Elizabeth (and sings a quite subversive song).
Thursday, December 24, Christmas Eve
Isaiah 9:2-7 – The people have seen a great light and a child has been born, the Prince of Peace.
Psalm 96 – A song in Praise of God who comes in judgment.
Titus 2:11-14 – God’s grace has appeared bringing salvation to everyone.
Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) – Jesus is born in Bethlehem (and the shepherds come for a visit).
Friday, December 25, Christmas Day
Isaiah 52:7-10 – A messenger brings the news of peace and salvation. All the earth will see God’s salvation.
Psalm 98 – A song of praise for the Judge of Creation.
Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12) – God has spoken to us through God’s Son (who is superior to the angels).
John 1:1-14 – In the beginning was the Word and the Word dwelt among us full of grace and truth.
Sunday, December 27
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 – Samuel works for Eli at the tabernacle and grows in stature and favor with God.
Psalm 148 – A song praising God for God’s Universal Glory.
Colossians 3:12-17 – As God’s children we should, above all else, clothe ourselves in Love.
Luke 2:41-52 – The 12 year old Jesus visits the Temple with Mom and Dad.
Thursday, December 31, Watch Night
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 – For everything there is a season and a time. “It is God’s gift that all should eat, drink, and take pleasure in their toil.”
Psalm 8 – A song celebrating God’s Majesty and how God cares for humanity.
Revelation 21:1-6a – The Revelation of Jesus to John.
Matthew 25:31-46 – The parable of “The Judgment of the Nations”. What have you done for the least?
Sunday, January 3, 2017
Jeremiah 31:7-14 – In praise of God who will bring back all of scattered Israel to the land.
OR Sirach 24:1-12 – “The Praise of Wisdom”
Psalm 147:12-20 – A song praising God for God’s care of Jerusalem.
OR Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21 – The personified Wisdom leads the Israelites out of Egypt.
Ephesians 1:3-14 – “Spiritual Blessings in Christ” and there are many.
John 1: (1-9) 10-18 – In the beginning was the Word and the Word dwelt among us full of grace and truth.
Whew! Lots to chew on over the next month.
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Gary Taylor
Monday, December 7, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Readings for Sunday, December 6, 2015
Hello Everyone,
Well, with 3 to 5 inches of snow last night and the arrival of December it feels like the rush to Christmas and the New Year is on. Can we take time out to hear the story of God’s salvific action in our world? What good news of love, forgiveness, and acceptance have you seen, heard, or experienced lately? Amidst all the bad news, where is the Good News? Please feel free to share your sightings of Good (God) News with me and others.
This Sunday is Communion Sunday for both churches and the sermon series title is “Testify to Unfettered Love.” Our readings are:
Baruch 5:1-9 – What? Pastor, I can’t find this in my Old Testament. Several times a year the Lectionary Committee that devised the weekly reading plan throws in some passages of the Apocrypha (as Protestant churches call it). These are books of the Bible that are accepted by our Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters. They are generally not accepted as canonical Scripture by Jews or Protestant Christians. You can find a list of the Apocrypha here. Baruch was a friend and scribe to Jeremiah, but this book may have been put together several hundred years later, during the time of the Maccabean revolt around the middle of the second century BCE. Our passage may be found at Biblegateway.com. The writer looks forward to a time when all the people of Israel and Judah back to God’s Land with all the obstacles of travel eliminated (mountains and hill will be made low and the valleys shall be lifted up). And God will lead them all with Joy and in the light of his Glory.
OR Malachi 3:1-4 – The name Malachi means “my messenger” which is the point of our reading. God will send someone who will be bearing a message. This messenger will bring the covenant but who will be able to withstand the message. This messenger will be like a refiner who heats up the metal to remove the impurities. When the messenger is done purifying, those who are purified will be ready to hear and receive the covenant.
Luke 1:68-79 – This is our Psalm for the week. There once was an old man named Zech. He was a priest at the Temple but only worked a couple of times a year. One day while working, an angel showed up and said that Zech’s wife, Liz, was going to have a child. They were old and after decades of marriage they had no children. When old Zech scoffed, the angel took his voice away. Well, old Zech goes home and he and Liz does what all couples down the ages have done. Low and behold, Liz gets pregnant and 9 months later a strapping baby boy is born. When Zech, who still can’t speak, scratches out the boy’s name, Johnnie, his voice returns and our reading this week is the song he sang. BTW – this passage is often called the “Benedictus” which is the Latin word for “Blessed” the first word of the song.
Philippians 1:3-11 – Paul gives thanks for the work of the people of the church in Philippi. They share the Good News every day. They pray for Paul in his imprisonment. Paul prays that their love may overflow with knowledge and insight so that they may determine what is best. They need to determine what is best so that they may produce a “harvest of righteousness” for the glory of God. What are our churches, meaning the people of our churches, doing to produce a harvest of righteousness?
Luke 3:1-6 – Much like he does in chapter 1:5-7, Luke give us a time marker, so that his readers knows when he is writing about. The Gospel According to Luke was probably written in the late 80’s to early 90’s and may have felt a need to anchor his narrative to known emperors, rulers, and ranking priests of the Jewish Temple. In verse 2b we come back to “little Johnnie” all grown up and stirring up trouble in the Judean desert and by the River Jordan. Luke says that he is the one that Isaiah prophesied about who would cry out in the desert. We will turn to his message next week.
Have a great week serving God by serving others.
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Gary Taylor
Well, with 3 to 5 inches of snow last night and the arrival of December it feels like the rush to Christmas and the New Year is on. Can we take time out to hear the story of God’s salvific action in our world? What good news of love, forgiveness, and acceptance have you seen, heard, or experienced lately? Amidst all the bad news, where is the Good News? Please feel free to share your sightings of Good (God) News with me and others.
This Sunday is Communion Sunday for both churches and the sermon series title is “Testify to Unfettered Love.” Our readings are:
Baruch 5:1-9 – What? Pastor, I can’t find this in my Old Testament. Several times a year the Lectionary Committee that devised the weekly reading plan throws in some passages of the Apocrypha (as Protestant churches call it). These are books of the Bible that are accepted by our Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters. They are generally not accepted as canonical Scripture by Jews or Protestant Christians. You can find a list of the Apocrypha here. Baruch was a friend and scribe to Jeremiah, but this book may have been put together several hundred years later, during the time of the Maccabean revolt around the middle of the second century BCE. Our passage may be found at Biblegateway.com. The writer looks forward to a time when all the people of Israel and Judah back to God’s Land with all the obstacles of travel eliminated (mountains and hill will be made low and the valleys shall be lifted up). And God will lead them all with Joy and in the light of his Glory.
OR Malachi 3:1-4 – The name Malachi means “my messenger” which is the point of our reading. God will send someone who will be bearing a message. This messenger will bring the covenant but who will be able to withstand the message. This messenger will be like a refiner who heats up the metal to remove the impurities. When the messenger is done purifying, those who are purified will be ready to hear and receive the covenant.
Luke 1:68-79 – This is our Psalm for the week. There once was an old man named Zech. He was a priest at the Temple but only worked a couple of times a year. One day while working, an angel showed up and said that Zech’s wife, Liz, was going to have a child. They were old and after decades of marriage they had no children. When old Zech scoffed, the angel took his voice away. Well, old Zech goes home and he and Liz does what all couples down the ages have done. Low and behold, Liz gets pregnant and 9 months later a strapping baby boy is born. When Zech, who still can’t speak, scratches out the boy’s name, Johnnie, his voice returns and our reading this week is the song he sang. BTW – this passage is often called the “Benedictus” which is the Latin word for “Blessed” the first word of the song.
Philippians 1:3-11 – Paul gives thanks for the work of the people of the church in Philippi. They share the Good News every day. They pray for Paul in his imprisonment. Paul prays that their love may overflow with knowledge and insight so that they may determine what is best. They need to determine what is best so that they may produce a “harvest of righteousness” for the glory of God. What are our churches, meaning the people of our churches, doing to produce a harvest of righteousness?
Luke 3:1-6 – Much like he does in chapter 1:5-7, Luke give us a time marker, so that his readers knows when he is writing about. The Gospel According to Luke was probably written in the late 80’s to early 90’s and may have felt a need to anchor his narrative to known emperors, rulers, and ranking priests of the Jewish Temple. In verse 2b we come back to “little Johnnie” all grown up and stirring up trouble in the Judean desert and by the River Jordan. Luke says that he is the one that Isaiah prophesied about who would cry out in the desert. We will turn to his message next week.
Have a great week serving God by serving others.
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Gary Taylor
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Readings for Sunday, November 29, 2015
Hello Everyone,
Each church will have a Thanksgiving Eve Worship Service with Communion on Wednesday, November 25. Peace United Church at 6:00 PM and Grey Eagle UMC at 7:30. If you can’t make one, you are welcome to come to the other. Be prepared to tell us what you are thankful for above and beyond “family and friends” for which we are all thankful.
This coming Sunday I will begin a new sermon series called “Testify to Love”. The sermon this week at Grey Eagle UMC will be “Testify to Righteous Love”. I will not be preaching at Peace United Church which will be having the annual Hanging of the Greens Service followed with a potluck dinner and our Annual Meeting.
We have two sets of readings this week, one for Thanksgiving and one for the First Sunday in Advent. Due to constraints on my time I will only make brief comments this week.
Thanksgiving:
Joel 2:21-27 – The Lord call on the earth and its animals to rejoice and be glad for God has provided. The Lord calls on the people to rejoice and be glad for God is repaying all that has been lost and all shall eat and be satiated. They will never again be put to shame.
Psalm 126 – Another Song of Ascents which were sung or chanted as the people climbed the hill into Jerusalem and then to the Temple. We rejoice and give thanks because the Lord has done great things for us.
1 Timothy 2:1-7 – Paul says that we should be praying and giving thanks for everyone, especially national leaders so that we may live in peace and tranquility. This is right because God desires all peoples to be saved and to know the truth.
Matthew 6:25-33 – This is from the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Jesus teaches us to not worry about what to wear or what to eat because God provides these to us. “Do not strive for these things.” Instead, first strive (seek) for the reign of God and God will provide. Verse 34 then says, “Do not worry about tomorrow . . . for today has enough troubles of its own.”
First Sunday of Advent:
Jeremiah 33:14-16 – The Lord says that there will be a time when a descendant of David will rule and that king will bring justice and righteousness. That time, or that king, will be called “The Lord is our righteousness.” FYI, the very last king of Judah, who ruled in the time of Jeremiah and at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians, was named “Zedekiah” which means “righteousness of the Lord.” (See 2 Kings 24:20b-25:7.)
Psalm 25:1-10 – The psalmist David asks the Lord for protection from enemies and to know the ways of God.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 – Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica in which he expresses his desire to return to them. Paul asks the Lord to let the church increase their love for one another and for all.
Luke 21:25-36 – This Sunday we begin a new year in the Christian calendar with Advent. We also begin a new Lectionary cycle, this year focused on the Gospel of Luke. And, as usual for the beginning of both the church year and the lectionary year, we look not towards Christmas but toward his next coming. Advent is a time of expectations and waiting. Even in this year when I have already seen the Christmas lights and decorations a week or two before Thanksgiving, we should have a sense of expectation of Jesus’ arrival. Watch for the signs and when you see the coming of the Son of Man raise your hand for your redeeming is near.
I hope to see everyone tomorrow night but if not, have a great Thanksgiving. Give Thanks for the Lord has provided!
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Gary Taylor
Each church will have a Thanksgiving Eve Worship Service with Communion on Wednesday, November 25. Peace United Church at 6:00 PM and Grey Eagle UMC at 7:30. If you can’t make one, you are welcome to come to the other. Be prepared to tell us what you are thankful for above and beyond “family and friends” for which we are all thankful.
This coming Sunday I will begin a new sermon series called “Testify to Love”. The sermon this week at Grey Eagle UMC will be “Testify to Righteous Love”. I will not be preaching at Peace United Church which will be having the annual Hanging of the Greens Service followed with a potluck dinner and our Annual Meeting.
We have two sets of readings this week, one for Thanksgiving and one for the First Sunday in Advent. Due to constraints on my time I will only make brief comments this week.
Thanksgiving:
Joel 2:21-27 – The Lord call on the earth and its animals to rejoice and be glad for God has provided. The Lord calls on the people to rejoice and be glad for God is repaying all that has been lost and all shall eat and be satiated. They will never again be put to shame.
Psalm 126 – Another Song of Ascents which were sung or chanted as the people climbed the hill into Jerusalem and then to the Temple. We rejoice and give thanks because the Lord has done great things for us.
1 Timothy 2:1-7 – Paul says that we should be praying and giving thanks for everyone, especially national leaders so that we may live in peace and tranquility. This is right because God desires all peoples to be saved and to know the truth.
Matthew 6:25-33 – This is from the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Jesus teaches us to not worry about what to wear or what to eat because God provides these to us. “Do not strive for these things.” Instead, first strive (seek) for the reign of God and God will provide. Verse 34 then says, “Do not worry about tomorrow . . . for today has enough troubles of its own.”
First Sunday of Advent:
Jeremiah 33:14-16 – The Lord says that there will be a time when a descendant of David will rule and that king will bring justice and righteousness. That time, or that king, will be called “The Lord is our righteousness.” FYI, the very last king of Judah, who ruled in the time of Jeremiah and at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians, was named “Zedekiah” which means “righteousness of the Lord.” (See 2 Kings 24:20b-25:7.)
Psalm 25:1-10 – The psalmist David asks the Lord for protection from enemies and to know the ways of God.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 – Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica in which he expresses his desire to return to them. Paul asks the Lord to let the church increase their love for one another and for all.
Luke 21:25-36 – This Sunday we begin a new year in the Christian calendar with Advent. We also begin a new Lectionary cycle, this year focused on the Gospel of Luke. And, as usual for the beginning of both the church year and the lectionary year, we look not towards Christmas but toward his next coming. Advent is a time of expectations and waiting. Even in this year when I have already seen the Christmas lights and decorations a week or two before Thanksgiving, we should have a sense of expectation of Jesus’ arrival. Watch for the signs and when you see the coming of the Son of Man raise your hand for your redeeming is near.
I hope to see everyone tomorrow night but if not, have a great Thanksgiving. Give Thanks for the Lord has provided!
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Gary Taylor
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