Tag: christianity

  • 11th January 2026,Baptism of the Lord, Year A

    Matthew 3:13-17 Christ revealed as God’s servant 3:13Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 3:14John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 3:15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for…

  • Preaching Paths 11 Jan 2026 Baptism of Our Lord Yr A

    Sally A Brown, Professor of Preaching Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary We learn in the verses immediately preceding today’s text that crowds gathered at the Jordan both fascinated and terrified by John’s message of an imminent divine epiphany, a day of reckoning. John adjures them to “repent and be baptized.” According to Jewish law, one could…

  •  4th January 2026, 2nd Sunday after Christmas, Yr A

     John 1:(1-9), 10-18 God with us 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1:2 He was in the beginning with God. 1:3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 1:4…

  • Preaching Paths 4 January 2026, 2nd Sunday after Christmas, Yr A

    Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Through Advent, Christmas Day, and the first Sunday of Christmastide, the preacher’s task has been to trace the ministry of John the Baptist, as well as Joseph’s crucial role, in the story of the arrival of Jesus, God’s Anointed One (Messiah). This week, we turn to John’s…

  • Sunday, 28th, 21st, & 14th December 2025 Yr A

    1st Sunday after Christmas 2025, Yr A 28th December 2025 Matthew 2:13-23 The slaughter of innocent children 2:13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you,…

  • Preaching Paths 14 December 2025 Advent 3 Year A

    Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary The gospel reading for this third Sunday in Advent, Year A, Mt 11:2-11, can be jarring for preachers, to say nothing of their prospective listeners. What merit is there in forcing ourselves to grapple with the consternation of John the Baptist, locked and silenced in Herod’s prison,…

  •  7th December 2025, 2nd Sunday of Advent, Year A

    Matthew 3:1-12 Prepare the way of the Lord 3:1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3:3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:…

  • Sunday, 30th November 2025, Advent 1 Yr A

    St Matthew 24: 36-44 Jesus said to the disciples, “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood…

  • Preaching Paths 30 November 2025 Advent 1 Yr A

    Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary Every year, the lectionary opens Advent with a Gospel text replete with eschatological visions and warnings. In Year A, the year devoted to Matthew’s gospel, Advent 1 lands us squarely in the gospel’s fifth discourse, sometimes called “the Eschatological Discourse.” This includes all of Matthew chs 24…

  • 23rd November 2025 (24th Sun. after Pentecost)

    St Luke 23: 33-43 Jesus crucified with two thieves 23:33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 23:34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they…