In The Driveway

It has been quite some time since I have done a segment on Bibles.  Don’t be fooled, there are still some in the church library that have yet to be featured, and I will get around to them some day.  Those Bible’s rarely get used and are what I affectionately call, “in the garage.”  Keeping with the theme, the ones on my desk getting daily use are the ones, “in the driveway.”   That driveway just got a bit more crowded.

You’ll be shocked to know that I recently bought a ne

Readings for June 15, 2025

While it is the first Sunday after Pentecost, this is also Trinity Sunday.  Before we get into the texts, we should be aware of such a theme that is likely to run through the Scripture.

Here’s what the lectionary has for us this week:

I will always smile when I see a reading from Proverbs.  It became my go to book of the Bible when I was young, simply because the Good News Bible had funny pictures along the top of some

Readings for June 1, 2025

Hard to believe, but we are still in the Easter season.  We have come to the 7th and final Sunday of Easter per the lectionary.   I have not written much in the past couple weeks on the readings, but you should know that it has been consistent in that the Old Testament lesson has been replaced by a reading from Acts and that Revelation has taken the place of the Epistle.

The Psalm and Gospel remain steady, so here’s what we have:

Readings for May 11, 2025

The lectionary presses forward into the 4th Sunday of Easter, and we continue with readings from Acts, John and Revelation to go along with the Psalm.

Acts takes the place of the OT lesson during the Easter season and the story of Dorcas is a familiar one to me.  I preached on it last year or the year before on Mother’s Day.  The Scripture itself is a powerful story, but you’d really be doing yourself a favor if you looke

Readings For May 4, 2025

Welcome back to this space where we look at the Revised Common Lectionary’s recommended readings for the coming Sunday.  The “Third Week of Easter” brings a different look than normal, as we do not get an Old Testament lesson.  It is the second straight week the lectionary has substituted a reading from Acts.  Let’s get into it.  Here are the readings:

Acts gives us the narrative of Paul’s conversion.  One of severa

A Good Portal

The word portal doesn’t generally have very good connotations.  In most sci-fi movies portals being opened create all sorts of problems and generally cost people their lives.  On a much lesser scale, the college athletics “transfer portal” has become a thorn in the side of sports fans and the programs they support.

Despite the above, we here at Timberville Church of the Brethren opened a portal recently.  While in the grand scheme of things, I think our new online giving

Readings For April 6, 2025

We move to the 5th Sunday in Lent, perhaps you could say the last regular Sunday in Lent.

With that in mind, let’s see what the lectionary has for us:

Isaiah is hitting a bit differently this morning, specifically verse 19.  The NRSV translation on the website I use to view the lectionary texts is grabbing my collar and asking the question quite pointedly.   Last week Paul spoke of being a new creation and this week we h

Readings For March 30, 2025

We seem to be moving through Lent very quickly.  Makes me wonder if the days moving towards Jerusalem, the betrayal, the suffering and then crucifixion came quickly for Jesus or whether these days dragged on.

The typical four reading fare from the lectionary this week:

It’s not often we find ourselves in the book of Joshua.  I remember an Old Testament class I took where this book intrigued me, and I almost did a

Readings for March 23, 2025

It’s a Monday, so here I am looking at the readings for the coming week.  Take a look along with me to see what we have for the Third Sunday in Lent.

The Old Testament lesson is one many of us have heard many times, the story of the burning bush.  It’s interesting that I quoted part of this passage a couple weeks ago in my sermon, so for me this is a reading I have looked at very recently.  A couple first blush thin

Readings for March 16, 2025

After taking a week off, let’s get back to the regular schedule and take a look at the recommended readings for this coming Sunday.  The lectionary serves up the standard four readings for the Second Sunday in Lent and here they are:

The familiar story in Genesis hit me differently this morning for some reason.  Yes, there’s still a wonderful covenant and promise made to Abraham by God, but something else push

Blessed to be a Blessing

It was during my Old Testament class that I first heard the phrase, “blessed to be a blessing.”  The teacher was describing a new relationship between God and his chosen people.  Being blessed is nice, but there is a calling that comes along with it to bless others.   We should “pass it on” as the old camp song says.

With the above being said, I am often blessed to be a blessing here at the church. I am the point person when we have gift cards to hand out for those who ne

Readings For March 2, 2025

This will be the last Sunday after Epiphany.  The last Sunday before we move into the Lenten season is also the “Transfiguration.”   We’re going to do a strange dance in the lectionary these next couple weeks when it comes to the Gospel, moving three chapters ahead in Luke this week and then going all the way back to chapter four next week before zooming ahead to chapter 13 the following week.   I trust there’s a reason and a message in all that.

Here’s what we have for t

Readings For February 23, 2025

We have made it to the second to last Sunday in the Epiphany season, the penultimate week of Epiphany I guess you could say.  We remain in a predictable lectionary pattern with an Epistle in 1st Corinthians and a Gospel lesson from Luke.  We mix in a Psalm as always and a reading from Genesis.  I’ll be curious to see how they all fit together.

Here are the readings:

God’s plans supersede those o

Readings For February 16, 2025

We push closer to Lent, but still hold on to the remnants of Epiphany, reminding us that Christmas was not as long ago as it seems.

The lectionary returns to Jeremiah and continues on with readings from Luke and 1st Corinthians.

In the Old Testament lesson, it’s always tough to read this section of Jeremiah and not think about politics and other cult of personality.  How often do we think we’ll be delivered from one

Readings for February 9, 2025

Can you believe we have pushed into the second week of February already?  Back to the typical fare out of the lectionary site I use and the lectionary itself.

For the second week in a row, we get the story of a prophet being called.  We had Jeremiah last week and this week we get the classic Scripture where Isaiah says, “Here I am.”  Would have been nice if the pastor hadn’t already had the congregation sing, “H