Sermons
Weekly professional powerhouse sermons by Leonard Sweet.
The 12 Yuletide Gifts for 2020 (Part 2)
The 12 Yuletide Gifts for 2020 Lectionary29 December 2020 First Sunday After Christmas Day Isaiah 63:7-9Psalm 148Hebrews 2:10-18Matthew 2:13-23 Text to Life This Sunday and last Sunday are the two Sundays of Christmastide, or the 12 Days of Christmas. In 567 AD at the Council of Tours, the 12 Days…
12 Gifts of Christmas
12 Gifts of Christmas Lectionary 22 December 2019 Fourth Sunday of Advent Matthew 1:18-25 Text to Life Okay, its December 22nd. How stressed out are you? Do you still have a closet full of stuff you keep meaning to wrap but somehow haven’t…
Kiss and Tell
Kiss and Tell Lectionary 15 December 2019 Third Sunday of Advent Matthew 11:2-11 Text to Life This time of year, car dealerships offer big holiday sales to clear out inventories. They are trying to make room for next year’s new “improved” versions of vehicles. But…
The Last Fork
The Last Fork* Lectionary8 December 2019Second Sunday of Advent Romans 15:4-13 We get the season of “Advent” so wrong. First of all we think the moment Thanksgiving is over it is time to start singing Christmas carols and celebrating the birth of the Christ child. Apart from the question of…
The First Go’el
The First Go’el Lectionary01 December 2019First Sunday in Advent Isaiah 2: 1-5 If you survived “Black Friday,” you have now made it to the eve of “Cyber Monday.” This is the day that starts at midnight and signifies huge online discounts. Cyber Monday has become the least productive day of…
The Homing Instinct
The Homing InstinctLectionary24 November 2019Christ the King SundayJeremiah 23:1-6Luke 1:68-79Colossians 1:11-20Luke 23:33-43Text to LifeThanksgiving Day Text: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Thanksgiving is almost upon us. Got out your stretchy pants yet. Men, how about those sweat- pants that have slide down to the bottom of the drawer? Studies show we gain about…
Don’t Get Weary in Well Doing
Don’t Get Weary in Well-Doing Lectionary17 November 201923rd Sunday After Pentecost Isaiah 65:17-25Isaiah 122 Thessalonians 3:6-13Luke 21:5-19 Text to Life It is all too easy to get snide and snarky this time of year. The corporate commercialism and marketplace mentality that drives our holiday economy is a full-court press. For…
7 Things Jesus Teaches About Questions
7 Things Jesus Teaches About Questions Lectionary 10 November 2019 22nd Sunday After Pentecost Luke 20:27-38 Text to Life When you have a biological child you first encounter that miraculous being as a tiny babe. Infants are helpless, completely dependent upon others for their care, and their only…
Be Square
Be SquareLectionary1 November 2019All Saints DayDaniel 7:1-3, 15-18Psalm 149Ephesians 1:11-23Luke 6:20-31Text to LifeWhat a week? We have enjoyed (or endured) the weirdness of Halloween costumes and All Hallows Even craziness. Halloween is fun. It is cloying. It is annoying. It is a billion-dollar business, not the #2 ranking in retail…
One Thing I Know
One Thing I KnowLectionary27 October 201920th Sunday After PentecostJoel 2:23-32Psalm 652 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18Luke 18:9-14Text to LifeDon’t you just love those people who are always “right?” What would we do without the resident “know-it-alls?” It is such comfort to know that on every subject and on every issue, no matter…