RCL Reflections – Page 15

Knit Together in Great Love

November 1, 2018 By Sharron R. Blezard Leave a Comment

RCL Reflection, All Saints Sunday & 25th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 26, Year B, Nov. 4, 2018
All Saints Day provides a powerful witness to the truth that love wins; death is not victorious. In great love, God sent the Son, and in with a love stronger than death Jesus defied all darkness and the powers of evil, breaking out of the tomb, resurrected to new and eternal life. It is indeed a feast of love, a memory of what was, a moment of time and logic suspended, and the hope of what is yet to come. (Photo: Emma Jane Hogbin Westby, Creative Commons)

What do you really want from Jesus?

October 25, 2018 By Sharron R. Blezard Leave a Comment

RCL Reflection, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 25, Year B & Reformation Sunday, October 28, 2018
Will we be bold like Bartimaeus in asking Jesus for what we need? When Jesus does answer our prayer, what is our response? Will we, like the blind beggar, follow Jesus on the way, risking everything for the sake of the gospel? (Photo: Vincent Desjardins, Creative Commons)

The Stewardship/Service Connection

October 18, 2018 By Sharron R. Blezard Leave a Comment

RCL Reflection, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Prop. 24, Year B, Oct. 21, 2018
Do you want to be first? The only way for that to happen is to lose yourself in Jesus. Take your eyes off all that the world tells you matters, and love God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself. Yes, being a “slave of all” is indeed good stewardship because it will lead you into the way of real and abundant life—first and always. (Photo: Wonderlane, Creative Commons)

The One Thing

October 11, 2018 By Sharron R. Blezard Leave a Comment

RCL Reflection, 21st Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 23, Year B, Oct. 14, 2018
This week’s gospel points to the truth that following Jesus is not for the faint of heart—just ask Peter, who is bemoaning the fact that he and the other disciples have left everything to follow Jesus. Will it still be impossible for them to enter God’s kingdom after all they have laid aside? What about modern disciples? (Photo: opensourceway, Creative Commons)

Praise that Leads to Action

October 4, 2018 By Sharron R. Blezard Leave a Comment

RCL Reflection, 20th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, Proper 22, Oct. 7, 2018
On this Sunday following the commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi, let Psalm 8 provide a stewardship and praise lens for your worship and preaching. This is a great time of year to talk about care of creation and praise of the Creator. (Photo: Tom Bjorkstedt, Creative Commons)

Welcome the children/welcome God

September 20, 2018 By Sharron R. Blezard Leave a Comment

RCL Reflection, 18th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 20, Year B, Sept. 23, 2018
Welcoming the vulnerable God in the face of our neighbors near and far is not a far-removed dream but an ever-present and pressing reality. Greatness is not found in the world’s definition of the word but rather in aligning ourselves with those for whom a welcome is not always found. We are to feed, love, and seek out those the world overlooks. (Photo: Alex Eflon, Creative Commons)

Who Do YOU Say Jesus Is?

September 13, 2018 By Sharron R. Blezard Leave a Comment

Revised Common Lectionary Reflection, Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 19, Year B, September 16, 2018
Who do YOU say that Jesus is? We know that Peter called him the Messiah and then turned right around and tried to redirect his ministry. We also know what that got Peter–a stern redirection of his own. How is your life being redirected by your faith and allegiance to the Messiah? (Photo: Robert Douglas, Creative Commons)

Wide Open Faith

September 6, 2018 By Sharron R. Blezard Leave a Comment

RCL Reflection, 16th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18, Year B, Sept. 9, 2018. Do you have the audacious, and persistent faith of the Gentile woman in this week’s gospel lesson? Have your ears been opened and your tongue set free like the man in Sidon? Is your faith limp and lifeless, or is yours a life of wide-open discipleship? This week’s lessons invite us to wrestle with these and other questions. (Photo: Brett Streuker, Creative Commons)

Loving and living God’s law

August 30, 2018 By Sharron R. Blezard Leave a Comment

RCL Reflection, 15th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B, Sept. 2, 2018
This week’s lessons provide many opportunities to talk about the gift of God’s law, the way we live as people of faith, the examples we set, and what our actions and works communicate. We must avoid becoming so focused on minutia that we fail to take in the entire picture, fail to love our neighbors, and derail a faithful witness. (Photo: John Taylor, Creative Commons)

Discipleship, armor, and the bread of life

August 23, 2018 By Sharron R. Blezard Leave a Comment

RCL Reflection, 14th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 16, Year B, August 26, 2018
This week’s lessons remind us that the way of Jesus is not always an easy path, but it is the path that leads to abundant and everlasting life. Being part of the beloved community, the Body of Christ, equips us and strengthens us for the journey and enables us to contend with the forces of darkness and destruction. Clothed in God’s mercy, grace, and love, we are sent to proclaim a gospel of peace to all people. (Photo: annamarieangelo, Creative Commons)