A Funny thing: Acts 19 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 19:1-10, 23-41, my text for August 31. (I’m not preaching the 24th, but my congregation will hear a sermon on Acts 17:16-34 anyway.) …

Any interrelated group of people can function as a “body.” What makes the #church the #BodyOfChrist is the power of the #HolySpirit to disrupt the world’s power structures.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 17:1-9 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 17:1-9, my text for August 17. Along with the beginning of 1 Thessalonians, this was the NL for Easter 4 in 2024. If I were preaching a ful…

You need an eye for irony to interpret the #Bible. The defenders of the status quo create an uproar by falsely accusing others of being disruptive while missing the way they’re actually turning the world upside down.

#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 16 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 16:(11-15) 16-34, the text for August 10 in my People of Mission series. This passage appeared in the NL on Easter 4 of 2022. In the RCL 9-…

#Freedom in the #Bible is not about turning prisoners into runaways so much as turning jailers into hosts. (I do wish the Bible were more explicit about what it means for enslaved girls after their exorcisms.)

#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 15 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 15:1-21, my text for August 3. This was the NL for Easter 5 this year. Where are we? Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev, Pexels. The issue that was …

Keeping #faith in a relationship is not about how you think or about following a list of rules, but it should tangibly shape both your attention and your behavior.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 10 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 10:1-23, my main text for July 27 and (approximately) the NL for Easter 3 in 2023. Where are we? St Peter’s Culinary Vision. Church o…

#Prayer often has to do people with asking God for help, and #God often has to do with #neighbors asking each other for help.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 9:36-43 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 9:[32-35] 36-43, my text for July 20. This passage does not appear in the NL, but it is in the RCL for Easter 4C. I’m covering it in …

To be the church (called into being by Christ’s mission) means to be sent into the places where death reigns, bearing the power of resurrection.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 9:1-22 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 9:1-22, my text for July 13. This was the NL for Easter 3 in 2022 and the RCL for Easter 3C this year. Where are we? Baptism of St. Paul by…

The church is called to be transformed, which means we have to be willing to recognize that we don’t know all the answers.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 8 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 8:26-40, my text for July 6. This was the NL for Easter 4 this year and the RCL for Easter 5B. Where are we? The Baptism of the Chamberlain…

The world teaches us that some people are useful but not to be loved and included as they are. The catholicity (universality) of the church insists that loving people precisely as they are is exactly the point.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 6 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 6:1-15, my text for June 29. This (including 7:1-2a, 44-60) was the NL for Easter 3 this year, and the tail end of chapter 7 is the RCL for…

I can’t predict when your group’s honeymoon is going to end, but I can tell you it will happen when people start to suspect there isn’t enough for everyone. This may be exactly when the Holy Spirit does something new.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 5 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 5:27-42, my text for June 22. The first part of this text is in the RCL for Easter 2C. It doesn’t appear in the NL, but this scene an…

The church’s obedience to God by serving our neighbor actually sets us free from every lesser authority.
#PeopleOFMission #NarrativeLectionary
ecologian.wordpress.com/2025/06/13/a...

A Funny thing: Acts 3 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 3:1-10, my text for June 15. This text was the NL on Easter 3 last year, and the sermon following (12-19) was the RCL on the same day. Wher…

When loyalty to our neighbor asks for something we don’t have, there’s grace in sharing what we do have anyway. #PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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“The church does not have a mission. Christ's mission has a church."

While the #NarrativeLectionary leaves us to our own devices for the summer, I’m preaching a series from Acts. I’m calling it #PeopleOfMission and connecting each passage to a section of the #PCUSA Book of Order.