Sermons
Weekly professional powerhouse sermons by Leonard Sweet.
Addicted to Love
Addicted to Love Lectionary 20 October 2019 19th Sunday After Pentecost 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Text to Life Doesn’t it drive you crazy when you cannot remember where you put your wallet, or your car keys? What about whether or not you made that appointment…
Pour Out the Milk and Honey
Pour Out the Milk and Honey (Condensed and Sweetened) Lectionary13 October 201918th Sunday After Pentecost Jeremiah 29:1,4-7 Text to Life All children assume their family routines, rituals, values, traditions, lifestyles, are the “norm” for everyone, whether the specifics are for good or ill. Sunday morning means going to church. Unless…
“Just Do Your Job”
“Just Do Your Job” Lectionary6 October 201917th Sunday After Pentecost Luke 17:5-10 There is no denying that we are right in the midst of a swirling seasonal phenomenon. No, not hurricane season. No, not the season of freakish first snowfalls. It is, of course, football season. There are two distinct…
Tapping Feet, Bobbing Heads, Heaving Shoulders
Tapping Feet, Bobbing Heads, Heaving ShouldersLectionary29 September 201916th Sunday After PentecostJeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15Psalm 1461 Timothy 6:6-19Luke 16:19-31Text to LifeThe Pauline letters of First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus are known among biblical scholars as the “pastoral epistles.” In short, these letters are Paul’s “mentoring moments” to the newest planters of…
Evermore
Evermore Lectionary 22 September 2019 15th Sunday After Pentecost Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 Psalm 113 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Luke 16:1-13 Text to Life Okay, this is just wrong. Wrong and weird. There are now “Botox” ads online specifically geared towards women, and men, in their twenties—urging them to get rid of frown…
Watch Your Tone
Watch Your ToneLectionary15 September 201914th Sunday After PentecostJeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28Psalm 141 Timothy 1:12-17Luke 15:1-10Text to LifeIf you’ve ever played a musical instrument or sang in a choir, you are probably familiar with a “tuning fork.” The pitch emitted by any particular tuning fork is determined by the length and mass…
A Messiah and a Metaphor
A Messiah and a MetaphorLectionary8 September 201913th Sunday After PentecostJeremiah 18:1-11Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18Philemon 1:1-21Luke 14:25-33 Text to Life The other day the phone suddenly gave off a terrible alarm bell, one of those “in the event of an emergency” tones they test on TV. Everyone in the room was…
True Hospitality
True HospitalityLectionary1 September 201912th Sunday After PentecostStartText to LifeIt is almost Labor Day. Can you believe it? Where has the summer gone? Labor Day is unlike other “holidays” because it is both a celebration and a sadness. On the one hand it is a holiday that creates a blessed three-day…
Mt Zion’s “Yes!”
Mt. Zion’s “Yes!” Lectionary25 August 201911th Sunday After PentecostJeremiah 1:4-10Psalm 71:1-6Hebrews 12:18-29Luke 13:10-17Text to LifeIt is getting to be the time for the “turning over of the closets” and the “changing of the guard.” You know, time for shorts, swimsuits, tank tops, and flip-flops to make way for “acceptable” school…
Barking Dogs and Semiotics 101
Barking Dogs and Semiotics 101Lectionary18 August 201910th Sunday After PentecostIsaiah 5:1-7Psalm 79:1-2, 8-19Hebrews 11:29-12:2Luke 12:49-56Text to LifeIn 1814 The Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a minister in Hartford, Connecticut discovered that the young daughter of his next-door neighbor, Alice Cogswell, was deaf. Gallaudet began trying to teach his young neighbor to…