Lectionary Scripture Analysis

The first thing I do with every sermon is pray that God will open my mind, ears, and heart to God’s word. Following this I read through the recommended lectionary scriptures from different translations and consider the potential areas of discussion. Once again, I pray. This time that God gives me the wisdom to hear what God has for me to preach on and to hear the needs of God’s people. My aim is to be open to the Holy Spirit to direct me on either one of the scriptures, or if there is another topic that would better meet the needs of the congregation at that time. For example if there had been a tornado that had affected the community and parishioners I would preach on God’s steadfast love and how God is always with us in all situations. I might chose Joshua to illustrate how even though the Israelites faced losses in the community and their homes that God was still there and gave them hope. I usually preach on the Gospel Lesson, but again it depends on where the Holy Spirit leads me. The Scriptures I choose to work with are the ones that I feel the Holy Spirit’s presence with. Whether it is the lectionary scriptures …show more content…
There are times I may encourage the listeners with information that can help them draw their own conclusions and other times where I may give the conclusion to better assist them in learning. Throughout a sermon I try to help individuals identify with the characters in the Bible without pointing out that it is them. Sometimes after a sermon an individual may come up and say that what they heard in the sermon was something that they could identify with and yet the sermon was not directed at