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Podcasts | Worth Doing Badly

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Synopsis

A weekly overview of the Bible readings for each Sunday of the Church Year

Frequency

Wednesdays: 03:00, 11:00, 15:00, 21:00

Podcast List

Series C, Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Jesus’ beatitudes help us see beyond the present moment to our future reality, that God’s judgement really is in our favour.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2025-02-12

Series C, Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Humility is not a moral thing we decide to do or be; it is what happens when we recognize the fullness of our fallen reality and the greatness of God. God’s compelling and attractive nature, which draws us toward Him rather than drive us away, requires working through our natural, sinful inclination to distance ourselves from Him.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2025-02-05

Series C, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Jesus’ authority and power are signalled by miracles which point beyond visible manifestations to the fullness of life to come.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2025-01-29

Series C, Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Do we resit God’s living Word actively changing who we are? True humility in the face of God’s Word leads to the response of worship.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2025-01-22

Series C, Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Here at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus transports us to the end showing us that we can experience our future reality in the present moment. This does not necessarily change our present circumstances, but it does change us, making us tread a little more boldly toward the final hour.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2025-01-15

The Baptism of Our Lord

You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. Luke 3:22b Christ identified Himself with sinners in his baptism. Sinners identified with Christ in their baptism become God’s beloved children with whom He is well-pleased.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2025-01-08

The Epiphany of Our Lord

Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. Matthew 2:2 Epiphany celebrates the promise of God making himself known to us; revealing himself to and through the church through the glorious weakness of preaching. The epiphany to the Magi is first a decisive act of revelation that casts light on what it means to be in the Church now and in which the eternal wisdom is being made known.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2025-01-01

The Holy Innocents

The Holy Innocents were martyrs in deed but not will: Their lives were taken for the sake of Jesus, but were not yet able to confess His name with their own minds and tongues. Jesus gave His life of His own to save the world from sin and death and He rose again to intercede for us.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-12-25

Fourth Sunday in Advent

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. Luke 1:46–48 God’s mercy is powerful, but works not in the way the wannabe powerful act. God’s mercy seeks the humble, intending to edify and elevate him to God’s glory.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-12-18

Third Sunday in Advent

Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. Luke 7:23 The road through Advent to Christmas is no walk in the park. Although it is repeated each year, it is never experienced the same way. Life’s journey carries us to different points, but no matter where we are, we must learn again that the Way of Christ is not a broad, smooth path, but rather a narrow, rocky trail. We need the Lord to teach us again the intricacies of the Way, the curves, the terrain, and all the things that could be thrown at us. But what makes us endure to the end is knowing that God is with us.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-12-11

Second Sunday in Advent

Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. Luke 3:8a The truth of salvation is expressed in the double confession which expresses truthful recognition of God’s wrath and His love for the unlovable. The desire to reach God and the recognition of God reaches us in Christ’s incarnation.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-12-04

First Sunday in Advent

Right when we think the journey is going to end with the Last Sunday of the Church Year, the lectionary rolls us quite seamlessly into Advent – the season of preparation. It turns out the Lord is drawing near, “at the very gates,” not to bring things to an end, but to carry them forward into fullness. The church calendar’s seamless movement from the end to the beginning shows us that the eschatological is bound together with the incarnational.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-11-27

Series B, Last Sunday of the Church Year

The last Sunday of the Church year remind us that the lectionary texts unfold the movement of the church calendar which repeatedly recalls the saturated meaning of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. This truth requires a special calendar to show us how time itself has been altered by the Incarnate Son of God so that now it measures our movement through – Not to. Through – our mortal end towards immortality.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-11-20

Series B, Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost

The Kingdom of God invades the kingdom of man first by proclamation because God would have free followers, having been drawn by the desire to live, rather than being the last resort of the alarmed and fearful.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-11-13

Series B, Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

God keeps faith forever. His kingdom is one of justice and generosity. To be a citizen of his kingdom is to put our trust in Him completely; and with that faith in Him, we trust that he will raise up those who are bowed down and sit us at his royal banquet table.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-11-06

Series B, All Saints Day

The life of Jesus and the lives of His "saints" are the two witnesses to the truthfulness of the alternative version of reality transfiguring deprivation, deficit, wickedness, or weakness into the state of ultimate blessedness that is experienced in the soul/mind/heart where Jesus opens His mouth to teach and opens us up to the new version of reality.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-10-30

Series B, Reformation Day

The hope of this fallen/falling world is temporary, but the beauty, truth and goodness of God`s salvation are eternal.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-10-23

Series B, Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus’ disciples were struck by His dismissing of wealth as a hindrance to desiring salvation. Then, He taught them the difference between gaining the whole world and losing the soul and "great exchange" – Christ swapping His righteousness for our un-right-ness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-10-16

Series B, Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

Everything turns on Jesus being the cause and consummation of the goodness we desire; i.e., quality-perfect; quantity-forever. Only if that is goodness are we free to see possessions as ancillary, ministerial, auxiliary, useful tools of knowing and doing the good.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-10-09

Series B, Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

“Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” Mark 10:4. The regulatory aimed to weakened the hold of marriage by giving permits for divorce while Jesus defined marriage as our participation in God’s faithfulness that gave marriage the heft and oomph to battle our selfish, fat, insatiable egos.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-10-02

Series B, Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Not everything called peace is peace. Jesus’ alternative peace is salt-like— “Have salt among yourselves and live in peace.” Salt subtly draws out and combines foods’ various flavours without notice until, that is, the salt is missing.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-09-25

Series B, Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

“Who is the greatest?" is an embarrassingly irrelevant question. Greatness is defined by Jesus turning the world right-side-up again.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-09-18

Series B, Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Faith means seeing the physical by the truth of the metaphysical; the material by the non-material; the mortal by the light of the eternal.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-09-11

Series B, Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Faith comes by hearing, and even hearing is restored by the special attraction of the Word of God.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-09-04

Series B, Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

How is one made clean? By having the heart transformed, which happens by humbly hearing God’s promises, His Word of forgiveness, and engaging His commandments and precepts; and with that our souls are guarded, which is Jesus’ main concern.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-08-28

Series B, Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

The defeat of the fat, relentless ego is experienced when Christ’s presence works so that we desire to will and to do God’s good pleasure. When what we confess with our lips is what we believe, value and desire in our hearts.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-08-21

Series B, Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

There will always be difficult and offensive things in the life of faith; but part of that life of faith is willingness to continue walking with Jesus and be led by him to see the truth in his difficult teachings.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-08-14

Series B, Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Eternal life, like all life, depends on having the right kind of food and Jesus reminds us in in John 6:51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-08-07

Series B, Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Anyone serious about the faith knows that belief is some of the hardest, most strenuous work out there because it learns to see life in the midst of death. Jesus, is “the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:33) He is the bread that was sacrificed on the altar of the cross and His deadly sacrifice gives life to the world.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-07-31

Series B, Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus intensified the fear of his disciples of dying in a storm by appearing to be the angel of death present to take their souls to hades. His purpose was to demonstrate to the disciples that the very real evil in the world and in their hearts requires a very real deliverance that can be trusted even when in the thick of fearful circumstances.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-07-24

Series B, Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Teaching is a sign of Christ’s compassion. He is not just here to protect and provide like a shepherd, He is here to teach and by teaching He leads people out of fear and disorder into his leisure and abundant feast in this wilderness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-07-17

Series B, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection leaves nothing unchanged. Fulness of life is in the ongoing realization of the happy hopefulness of this truth.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-07-10

Series B, Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Can a sense of pride on the part of the hearer get in the way of hearing the preaching of repentance? Pride is unbelief, and prevents the miracles of faith from occurring.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-07-03

Series B, Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus` healings define the meaning of the grace which redefines God’s relationship to sinners.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-06-26

Series B, Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39 The calming of the sea was a contest of the louder voice. It was not just that Jesus told the sea “Peace, be still!” It was “Silent! Be muzzled!” Language has its limits, we think, but that is only until God gets his hands on it.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-06-19

Series B, Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. Mark 4:26 When Jesus specifies the metaphor, close attention needs to be paid to points of comparison. The church is an agri-culture which distinguishes it from mechanical systems, financial systems, political powers, or pleasure calculus. Cultivation not management is the ruling metaphor. The natural history of seeds is the most direct king-dom analogy in seeing what falls to agency and what happens because of patience and trust. Agri-culture is not manageable but does admit that God’s promises, like seeds, have a trustable level of predictability.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-06-12

Series B, Third Sunday after Pentecost

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. Mark 3:24 The nature of God’s Kingdom is not that of a family dynasty connected by physical bloodlines, but a spiritual Kingdom united by the power of the Holy Spirit under the Lordship of Christ. The Kingdom of Heaven is made up of people liberated from the Kingdom of Satan by Christ who has bound the strong man and plundered his house. The content of the God’s Kingdom, which no thief can steal, is forgiveness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-06-05

Series B, Second Sunday after Pentecost

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27 Preaching on this passage has often staked the untrue claim that the Gospel "frees" a Christian from keeping the "Sabbath." And that deceptive claim gives the false consolation that Christians are free not to worship together. It is ironic that the freedom of the Gospel is a license to be free from the Gospel, which is enjoying God`s real presence.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-05-29

Series B, The Holy Trinity

Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Isaiah 6:5 God is life, life, life, and Isaiah saw himself to be too much defined by death to imagine ever fitting into God’s presence, that is until God cauterized his festering lips, forgiving his offenses then returning Isaiah to participate in the Spirit`s work of spreading life to the dying world.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-05-22

Series B, The Ascension of Our Lord

Salvation is completely accomplished by Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. His Ascension unleashed the final stage of the apocalypse revealing the consequences of His Salvation by extending it to single individuals throughout all nations.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-05-08

Series B, Sixth Sunday of Easter

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (John 15:9) “Abide” means enjoying Christ’s perfection in loving as we have been loved. It is personal and participatory like remaining in a warm house whose warmth is shared.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-05-01

Series B, Fifth Sunday of Easter

Jesus’ declaration that he is the True Vine connects to His first miracle at the wedding in Cana. It was not accidental that Jesus launched His mission to give immortality to mortals at a wedding and by changing water into wine as it harkens back to God’s gifts of fruit and fruitfulness at life`s creation.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-04-24

Series B, Fourth Sunday of Easter

When Jesus says, “I AM the Good Shepherd,” He offers a unity grounded in sacrifice and knowledge that at the same time raises up the individual and brings that individual to share in the one mind of Christ.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-04-17

Series B, Third Sunday of Easter

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” (Luke 24:36) This reading continues the theme of peace brought about by Christ’s Resurrection, but instead of being connected to forgiveness, peace relates to physical presence and eating. Jesus grants peace by being physically present. Holy Communion incorporates the communion of the physical mind that “repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations…”

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-04-10

Series B, Second Sunday of Easter

“Peace be with you!” Peace is the confidence that through His cross and resurrection Jesus has restored to us the natural, wholesome condition of existence.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-04-03

Series B, The Resurrection of Our Lord

But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. (Mark 167-8) We are seeing here the response of true worship. True worship, as a saturated experience, leaves us ecstatic. It completely displaces us because we are overwhelmed with awe and wonder.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-03-27

Series B, Sunday of the Passion

The mystery of Jesus’ Passion glory gives us the freedom to hate this life without hating life, the freedom to love this life by hating the destruction inflicted by sin, death, and the devil and to refuse to live as if life can be permanently killed. This freedom is granted only to those with the hope of Jesus’ Passion glory.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-03-20

Series B, Fifth Sunday in Lent

Jesus manifests what true greatness is in His self-sacrifice. True greatness is not in lording it over anyone but in the knowledge and wisdom He so generously serves. More than that, in His offering himself as the ransom—the redemption price for those all those who are captive to sin. A price well beyond what we can imagine!

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-03-13

Series B, Fourth Sunday in Lent

God’s love given to those who love the darkness casts light on what it means for us to live in a post-truth world where trust is increasingly displaced by suspicion and loneliness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-03-06

Series B, Third Sunday in Lent

Jesus cleared out the Temple, essentially bringing the sacrificial economy to a halt, because God now dwells in the flesh and not in a temple made with hands, to make the once-for-all sacrifice sins.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-02-28

Series B, Second Sunday in Lent

To confess Jesus as Christ is to have the same Words as He does, breathe the same Spirit as He does, and ultimately, do the same things as He does. There is a oneness with Christ and His body that comes out of the confession.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-02-21

Series B, First Sunday in Lent

Jesus suffered temptation because he was the beloved Son who would demonstrate God’s love for the world by being the sacrifice for the sins of the world.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-02-14

Series B, The Transfiguration of Our Lord

Jesus’ Transfiguration defines the final act of salvation as a movement beginning on the Mount of Transfiguration through the disfiguration of the cross, then finished by the Resurrection.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-02-07

Series B, Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Jesus’ promised healing happens only when time ends. This means, in the meantime, we only have foretastes that do not fully satisfy, but rather deepen our longing for the fullness of His eternal kindness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-01-31

Series B, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

The Evangelist Mark shows throughout his Gospel that Jesus moved individual souls inwardly by in-struction, while official authority depended on external compulsion. This difference changed the meaning of the word obedience from fearfully following external authority to following Jesus’ in-structuring of the soul that authorizes a way of life that is free from fear.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-01-24

Series B, Third Sunday after the Epiphany

“The time is fulfilled.” Jesus responded to the bad news that John had been arrested by preaching the “Good News” about Him; and this is good news for bad times because, as Jesus said, “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.”

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-01-17

Series B, Second Sunday after the Epiphany

“How do you know me?” The Incarnation of the Son of God meant that the King of the universe had taken on flesh and blood to personally know single individuals like Nathanael and us.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-01-10

Series B, The Baptism of Our Lord

Jesus’ baptism demonstrated that he, God’s beloved Son, now in love for His fallen world, freely identified Himself with sinners and, in love, freely chose to be in the presence of his beloved ones, and finally freely gave His life for his beloved on the cross.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2024-01-03

Series B, First Sunday after Christmas

Simeon declared his ability to depart in peace because he recognized Jesus as the fullness of time. As time’s fullness, Jesus would transform time from a draining movement of despair to the filling movement that departs into eternal fullness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-12-27

Series B, Fourth Sunday in Advent

The angel Gabriel’s message to the Virgin Mary regarding the conditions of her pregnancy were unpromising and unsettling. Yet, she was to “fear not”, not because things were not fearful, but because the fear would give way to the joy of Christmas.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-12-20

Series B, Third Sunday in Advent

John the Baptist went by the desert to declare that the One who would come after him was the Way out of the wilderness of this life and the desert of death. Jesus was also called the Word, because his salvation would be nothing less than a new creation which would reveal Him as the Light of Life.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-12-13

Series B, Second Sunday in Advent

The way of the Lord is characterized by repentance because the good news of Jesus Christ begins by rejecting the world’s way which John the Baptist expressed in his wild diet, and wild dress and living in the wilderness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-12-06

Series B, First Sunday in Advent

Advent is a season that pays attention to the meaning of Jesus as the blessed one who is God with us. This means that we are warranted to trust that His real presence promises to make blessedness come from our deprivations.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-11-29

Series A, Last Sunday of the Church Year

This parable happily characterizes the freedom that Christ’s mercy gives to be merciful unaware of doing something exceptional. It also gives us hope that our struggles with our stinginess and resentment, when we are called to sacrifice for others, are not in vain.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-11-22

Series A, Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

When time terminates life there is weeping and gnashing teeth, which contrasts with time opening to ever more time to mean “All’s well that ends well.” Paul wrote in the Epistle for this Sunday that God has not destined us for wrath, and yet Jesus wants us to appreciate the weeping and gnashing teeth of human hopelessness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-11-15

Series A, Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Why do we need church? We need God’s Word to continually be called to mind because we can be foolish and make a mess of our lives, which means that we are continually in need of repentance.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-11-08

Series A, All Saints

“Blessed are the …” The accumulating effect of the repetition of blessedness is an outline of the Christian hope. This hope starkly contrasts with the current pervasive hopelessness because it recognizes a hidden blessedness in seemingly life-ruining afflictions like poverty, persecution, hunger, and powerlessness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-11-01

Series A, Reformation Day

The desire for re-form is the core of Christian hope. This hope is concisely expressed in the liturgical text called the Gloria Patri, which asserts that “…as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.”

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-10-25

Series A, Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

At a time when Caesar used the threat of death to collect money, God became flesh to freely give his life to the world.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-10-18

Series A, Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

This is an invitation to a festival that neither asks nor exacts any payment from us. It is the King of heaven’s will to put on an absolutely gratuitous festival that He completely plans and pays because he delights in our delight when his will is done that our lives may be characterized by being in the festival and not in the outer darkness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-10-11

Series A, Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

The Human desire to flourish is pictured as being fruitful, which requires a vineyard. Yet, Jesus tells two parables that explain the belief in the fictional possibility of having a fruitful life while rejecting the vineyard and its owner.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-10-04

Series A, Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23b) True authority is evident in the life-bestowing works of Jesus.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-09-27

Series A, Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

“Do you begrudge my generosity?” (Mt 20:15) This parable is a masterclass in storytelling because it helps us viscerally feel the envy. But why would Jesus direct a parable about envy at his followers? Perhaps because they were the first hour hires who, at great personal cost, would establish God’s vineyard, the church on earth.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-09-20

Series A, Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

“Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” (Mt 18:21) Why must forgiveness be unlimited and un-countable? Because forgiveness is part of the atmosphere of existence. Forgiveness is like eating, sleeping, drinking, and breathing, where no one sets limits to how often we breath or eat or sleep or drink. Life depends on God’s forgiveness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-09-13

Series A, Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus’ disciples had difficulty recognizing that the world’s greatest feat, His salvation of the world, would be an exercise in humility and not accomplished by coercive power.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-09-06

Series A, Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Trusting that real mercy defeats death, Jesus freely walked to the cross rather than run from suffering and death.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-08-30

Series A, Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus promises the key for all mortals to prevail over the gates of hell. This key is our confession that our mortality is different if the God of heaven was present on earth in the man Jesus being the divine Christ.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-08-23

Series A, Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Joy comes from God`s shining face that sheds the light of life as it dispels our gloom and darkness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-08-16

Series A, Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus’ disciples were to have courage because God was really present and that makes the decisive difference in how life is lived. When faith recognizes Christ’s real presence, it is reasonable to meet truly fearful things with the courage that fears not.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-08-09

Series A, Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

The path away from anguished weeping and angry gnashing of teeth gives thanks to God because His presence means the satisfaction of the many and massive hungers inflicted on humanity after the fall.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-08-02

Series A, Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Having citizenship in the kingdom of heaven promises a better hope and joy that outlasts and overcomes the anguish and anger of all our experiences of loss.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-07-26

Series A, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

To live by grace means that “our help is in the name of the Lord”, which means that we must wait on God to grant a solution that is final; and it happens to be eternal salvation.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-07-19

Series A, Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Rather than giving into the despair of thinking that our work is in vain, Jesus` parable of the Sower focuses on the fruitful seed being the sign of God`s fulfilled promises.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-07-12

Series A, Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus offers rest for the soul because humanity is plagued by a restlessness that constantly demands our effort while inflicting the weight of anxiety.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-07-05

Series A, Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Christ’s peace would be disruptive of all worldly peace which can only promise a temporary avoidance of death and not freedom from death; a freedom that is expressed by freely taking up one’s cross, expecting death to pay everlasting benefits.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-06-28

Series A, Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Several times Jesus commands his disciples to not fear while describing the fearful life and showing them the hidden truth of why not fearing is reasonable.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-06-21

Series A, Third Sunday after Pentecost

Glad praise and thanksgiving are express recognition of and appreciation for the goodness that owes itself to God. Creatures worship when they come to know the goodness of the Lord God as both our Creator and as our Good Shepherd who cares for His flock.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-06-14

Series A, Second Sunday after Pentecost

Having experienced and enjoyed Christ’s mercy, the Evangelist Matthew desired to become like Him, being a god-like agent of mercy in transforming healing and edification.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-06-07

The Holy Trinity

Trinity Sunday asserts that we live and move and have our being within the Trinity. We are baptized in the name of the Trinity and through teaching, which is energized by the Holy Spirit, we actively, freely and joyfully participate in the Trinity’s...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-05-31

Series A, Pentecost

Pentecost added to the Incarnation’s great reversal where God became a man so that mankind could hope to be like God. The reversal reverberated throughout fallen creation so that Christ gave life to the dead, health to the infirm, understanding to the...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-05-24

Series A, The Ascension of Our Lord

Christ’s Ascension completed the path begun with the incarnation and this fact has changed every fact of life that is affected by death.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-05-17

Series A, 6th Sunday of Easter

Jesus defined love as a linguistic connection established through listening to his word. Loving Christ means keeping his commandments, which means to value Christ’s words as being more precious than gold and sweeter than honey.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-05-10

Series A, 5th Sunday of Easter

The upshot of Jesus' resurrection is the possibility of untroubled hearts. The claim, like all interesting claims, is enticing, but much easier promised than possible. Christ’s claim that his presence lifts human hearts above adverse circumstances...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-05-03

Series A, 4th Sunday of Easter

Christ as the Good Shepherd not only leads us to the eternal fulfilment of our desires, he teaches us that what we truly desire is eternal and, in this life, insatiable.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-04-26

Series A, 3rd Sunday of Easter

Christ’s finished resurrection founded the fact of salvation. The fall had been reversed for all and forever. What remained is for single individual souls to come to understand the meaning of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-04-19

Series A, Second Sunday of Easter

Jesus utilized Thomas’ doubt to forge in the disciples a durable trust in the truth of the resurrection.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-04-12

Series A, Easter Day

Jesus’ command “Fear not!” did not make the world less fearful, but promised to make us less fearful. The positive alternative to fearing is joy mingled with reverent fear and Christ’s resurrection placed these at the centre of human history.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-04-05

Series A, Palm Sunday

The natural draw of the cross is that it promises to satisfy the desire to live by feeding on the sacrifice of the Bread of Life. The draw of the cross is also supernatural glory, being the demonstration of God’s love for the world.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-03-29

Series A, 5th Sunday in Lent

Faith gives us immediate access to an exuberant way of living that crescendos and finally culminates in the resurrection.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-03-22

Series A, 4th Sunday in Lent

Beginning with the phenomenon of the physical healing, blindness becomes a metaphor to contemplate the irrational choice to reject Christ’s salvation. This means choosing to be determined by the mathematical certainty of one’s existence ending in...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-03-15

Series A, 3rd Sunday in Lent

Jesus’ thirst was a metaphor for a woman’s never-satisfied thirst for life. Even though she knew the facts about God promising satisfaction, her thirst to love and be loved was unquenched and frustrated. The gift of God’s grace promises to forever...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-03-08

Series A, 2nd Sunday in Lent

On this episode we consider how Jesus used Nicodemus’ examination to increase our appreciation for the consolation of God’s love as expressed in Jesus’ death.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-03-01

Series A, 1st Sunday in Lent

Life is a path of deprivation toward death interrupted by hints, foretastes and rumours that life has not always been a fall.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-02-22

Series A, The Transfiguration of Our Lord

The Transfiguration was the coronation of Christ the King who would inaugurate the new era of the Kingdom of God on earth.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-02-15

Series A, 6th Sunday after the Epiphany

Christ fulfilling the Law restored the Law to its proper part in His intent to fulfil the human desire for God's love and life. This proper role of the Law is at work in repentance exposing our self-centred egoism as an incurable, crippling...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-02-08

Series A, 5th Sunday after the Epiphany

Jesus rejected the accusation that he was abolishing the Law. On the contrary, his grace and mercy fulfilled the Law so that it could continue, as the Psalm declared, to be “keenly desired” and to inspire the “Alleluias” that expressed the hope...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-02-01

Series A, 4th Sunday after the Epiphany

What would it be like not to fear loss? The beatitudes express the perfection of Christ that we as penitents can desire and aspire to. We can aspire to the beatitudes’ nonchalant attitude when we recognize that in Christ loss is gain.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-01-25

Series A, 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany

Jesus was Light coming to save the lives of those who were defined by loss and sitting in dark despair.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-01-18

Series A, 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany

The Word made flesh is the Lamb of God. The ordering principle of life is the sacrifice of the incarnate God. The cross and crucifixion would redeem life and become the 2nd creation.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-01-11

Series A, The Baptism of Our Lord

John’s Baptism of repentance would fit into Christ’s intent to fulfill all righteousness because true God and true Man became the perfect penitent who reconciles the irreconcilables.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2023-01-04

Series A, 1st Sunday after Christmas

The 12 days of Christmas (Christmas day to 5 January) offers us characters and events like St. Stephen the first martyr and Herod’s killing of the innocent children to help us understand that the incarnation is an invasion of the kingdom of heaven into...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-12-28

Series A, Christmas Day

Series A, Christmas Day The Evangelist John treats the incarnation of the Word of God as a military invasion which was heralded by the angelic host. Their rejoicing that the rightful king had begun his subversive campaign of sabotage of the earthly...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-12-21

Series A, 4th Sunday in Advent

“...as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Mt 1:20) If the incarnation...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-12-14

Series A, 3rd Sunday in Advent

“And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Mt 11:6) As great as John was, Jesus said that each individual who trusts that Jesus makes suffering and death into the portal into paradise shares in John’s greatness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-12-07

Series A, 2nd Sunday in Advent

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Mt 3:1) Repentance is not a joyless obligation. Rather, it prepares us to enjoy Christ's Incarnation and the Truth that...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-11-30

Series A, 1st Sunday in Advent

“Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey...” Mathew 21:5. Jesus purposefully arranged to make his “triumphal entry” on a donkey to make humility the defining characteristic of his salvation.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-11-23

Series C, Last Sunday of the Church Year

For those who are in Christ, death is blessed because it gives life, not because it ends it. So, it is fitting that the last Sunday of the Church focuses our attention on the meanings of death, the final event in every human life.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-11-16

Series C, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus' truth of life is not found in the terror of death. The world’s demise is not the destruction of life, but rather the demolition of the old that makes way for coming of the new. This is why, when everything seems bent on becoming nothing, we...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-11-09

Series C, All Saints

The beatitudes express the mystery of Christian freedom that we are never defined by our experiences of deprivation. Rather, Christ's promised presence transforms every deprivation into the occasion of good fortune that generates gratitude.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-11-02

Series C, Reformation Day

Reformation means recognizing that the sign of the true Church is its commitment to continuous re–forming by Christ's truth. This means the Church is free to be still, and in that stillness to know that Christ is really present, and that his...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-10-26

Series C, 20th Sunday after Pentecost

The similar act of prayer in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector had significantly different meanings that reflect two kinds of critical thinking and two kinds of confidence. The first is self–confidence and the second is confident...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-10-19

Series C, 19th Sunday after Pentecost

Prayer that overcomes discouragement is characterized by the common frustration of dealing with a corrupt legal official and a stubborn widow. She could not overpower corruption but her persistence would outlast it because corruption is a stage of dying...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-10-12

Series C, 18th Sunday after Pentecost

Gratitude is the sign of the existential experience of God’s presence. Scripture’s nearly outrageous claim is that, even with those who suffer affliction, God’s presence generates real gratitude.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-10-05

Series C, 17th Sunday after Pentecost

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. (John 17:5-6) Jesus was...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-09-28

Series C, 16th Sunday after Pentecost

In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man Jesus teaches about the complications and consequences of short-term and long-term desire.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-09-21

Series C, 15th Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus continues his life lessons for losers with an odd parable commending the prudence of a corrupt servant who characterized the truth that “the sons of this age are shrewder than the sons of light.”

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-09-14

Series C, 14th Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus’ parables tapped into the deep human sadness of loss, which was, no doubt exacerbated by the unrelenting hatred tax collectors invited. Rather than being fixated on the sadness, these parables treated loss as the precondition for rejoicing...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-09-07

Series C, 13th Sunday after Pentecost

Renunciation is the way Jesus' disciple suffers loss without losing hope. Renunciation does not reject the good. It rejects the lie that impermanent things satisfy the human desire for the eternal.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-08-31

Series C, 12th Sunday after Pentecost

The Sabbath was set aside to rest and to remind us that that God’s Word was the first and final cause of creation, so that human existence is fundamentally a gift and not an achievement.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-08-24

Series C, 11th Sunday after Pentecost

Salvation is Christ's gracious gift, and yet Jesus commands striving because salvation is not an anaesthetic that makes us passive, but the energy that desires evermore life.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-08-17

Series C, 10th Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus’ peace is not the fragile and futile earthly peace of passively getting along by giving into the most selfish and powerful. His peace gives us the fire of His desire for the eternal and the sword to cut through the illusions, lies and deceptions...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-08-10

Series C, 9th Sunday after Pentecost

Do not be anxious! Anxiety inevitably unmasks every illusion of a good life without God and His promise of eternal life though Jesus Christ.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-08-03

Series C, 8th Sunday after Pentecost

Greed is a quasi–religious trust that the good life is given by material wealth. Jesus told the Parable of the Rich Fool to aid His disciples to repentance for being greedy fools. This story is a gift to the forgiven and who are free to fully face the...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-07-27

Series C, 7th Sunday after Pentecost

“Lord, teach us to pray.” Seeing Jesus pray, the disciples asked Jesus to teach or apprentice them in prayer. Prayer was not understood as coming naturally like breathing but is a thing that is learned by persistent attention to God’s truth.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-07-20

Series C, 6th Sunday after Pentecost

“One thing is necessary” (Jesus in Luke 10:42). Martha characterizes contemporary anxiety and distraction, while Mary characterizes the freedom from anxiety needed to give thoughtful attention to the truth.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-07-13

Series C, 5th Sunday after Pentecost

The Good Samaritan. By revealing the unmerited goodness of a Samaritan, Jesus prepared His hearers to recognize and appreciate the goodness of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection as God’s unmerited mercy rescuing the world victimized by evil.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-07-06

Series C, 4th Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus cautioned His followers not to rejoice in their success but to remember their place in heaven. The promise of heaven would free them to continue to live as harvesters, in prayer, in traveling light while embracing life among the wolves and being...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-06-29

Series C, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost

As Jesus aimed to die for sinners in Jerusalem, the disciples wanted to destroy sinners with fire. This ridiculous misunderstanding became the occasion for Jesus to teach what following him means.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-06-22

Series C, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost

The Gospel for the second Sunday after Pentecost is about demonic possession, which means it is meant to teach us about the alternative, that is, the Holy Spirit's indwelling.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-06-15

Series C, The Holy Trinity

Time and death are transformed because the Trinity is love. If God was one person, love would be self–love first and foremost. If God is Triune, then love has eternally been love for the other and not the self. The essentially sacrificial nature of...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-06-08

Series C, The Day of Pentecost

Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit who would continue His spiritual salvation which would prove to be more real in giving more life than any worldly salvation. The Spirit would give that peace that troubled, anxiety–ridden hearts desire and...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-06-01

Series C, The Ascension of Our Lord

The Ascension placed an exclamation point on Christ's work of salvation. Once the Resurrection put life back on track, time again measured life's promised ascent to ever–increasing life rather than measuring the descent to inevitable death.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-05-25

Series C, 6th Sunday of Easter

Jesus claims that praying "in His name" effects real this-worldly peace.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-05-18

Series C, 5th Sunday of Easter

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now”. (John 16:12) Christ's unbearable truth promised to free us from ourselves so that we can love God and love others.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-05-11

Series C, 4th Sunday of Easter

The Good Shepherd's presence reminds us that we need not fear lasting harm. Not only do the Good Shepherd's rod and staff discipline us from self–destruction, they also defend us from forces that can inflict hurt but not harm.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-05-04

Series C, 3rd Sunday of Easter

The texts consider Peter and Paul's conversions. Con–version literally means to unite (con) with the truth (veritas) that the resurrection's transfigured Christ's crucifixion. The converted then confesses––"fess up...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-04-27

Series C, 2nd Sunday of Easter

Addressing Thomas' doubts, Jesus said that peace was the upshot of His resurrection.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-04-20

Series C, Easter Day

From creation to resurrection, the truth is that reality bends to Jesus' words. Remaining real requires we remember what He said.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-04-13

Series C, Palm Sunday

Luke 23 lists various failed attempts to legally criminalize Jesus. Why this focus? Because the crucifixion displays God’s eternal love that silences the law's accusations.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-04-06

Series C, 5th Sunday in Lent

Jesus Christ predicted that His enemies' plan to kill him would succeed, but that His death would have a very different outcome than they planned. The cross did not end Christ's claim on His creation. It rather laid the cornerstone of the new...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-03-30

Series C, 4th Sunday in Lent

A person is authorized by repentance to face the consequences of his sin without the threat of condemnation. Repentance gives us the liberty of the prodigal son to "come back to himself" and that is cause for joyful celebration rather than...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-03-23

Series C, 3rd Sunday in Lent

Lent is a penitential season aimed to teach us repentance. This teaching revolves around Jesus’ saying "unless we repent". With these 3 words Jesus shows how repentance changes our understanding and experience of suffering and death.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-03-16

Series C, 2nd Sunday in Lent

Jesus dismissively ignored Herod's threats by naming him the "fox". Herod called himself "great"; Jesus countered by giving him the name of the diminutive fox who is nevertheless able to cause chaos in the hen house.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-03-09

Series C, 1st Sunday in Lent

Jesus’ salvation of cross and resurrection unmasks the ruinous effects of giving into the temptation to find the fullness of life in personal pleasure, the will to power and self–preservation as appealing and destructive.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-03-02

Series C, The Transfiguration of our Lord

Life is either transfiguring or disfiguring. We are either on a path of ascent to liberation from death or on a path of descent into the disappointment of death.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-02-23

Series C, 7th Sunday after the Epiphany

"Love your enemies..." Epiphany celebrates the Christ's catholic outreach to all peoples, everywhere and for all time. Jesus' hometown listeners wanted to kill him because his radical outreach was offensive. Nowhere is this offense...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-02-16

Series C, 6th Sunday after the Epiphany

"Blessed are you..." Jesus' blessedness shifts our focus from this passing present to our eternal future. In a word, the blessed life we have in Him is hopeful.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-02-09

Series C, 5th Sunday after the Epiphany

“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” Luke 5:10b Peter did not want to follow Jesus. He rather fell down "at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, Lord, because I am a sinful man!" How could a fallen and flawed man...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-02-02

Series C, 4th Sunday after the Epiphany

“Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God.” Luke 4:34. Jesus has no intention of leaving any of us alone to remain comfortable in our life–destroying fallen and fevered...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-01-26

Series C, 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany

The Epiphany season expresses the confidence that Jesus’ "Good News" is universal in that it promises the fulfilment of all human desire to all people, everywhere for all time. Having this confidence means coming to grips with the abrupt...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-01-19

Series C, 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany

Jesus’ sign at the Wedding at Cana revealed His glory, namely that He is the Word that in the beginning brought the natural world to life.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-01-12

Series C, The Baptism of Our Lord

Luke's contrast between John and Jesus’ baptisms casts light on the Epiphany confidence that Christ is the desire of all nations.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2022-01-05

Series C, 2nd Sunday after Christmas

The Evangelist Luke connects Jesus’ progress in wisdom, physical strength and in nearness to God and others to Jesus’ listening to and asking questions of the temple's teachers. This connection stakes the outrageous claim, as Mary and Joseph...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-12-29

Series C, 1st Sunday after Christmas

Simeon's song helps us get used to living in the new realty of Christ's Incarnation. The song does this by making the contestable claim that the Incarnation changes the meaning of death. The claim is that Christ's presence somehow deprives...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-12-22

Series C, 4th Sunday in Advent

Jesus’ way to eternal life corresponds with the natural way all humans come to mortal life—through a slow gestation that gains momentum in the stillness and smallness of the womb.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-12-15

Series C, 3rd Sunday in Advent

Prophetic greatness does not play it safe like a reed that bends to whatever wind is blowing nor does it seek the security of castles nor wears soft clothing. A prophet's greatness is that he is trusted because he believes what he proclaims even to...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-12-08

Series C, 2nd Sunday in Advent

A voice crying in the wilderness. John the Baptist is an isolated voice living in desert deprivation, declaring that the fullness of life begins with repentance.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-12-01

Series C, 1st Sunday in Advent

"If these were silent, the very stones would cry out" Jesus could have been praised by a box of rocks, but he wasn't because he desires to involve free souls in his salvation.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-11-24

Series B, Last Sunday of the Church Year

[Jesus said:] “From the fig tree learn this lesson…” We are meant to see the passing of material existence as a return to the primordial chaotic state ready for a second creation by the eternal Word. When these things take place, the...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-11-17

Series B, 25th Sunday after Pentecost

After predicting a terrifying future, Christ said “do not be anxious.” Anxiety is forbidden because it is a deception and deceptions distract us from seeing the truth. The truth is that Jesus’ fall-resistant up-rightness could never be realized by...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-11-10

Series B, All Saints Day

Blessed? Understanding Jesus’ version of the blessed life lies deep within our experiences of hardship and misfortune.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-11-03

Series B, Reformation Day

Jesus stakes the claim that knowing him will satisfy eternally the human desire for liberty.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-10-27

Series B, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus asked blind Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” The question did not seek obvious information but to show those who were embarrassed by Bartimaeus’ cries that no one lives without God’s mercy.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-10-20

Series B, 21st Sunday after Pentecost

Astounded by Jesus’ dismissive view of wealth, Peter wondered “Who can be saved?” Wealth supported the institutions and teachers necessary for worship and study without which, Peter presumed, salvation was impossible. Jesus explained that...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-10-13

Series B, 20th Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus refused to let a rich young man call him “good teacher” because the man did not yet understand God as the source and destination of all good. Goodness is good because it originates as a gift from God to draw us back to Him. The rich man...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-10-06

Series B, 19th Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus’ severe limitation of divorce was the negative side of his positive teaching on the desirability of God’s faithfulness. Over time, the faithfulness expressed in the marriage vow transformed the promiscuity of Roman culture which gave women and...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-09-29

Series B, 18th Sunday after Pentecost

To teach His disciples the right way of peace, Jesus first attacked their desire to have peace by dominating others. This sort of “peace” is like gaining control of one’s body by amputating the offending member. Jesus’ alternative peace is...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-09-22

Series B, 17th Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus’ disclosure of his coming betrayal, murder and resurrection was a sacrifice too fearful for the disciples to consider. So Jesus patiently helped the disciples come to grips with their fear by asking them about their recent argument regarding...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-09-15

Series B, 16th Sunday after Pentecost

“Help my unbelief”. This prayer of an anxious father is for patience to let time run its course in waiting for Jesus to fulfil what he promises.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-09-08

Series B, 15th Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus’ followers were commanded to keep quiet about a miracle until they saw the connection between it and the saving Word which was evident in the restoration of a man’s linguistic capabilities.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-09-01

Series B, 14th Sunday after Pentecost

We have grown accustomed to this fallen upside-down world so that we do not know what uprightness is or whether we even desire it. Yet, we live with an unbearable suspicion that nothing can turn us upright so we are always falling for the fake solutions...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-08-25

Series B, 13th Sunday after Pentecost

By successfully labelling the Pharisees hypocrites, Jesus exposed their “splendid” theatre of deception. Their public performance of a rigid, methodical observation of religious rules and rituals disguised the “abandoning the commandment of God”...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-08-18

Series B, 12th Sunday after Pentecost

Life, like love, is not truly life unless it is forever. Though Peter was profoundly scandalized by Jesus’ incomprehensible command to eat his body and drink his blood, he recognized he had nowhere to go because Jesus spoke the words of eternal life

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-08-11

Series B, 11th Sunday after Pentecost

Here Jesus speaks to those who behold him but do not believe him. They heard Jesus’ words and experienced his miraculous works but did not believe he was the Bread of Life who satisfies the insatiable hunger for evermore life. Their rejection would...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-08-04

Series B, 10th Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus named himself the bread of life who alone satisfies our human, essential and existential hunger for eternity.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-07-28

Series B, 9th Sunday after Pentecost

Looking back, the Evangelist Mark could recognize why cowardliness plagued the apostles until they witnessed Jesus’ resurrection. Only at that point they understood that the peace that calmed the storm was intent on calming the cosmos. Mark expresses a...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-07-21

Series B, 8th Sunday after Pentecost

To give his disciples the “good time” of leisure, Jesus took them to a deserted place for rest, which almost no one would think of as having a good time. Jesus’ point was to show them/us that leisure—being removed from the excitement in order to...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-07-14

Series B, 7th Sunday after Pentecost

Mark contrasts Herod's lack of character with John’s courage and his followers’ character. Their response to John’s murder was not outrage or emotional outburst.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-07-07

Series B, 6th Sunday after Pentecost

Concealed in the seed’s smallness is the potential for great growth. To drive home the lesson of the mustard seed, Jesus sent out his disciples, not with military force or a bureaucratic plan or a spectacular advertising strategy but materially...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-06-30

Series B, 5th Sunday after Pentecost

Faith perceives the concealed truth that, against all hope, Jesus is both able and willing to make good on his promise to give life.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-06-23

Series B, 4th Sunday after Pentecost

The Holy Spirit overcomes the lies terror teaches with the deep truths grace reveals when we are most terrified.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-06-16

Series B, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost

Pentecost inaugurates the third act of the Trinity’s presence on earth. The Spirit’s work is to draw us deeper in participation in the life of the Trinity, which is a vast topic slowly considered during Pentecost, the longest season of the church...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-06-09

Series B, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost

And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” (Mark 3:21) Had Jesus lost His mind? As CS Lewis famously observed that if Jesus was not the Lord while saying the things he said, he’d be...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-06-02

Series B, The Holy Trinity

“…unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God”. Pentecost meant that God’s Triune presence on earth was complete and permanent. From now on, our natural desire for wholeness would be satisfied by God’s supernatural presence and...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-05-26

Series B, The Day of Pentecost

The first truth the Holy Spirit drives home is an analysis of being stuck in sin without an escape. WB Yeats puts it this way: “Now that my ladder's gone, I must lie down where all the ladders start: in the foul rag and bone shop of the heart”....

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-05-19

Series B, The Ascension of Our Lord

Jesus refused to save Himself and come down from the cross because the direction of salvation is upward. The Ascension turned His crucifixion, history's lowest point, into Ground Zero of salvation’s ascent to life eternal.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-05-12

Series B, 6th Sunday of Easter

Love others as Jesus has loved us? That’s a big problem. Jesus is God; we are not. God is perfect; we are not. To love as God loves means being perfect as God is perfect.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-05-05

Series B, 5th Sunday of Easter

The Word of truth and life. In John 15:1-8 Jesus identifies Himself as the True Vine and promises to satisfy our God-given desire for life not to decay but to become more and more fruitful overtime until, one day, we are raised to eternal life.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-04-28

Series B, 4th Sunday of Easter

"The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep". The resurrection of Jesus compelled death to serve His mission to express His immortal love for the world.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-04-21

Series B, 3rd Sunday of Easter

Jesus himself stood among them, and said, “Peace to you!” The fact of the Resurrection meant, from now on, that emerging Peace was the real world; fear and despair were temporary conditions moving toward the irrelevance of non-existence.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-04-14

Series B, 2nd Sunday of Easter

Jesus’ healed wounds convinced doubting Thomas that God’s cosmic healing was, in fact, underway. God’s kingdom had come, not by obvious force but by the hidden and humble movement of forgiveness: “If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-04-07

Series B, The Resurrection of Our Lord

“Do not be alarmed.” The angel told the first witnesses of the greatest material, death-defying act in all history to “calm down”. They were not witnesses of a circus; they were seeing the beginning of the second creation. They were alarmed...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-03-31

Series B, Palm Sunday

Jesus' first disciples experienced Holy Week as the defeat of their faith and hope because it seemed that evil had triumphed over love. St. Mark’s claim is that Jesus’ movement to the cross was never, at any point along the path, a defeat. And...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-03-24

Series B, 5th Sunday in Lent

“…whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Mark 10:43b). The disciples refused Jesus’ salvation through cross and to resurrection. In a right-side up world, the glory of living is not sacrifice and not the selfish pursuit of...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-03-17

Series B, 4th Sunday in Lent

“…for God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God expressed His love for the perishing in Jesus, the beloved Son, who Himself perished in such a way as to...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-03-10

Series B, 3rd Sunday in Lent

'He rested on the seventh day'. God’s Word gives us a rest/peace that the world’s gold cannot give. Rest, and not money, is the soul’s deepest desire which only God’s Word can satisfy.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-03-03

Series B, 2nd Sunday in Lent

In a strange way, the empty ease with which “Jesus Christ” is used for swearing unwittingly accepts a connection that was hard won by the true man “Jesus” showing that He filled the office of the “Christ.” How tenuous this connection is...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-02-24

Series B, 1st Sunday in Lent

Lent is about love—God's beloved Son’s loving sacrifice for our salvation. Turning Lent into a season focused on the world’s suffering or on personal self-denial is a distraction. Lent aims to train our attention on the meaning of the love of...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-02-17

Series B, The Transfiguration of Our Lord

The Transfiguration defines the salvation by Christ's cross as a movement of events. Beginning on the Mount of Transfiguration, salvation moves through the disfiguration of the cross, and then is completed by the Resurrection. The Transfiguration...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-02-10

Series B, 5th Sunday after the Epiphany

Jesus promises a healing that only happens when time ends. In the meantime, he gives us foretastes to keep us longing for the fullness of His kindness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-02-03

Series B, 4th Sunday after the Epiphany

Jesus amazed his hearers because his teaching had authority that was somehow different from the authority of the official teachers. Official authority moves people by external compulsion. Jesus had the authority to move people inwardly by speaking to...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-01-27

Series B, 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany

Jesus responded to the bad news of John’s arrest by preaching the “good news” of the presence of God’s kingdom. John wondered if Jesus was the promised Messiah because God’s presence made no real difference. Then he discovered that the goodness...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-01-20

Series B, 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany

Come and behold. Jesus' lowly origin and the choice of his disciples reflect the personal nature of His salvation. Salvation will be God coming to know us so that we might freely desire to know Him.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-01-13

Series B, The Baptism of Our Lord

When the Eternal entered time, the heavens were “torn open,” the path to perfection was open to penitents. This path of our ultimate satisfaction is characterized by the two metaphors of cleansing and drowning.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2021-01-06

Series B, 2nd Sunday after Christmas

Astonished! The temple teachers were surprised at the insightful questions that came from a mere boy. They were astonished because once again God’s promises appear to us as so humble, that is, unpromising. Should we expect anything less than that the...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-12-30

Series B, 1st Sunday after Christmas

Peace is defined by the ability to depart in peace. Simeon declared his ability to depart in peace because he recognized Jesus as the fullness of time. As time’s fullness, Jesus would transform time from a draining movement of despair to the filling...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-12-23

Series B, 4th Sunday in Advent

Gabriel’s messages to Mary regarding the conditions of her pregnancy were unpromising and unsettling. Yet, she was told to “fear not” because the fear would give way to the joy of Christmas.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-12-16

Series B, 3rd Sunday in Advent

Why do God’s promises seem so unpromising? Promising life by means of the Cross seems foolish to some and scandalous to others. Here, the prophet declaring the promise lived in a dead desert, had a disgusting diet and suffered a dreadful death. To...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-12-09

Series B, 2nd Sunday in Advent

Salvation is a road named Jesus. What does it mean to think of Salvation as a road? It means that we have access to where once our travel was frustrated.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-12-02

Series B, 1st Sunday in Advent

The church’s calendar is anchored in the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus Christ and slowly trains us over time to experience time with eager anticipation rather than anxious despair.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-11-25

Series A, Last Sunday of the Church Year

At the end of days, those who freely pray “Thy will be done” are separated from those who insist “My will be done.” God will not force these to live eternally in the joy of obedience. Jesus came to heal the sickest of the sick and not to enhance...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-11-18

Series A, 24th Sunday after Pentecost

The Church Year is a calendar that connects time to texts and festivals that help us hope by seeing time as progressing towards joy.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-11-11

Series A, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost

The parable of the 10 virgins reveals how faith relates to fear, particularly the fear of missing out. Jesus intends for us to see ourselves in the foolish virgins for the many times we failed to “watch” because we were distracted from the things...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-11-04

All Saints

When we follow Jesus, there is no circumstance in this life in which we cannot expect to be blessed or to bless others. Experiencing blessedness in bad circumstances on earth increases our hunger and thirst for the eternal goodness now enjoyed by the...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-10-28

Reformation Day

“Blessed are…” Nothing in a life blessed by Jesus is unfruitful, futile, wasted or vain. Everything in the life He blesses somehow works toward an eternal goodness that is embodied in the embattled life of the prophets and in Jesus' life,...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-10-21

Series A, 20th Sunday after Pentecost

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Those who hear Jesus’ promises live differently in the world because they are aware that each moment of life is being caught up in a momentum that will go on eternally.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-10-14

Series A, 19th Sunday after Pentecost

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” This parable disabuses us of the destructive deception that grace means doing whatever we want whenever we please. The sooner we rid ourselves of this deception, the sooner we can lean into the sumptuous...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-10-07

Series A, 18th Sunday after Pentecost

"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone…" Jesus trains His disciples to read rejection rightly. Rejection is unavoidable and an indispensable aid to help us come to know the truth about what we believe to be true.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-09-30

Series A, 17th Sunday after Pentecost

“By what authority are you doing these things…?” Understanding Jesus' authority in our lives is crucial especially when we ask why continuing to follow Jesus makes sense.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-09-23

Series A, 16th Sunday after Pentecost

“Do you begrudge my generosity?” Who would you rather be, one hired in the first or last hour? The question is ridiculous as less work for equal pay is more desirable in the parable. A more serious question is, were you hired first, could you imagine...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-09-16

Series A, 15th Sunday after Pentecost

How many times would you want to receive forgiveness? How much debt would you like forgiven? All of it. Once we see ourselves as a debtors we desire unlimited forgiveness.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-09-09

Series A, 14th Sunday after Pentecost

Happy is the one whose sin is forgiven… in whose spirit there is no deceit (Psalm 32:1, 2). The “great” miss out on the greatness of forgiveness, which here means being loosed from lying to ourselves and to others. Confession is how we enjoy our...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-09-02

Series A, 13th Sunday after Pentecost

What we think of suffering is probably not what God thinks. Jesus said His own suffering was necessary and good. Jesus’ suffering and death alone would demonstrate God's love for the world.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-08-26

Series A, 12th Sunday after Pentecost

“…the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” A key is unimpressive until it opens the locked door that impedes our movement toward our desired life. Jesus gave his disciples the key that unlocks the gates of hell.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-08-19

Series A, 11th Sunday after Pentecost

Why would God create dogs, with a miraculous capacity for domestication—if He did not intend to take fill their appetites? Once again food becomes the context of faith, suggesting that faith’s desire for fulfilment is akin to hunger’s desire to be...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-08-12

Series A, 10th Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus purposefully subjected His disciples to frightful circumstances that ended in failure. This was not done to scold them for their “little faith” but to ignite their desire for the faith that would prove more real than fear.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-08-05

Series A, 9th Sunday after Pentecost

Having heard the bitter report that John the Baptist had suffered a humiliating beheading, Jesus dealt with this deep disappointment by isolating himself in a desolate place. “Weeping and gnashing teeth” describes the poisonous effect our...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-07-29

Series A, 8th Sunday after Pentecost

We have membership in two worlds; the primary, seen, physical world and the secondary, unseen, metaphysical world. When we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we expect to enjoy on earth the benefits of our membership in the kingdom...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-07-22

Series A, 7th Sunday after Pentecost

Sleeping, waiting while life-wrecking evil causes weeping and gnashing teeth, is difficult to the extreme. Nevertheless, because things like growing, grace and gifts come to those who wait, to sleep trusts God to bring His gift of life to fruition.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-07-15

Series A, 6th Sunday after Pentecost

When hearing lacks understanding, faith withers; when hearing has understanding, faith flourishes.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-07-08

Series A, 5th Sunday after Pentecost

Zechariah 9:9-12; Psalm 145:1-14; Romans 7:14-25a; Matthew 11:25-30 Rest is not doing nothing. The reason we rest is to meditate on God’s works. Restlessness misses the fundamental truth of existence that none of us created the world so none of us can...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-07-01

Series A, 4th Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 28:5-9; Psalm 119:153-160; Romans 7:1-13; Matthew 10:34-42 “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” These words of the “Prince of Peace” more than suggest that the word peace does mean the same thing for everyone. Jesus saw peace...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-06-24

Series A, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 20:7–13; Psalm 91; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:5a, 21-33 Fear distorts our sense of time, as we fear everything is inevitably moving toward disappointment. Jesus commanded His disciples to “fear not” because His resurrection would change...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-06-17

Series A, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost

“The kingdom of heaven is at hand…” Jesus taught the disciples that the kingdom of heaven’s economy would leave its trace of truth on the way they saw payment for their preaching, saying, “You received without paying; give without pay.” As...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-06-10

Series A, The Holy Trinity

Trinity Sunday is a festival that anchors our hope of heaven in God’s three-fold presence on earth, reaching its high point on a Galilean mountain after the rapid succession of the Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-06-03

Series A, The Day of Pentecost

Numbers 11:24–30; Psalm 25:1–15; Acts 2:1–21; John 7:37–39 The truth of faith rolls out slowly as it takes hold by in-forming and in-structuring the human soul. The Spirit works from the inside out, so that His work is neither recognised nor...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-05-27

Series A, The Ascension of our Lord

Acts 1:1–11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:15–23; Luke 24:44–53 The Ascension opened the Way of our ascent from life in this world to the out-of-this world Life.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-05-20

Series A, 6th Sunday of Easter

Acts 17:16–31; Psalm 66:8–20; 1 Peter 3:13–22; John 14:15–21 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…If anyone loves me, he will keep my word…” We love God only because He first loved us. How this love connects to commandments is...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-05-13

Series A, 5th Sunday of Easter

Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a, 51-60; Psalm 146; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled” said Jesus, because this place cannot give us peace and so He must go to prepare a better place. But then, almost everyone who has lived has wanted...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-05-06

Series A; 4th Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday)

Acts 2:42–47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10 “Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”. The Good Shepherd’s goodness surprises us from behind with things that follow from keeping our eyes on Him who leads us through...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-04-29

Series A, 3rd Sunday of Easter

Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-14; 1 Peter 1:17-25; Luke 24:13-35 Jesus’ post-resurrection meetings, with Thomas and with the two Emmaus-road disciples, demonstrate the importance of conversation in forming personal faith.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-04-22

Series A, 2nd Sunday of Easter

Acts 5:29–42; Psalm 148; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31 It’s striking that Jesus assured Thomas that He had come in peace. He would eventually show Thomas the physical healing he wanted to see, but more important than persuading Thomas was to assure...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-04-15

Series A, The Resurrection of our Lord

Acts 10:34–43; Psalm 16; Colossians 3:1-4; Matthew 28:1-10 Matthew reports that “there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone,” which built up to the mundane observation that the...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-04-08

Series A, Sunday of the Passion

Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 118:19-29; Philippians 2:5-11; John 12:20-43 The events of Holy Week are called Christ’s humiliation where He humbly exposed the contest between two kinds of glory – human and divine – that merely flip the order of...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-04-01

Series A, 5th Sunday in Lent

Ezekiel 37:1–14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:1-11; John 11:17–27, 38–53 These readings alert us to the importance of disappointment when it begins, but also to the fact that Jesus came with an inclusive hope for all, for every circumstance and for all...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-03-25

Series A, 4th Sunday in Lent

Isaiah 42:14–21; Psalm 142; Ephesians 5:8–14; John 9:1–7, 13–17, 34–39 Who would oppose healing a man born blind? This question is meant to point fingers of blame, but to see how this Lenten passage leads us to repentance. By considering the...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-03-18

Series A, 3rd Sunday in Lent

Exodus 17:1–7; Psalm 95:1–9; Romans 5:1–8; John 4:5–26 In this penitential season, the path from conversation to conversion casts light on how God works repentance in each of us.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-03-11

Series A, 2nd Sunday in Lent

Because of Nicodemus’ questions, we have a better understanding of what is one of the most beloved teachings of Jesus. For us who are overly-familiar with this passage, these questions do us a great service to help us pay closer attention to the path...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-03-04

Series A, 1st Sunday in Lent

Genesis 3:1-21; Psalm 32:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 The light of Lent reveals that death is now a stage on life’s way to unending life. The six weeks of Lent being repeated yearly shows how Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection changes...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-02-26

Series A, 6th Sunday after the Epiphany

Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 119:1-8; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37 What does Jesus’ ratcheting up the severity of the Law mean? First, we need to remember that Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfil it, and to fulfil us through the Law.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-02-12

Series A, 5th Sunday after the Epiphany

Isaiah 58:3–9a; Psalm 112:1-9; 1 Corinthians 2:1-12; Matthew 5:13-20 What is the difference between abolishing and fulfilling the Law? Were the Law evil, it would have been abolished. But the Law is—as the Psalm says—delightful, even if its...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-02-05

Series A, The Purification of Mary and The Presentation of Our Lord

Simeon’s epiphany was his recognition that Jesus was the Consolation of Israel. Consolation is necessary because the world is broken and sad. Understanding consolation means that we see how it is different from empathy. Empathy responds to sadness with...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-01-29

Series A, 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany

Every third Sunday after the Epiphany, the texts have us again consider the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Why? Perhaps because we need to repeatedly be reminded of how difficult it is to believe that the modest methods of “ministry” are capable of...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-01-22

Series A, 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany

Why do we confess that the Lamb of God is able to “take away the sin of the world”? Because the Lamb of God is the Word made flesh. As the Word, Jesus was the invisible cause of all material creation.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-01-15

Series A, The Baptism of our Lord

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfil it. And when the Law is fulfilled life is fulfilling. Baptism began this work of fulfilment because it fulfilled all righteousness. The claim and promise is that this fulfilment of righteousness can...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-01-12

Series A, 2nd Sunday after Christmas

The Incarnation of the Son of God changed the world without political, economic and military power. This world-altering work of salvation was rather centred in the calmness of hearing and asking questions of teachers of God’s Word.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2020-01-05

Series A, 1st Sunday after Christmas

Real life was added to the world in the hidden working of God, as an invisible angel rescued the Holy Family to wait it out in Egypt while God let time do His work. Spiritual power goes unnoticed but it does not mean that it is unreal, as our celebration...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-12-25

Series A, 4th Sunday in Advent

Jesus’s birth opened what the Psalm called the “eternal portal”. He who was Perfect became a penitent—a sinner—so that we, who are penitents might enjoy perfection eternally.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-12-18

Worth Doing Badly - #16

Jesus is not afraid of offending people’s sensibilities. On the contrary, He is very emphatic about the necessity of taking heed of His message of repentance and faith.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-12-11

Series A, 2nd Sunday in Advent

Isaiah 11:1–10; Psalm 72:1–7; Romans 15:4–13; Matthew 3:1–12 John the Baptist was a strange man whose strong message is exactly what we need today if we are to rightly celebrate Christmas. John is an Advent character who gets us ready to get...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-12-04

Series A, 1st Sunday in Advent

The church has a different calendar because Christians believe that Jesus—the Fullness of Time—has changed the meaning of time. Ordinary calendars see time as celebrating human accomplishments that sadly do not solve the problem of time running out....

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-11-27

Series C, Last Sunday of the Church Year

How can we enjoy any peace on the Last Sunday of the Church Year which remembers the brutal truth that every material thing is this world has destined to destruction? The simple answer is to look at the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. There we see...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-11-20

Series C, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost

We don’t naturally see destruction as a sign of hope, and so we need Jesus’ teaching to make this connection. He shows that God destroys things in order to clear the way for a better life. We do not do the destroying, but when it happens we are to...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-11-13

Series C, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost

Exodus 3:1–15; Psalm 148; 2 Thessalonians 2:1–8, 13–17; Luke 20:27-40 When things (like the Church year) come to a close, it’s time to think about what comes next. In this text Jesus uses questions about the resurrection to teach about what...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-11-06

Series C, All Saints` Day

Revelation 7:9–17; Psalm 149; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12 In a material-centric world, you are what you appear or what you possess or what you have done. In a world created by God, the material was caused by the immaterial Word of God, so that what...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-10-30

Series C, Reformation Day

Revelation 14:6-7; Psalm 46; Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36 Jesus did not think teaching show coddle the mind and make people comfortable with themselves. He taught that knowing God in truth required a constant reformation of the pleasant lies that we...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-10-23

Series C, 19th Sunday after Pentecost

Genesis 32:22–30; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3:14—4:5; Luke 18:1-8 What is prayer and what’s the benefit of praying without ceasing? Prayer fuels persistence so that in the face of heartlessness you do not lose heart.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-10-16

Series C, 18th Sunday after Pentecost

Ruth 1:1–19a; Psalm 111; 2 Timothy 2:1-13; Luke 17:11-19 Why is it—at least here--that 9 times out of 10 enjoyment of God’s great gifts does not lead one to a desire to enjoy the Giver’s ongoing presence? The text does not worry at all about the...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-10-09

Series C, 17th Sunday after Pentecost

Habakkuk 1:1–4; 2:1–4; Psalm 62; 2 Timothy 1:1–14; Luke 17:1-10 How does faith elevate the quality of our lives now? Faith is the source of peace, patience, bonds of trust and forgiveness of sins.

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-10-02

Series C, St. Michael and All Angels

Why does Jesus think a child’s humility embody greatness? Children conceive of their lives the unfolding of future possibilities. Children are humble, at the bottom looking up, because they possess nothing and have accomplished nothing: They have a...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-09-25

Series C, 15th Sunday after Pentecost

Amos 8:4–7; Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2:1–15; Luke 16:1–15 God chooses to do His work in our lives through an edification that happens slowly through repetition and repentance. The good that is done in preaching happens over time and in the thick of...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-09-18

Series C, 14th Sunday after Pentecost

Ezekiel 34:11–24; Psalm 119: 169–176; 1 Timothy 1: (5–11) 12–17; Luke 15:1–10 God values personal bonds of love that are as inefficient as a woman wasting time to find a lost coin and then throws a party that costs more than the value of the...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-09-11

Series C, 13th Sunday after Pentecost

Deuteronomy 30:15–20; Psalm 1; Philemon 1–2; Luke 14:25–35 Everyone desires to be happier and this makes us vulnerable. Wanting happiness to run deeper, last longer and be more satisfying produces selfishness and cynicism. The happiness that is...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-09-04

Series C, 12th Sunday after Pentecost

Engaging the pericopes is worth doing even if we do it badly. In fact, the good that comes from repeatedly reading Scriptures “pericopely” is both existential and cumulative. The existential good is that the Biblical texts speak at a particular...

  • Rev. Dr. David Weber
  • 2019-08-28