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Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A

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Humility means not taking ourselves... -- Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
Humility means not taking ourselves too seriously.
A Christian counselor was helping... -- Hebrews 13:1-8 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
A Christian counselor was helping a group of parents deal with the weighty matter of moral instructi
The opening verses in this... -- Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
The opening verses in this reading glorify the practice of humility.
Fear is an expectation of... -- Luke 14:1, 7-14 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
Fear is an expectation of evil.
The people of Israel always... -- Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
The people of Israel always looked back with pride to the glory their land had enjoyed in the days o
It is easy for us... -- Luke 14:1, 7-14 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
It is easy for us to look at this parable of Jesus and say that we would never sit in the seat of ho
Caring for others may be... -- Hebrews 13:1-8 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
Caring for others may be at the heart of living out our Christian fatih.
This passage reminds me of... -- Hebrews 13:1-8 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
This passage reminds me of an old joke about a soldier who was repeatedly rebuked for using excessiv
This Scripture passage emphasizes the... -- Hebrews 13:1-8 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
This Scripture passage emphasizes the need to show hospitality to those we meet along the many roads
It's funny how things stay... -- Hebrews 13:1-8 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
It's funny how things stay with you over the years.
Leftovers aren't too bad. Especially... -- Hebrews 12:18-24 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
Leftovers aren't too bad.
It is easy to have... -- Ezekiel 18:1-9, 25-29 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
It is easy to have an intellectual discussion about the justice of God, and completely avoid the iss
Where do you find holy... -- Exodus 3:1-15 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
Where do you find holy ground? It is easy to miss in our rush through life.
A man went to order... -- Exodus 3:1-15 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
A man went to order flowers to be sent to his mother who lived 200 miles away.
The burning bush was remarkably... -- Exodus 3:1-15 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
The burning bush was remarkably visible, but not everyone can see what God is doing.
Perhaps it was because God... -- Exodus 3:1-15 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
Perhaps it was because God was in control, and not Moses, that the fugitive from Egypt was so terrif
The year 1985 saw a... -- Romans 12:9-21 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
The year 1985 saw a lot of "firsts" for Tom, a young pastor from Ohio.
Kathleen Norris writes in Amazing... -- Romans 12:9-21 -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - A
Kathleen Norris writes in Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, "Young people grow up underst

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Proper 16 | OT 21 | Pentecost 11
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Proper 18 | OT 23 | Pentecost 13
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New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Tom Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
George Reed
Christopher Keating
For September 14, 2025:

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: A sheep stuffy or toy.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great! Let’s get started!

Did you know that Jesus traveled around and hunted for people who were doing something illegal and breaking the laws? (Let them respond.) He really did.And when he found someone who was doing something illegal, do you know what he did with them? (Let them respond.)

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
Our text tells us that we are skilled in doing evil (v.22). An anonymous late medieval treatise titled German Theology tells us why:

It is the nature and property of the creature to seek itself and its own things, and this and that, here and there, and in all that it does and leaves undone as desire is to its own advantage and benefit. (Varieties of Mystic Experience, p.162)

Martin Luther King, Jr. offers an alternative to this vision:
David Coffin
All three of today’s texts can be viewed as good news that God never gives up on God’s people. This is despite their resistance to repent or simple straying from the community of faith. We can observe family and loved ones at various points of their faith journey through the lens of each of these texts. Jeremiah 4 informs the people their neglect of honoring their covenant with God is about to result in disastrous consequences. Paul recalls in 1 Timothy 1 how he thought he was falling God’s will until he had his literal come to Jesus moment!

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (vv. 6-7)

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus told stories to illustrate to the people God's gladness whenever anyone turned to him and chose life. There is still rejoicing in heaven whenever any one of us turns to God.



Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes I think I'm too insignificant for you to bother with me.

Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes I don't bother with you.

Christ, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes I don't bother with other people, but only with myself.

SermonStudio

James Evans
(See Proper 12/Pentecost 10/Ordinary Time 17, Cycle B, for an alternative approach.)

The psalm writer has an interesting perspective on the origin of injustice in our world. He begins this psalm with the assertion that those who do not believe in God are "fools." He goes on to accuse them of corruption and of being incapable of doing good. Later on he writes, "Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord?" (v. 4).

Elizabeth Achtemeier
"Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them" (v. 12). Ours is a society that does not accept that as the Word of God. Many people do not believe that God judges anyone. Rather, the Lord is a forgiving God, a kindly deity who overlooks all wrong. As in the Gospel lesson for the morning, the Lord searches for the one lost sheep and returns it gently to the fold, or he hunts for the one lost coin until he finds it. God accepts the lost as they are, we think, overlooking Jesus' teaching about repentance and transformation of life.
Scott Suskovic
We usually don't spend too much time thinking about our own sinfulness. On occasion, of course, our feelings of guilt overwhelm us. We can't stop thinking about our sinfulness. If we are in that situation, we may need to talk that out with someone. Apart from times like that, we don't think much about our own sinfulness. We have ways of getting around that.

R. Robert Cueni
Back before the ways of the Taliban became common knowledge, there was a fascinating little article about how they jailed barbers when they didn't do culturally correct haircuts.1 The newspaper reported that young men in Kabul, Afghanistan, have started wearing their hair the way the actor Leonardo DiCaprio wears his. Long, not only on the sides, but so long in the front that hair can drop over the eyes. They call the style, "the Titanic," named for the blockbuster movie starring DiCaprio about the 1912 sinking of the cruise ship by that name.

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