Read more at BishopMike.com Year B in the Revised Common Lectionary This post includes three complete series options first, then, for those who stick with the lectionary, I will post a list of every Sunday and the texts, with links through Summer 2021.

Bishop Mike's Podcast

Summer 2021

Read more at BishopMike.com (español) Pentecost B – May 23, 2021 Acts 2:1-21– Day of Pentecost. Rushing wind. Tongues of flame. Multi-lingual, multicultural event. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  OR  Ezekiel 37:1-14– Valley of the Dry Bones. I will put my spirit in you and you shall live. You shall know I am the Lord when I open your graves… Psalm 104:24-34, 35b Send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth. (Ps. 104:31) Romans 8:22-27– Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness… intercedes with sighs too deep for words.  OR  Acts 2:1-21 – Day of Pentecost. Rushing wind. Tongues of flame. Multi-lingual, multicultural event. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15– When the Advocate comes, he will bear witness to me… lead you into all truth.

Postcolonizing Pentecost - Pentecost B

Read more at BishopMike.com (spanish) Ascension B - May 16, 2021   Acts 1:1-11 – Ascension. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. Psalm 47 – God has gone up with a shout. (Ps. 47:5) or Psalm 93– Ever since the world began, your throne has been established. (Ps. 93:3) Ephesians 1:15-23– With the eyes of your heart enlightened, may you know the hope to which God has called you. Luke 24:44-53 – I am sending what the Father promised, so stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

To the Ends of the Earth - Ascension B

Read more at BishopMike.com (español) Easter 6B – May 9, 2021 Acts 10:44-48 – Holy Spirit falls on unbaptized Gentiles. So they baptize them.  Psalm 98 – Shout with joy to the LORD, all you lands. (Ps. 98:5) 1 John 5:1-6 – The love of God is obeying God’s commandments. John 15:9-17 – This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. I have said these things that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. You did not choose me; I chose you, and appointed you to bear fruit.

Bear Fruit - Easter 6B - May 9, 2021

Read more at BishopMike.com (espanol) Easter 5B – May 2, 2021 Acts 8:26-40 – Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza reading the suffering servant from Isaiah.  Psalm 22:25-31 – All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD. (Ps. 22:26) 1 John 4:7-21– Beloved let us love one another for love is of God… whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. John 15:1-8 – I am the vine; you the branches, that you might bear fruit. By this my Father is glorified: that you bear fruit.

Church together: Connected to the Vine - Easter 5B

Read more at BishopMike.com (español) Easter 4B – April 25, 2021 Acts 4:5-12 – Peter questioned for healing. There is no other name by which we must be saved. Psalm 23 – The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 1 John 3:16-24 – All know John 3:16. 1 John 3:16 is important too: By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us. So we ought to lay down our lives for one another… Little children let us not love in word or speech, but in truth and action.   John 10:11-18 – The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand runs away. I know my sheep. I have other sheep not of this fold. Hymns: Shepherd Me O God by Marty Haugen (ELW 780), The King of Love My Shepherd Is… (ELW 502), El Señor es mi Pastor (LLC 624).

Good Shepherd Sunday - Easter 4B

Read more at BishopMike.com (español) Easter 3B – April 18, 2021 Acts 3:12-19– Peter addresses the people: Faith in Christ made this man well.   Psalm 4 – The LORD does wonders for the faithful. (Ps. 4:3) 1 John 3:1-7 – See what love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. (This passage was taught to us as a memory verse in song. Some may remember this round. Luke 24:36b-48 – Resurrection appearance. Jesus eats food. Peace be with you. You are my witnesses.

A post-COVID, Resurrected Church - Easter 3B

Read more at BishopMike.com (español) Easter 2B – April 11, 2021 Acts 4:32-35 – Now those who believed were of one heart and soul, and they held all possessions in common. Psalm 133 – How good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity. 1 John 1:1 –2:2 – If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves. John 20:19-31 – When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Doubting Thomas: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Doubting Thomas - Easter 2B

Read more on BishopMike.com (español) The Resurrection of our Lord – April 4, 2021 Acts 10:34-43 – Peter’s sermon at Cornelius’ house: God shows no partiality. Anyone from any nation who fears God is accepted by God.  OR Isaiah 25:6-9 – On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make a feast for all people, swallow up death forever, wipe away the tears from all faces. Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 – I shall not die but live and recount the deeds of the Lord. I Corinthians 15:1-11 – For I handed on to you what I received, Christ died for our sins, was buried and raised on the third day.  OR Acts 10:34-43 – Peter’s sermon at Cornelius’ house: God shows no partiality. Anyone from any nation who fears God is accepted by God.  John 20:1-18 – Resurrection appearance. Mary: “I have seen the Lord.”  OR Mark 16:1-8 – Empty tomb. Mark’s original ending: “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

The Resurrected Body of Christ - The Resurrection of our Lord - April 4, 2021

Read more on BishopMike.com (español) Maundy Thursday – April 1, 2021   Holy God, source of all love, on the night of his betrayal, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment: To love one another as he had loved them. By your Holy Spirit write this commandment in our hearts; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.   Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14 – God establishes Passover as a day of remembrance.   Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 – What shall I return to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows…   1 Corinthians 11:23-26 – For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that on the night in which he was betrayed our Lord took bread…   John 13:1-17, 31b-35 – Washing of the disciples’ feet.   Good Friday - April 2, 2021 Merciful God, your Son was lifted up on the cross to draw all people to himself. Grant that we who have been born out of his wounded side may at all times find mercy in him, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 – The Song of the Suffering Servant. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows… Psalm 22 – My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Hebrews 10:16-25 – I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. New covenant. orHebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 – Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, let us hold fast to our confession.  John 18:1-19:42 – John’s passion: arrest, trial, crucifixion. The passion for John’s gospel is appointed for Good Friday every year. John’s account is most problematic of the four gospels because of its many references to “the Jews.” In a post-holocaust world, we have to be acutely aware of how these passages get heard and interpreted. Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution. While there is little doubt that Jesus was also at odds with the Temple leaders, he and his disciples were Jewish. Passages about “the Jews” calling for Jesus’ death were used to stoke the flames of hatred and violence against Jewish people. 

Suffering Love - Maundy Thursday and Good Friday

Read more on BishopMike.com (español) Passion/Palm Sunday – March 28, 2021 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29– Open the gates of righteousness that I may enter.  Mark 11:1-11 or John 12:12-16 – The Triumphal Entry. Isaiah 50:4-9a – I gave my back to those who hit me; my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard. I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. Psalm 31:9-16 – Into your hands I commend my spirit… Philippians 2:5-11 – Have this mind among that was in Christ, who emptied himself and became obedient to death on a cross. Mark 14:1 – 15:47 or Mark 15:1-39, (40-47) – The Passion, though I prefer to focus on the Triumphal Entry, Mark 11:1-11.

Joy Amidst Suffering - Palm Sunday

Read more on BishopMike.com (español) LENT 5B – March 21, 2021 Jeremiah 31:31-34 – I will make a new covenant. I will write the law on their hearts. They will all know me. I will remember their sins no more. Psalm 51:1-12 – Create in me a clean heart O God…  OR Psalm 119:9-16 – Happy are those whose way is blameless… Hebrews 5:5-10 – High priest according to the order of Melchizedek. He learned obedience through suffering. John 12:20-33 – Gospel: Greeks. Sir we wish to see Jesus. Grain of wheat dies. Love life lose it. Save me from this hour? When I am lifted up, I will draw all people unto myself. The light is with you a little while longer. While you are in the light, believe in the light so that you may become children of the light.

A New Covenant - Lent 5B

Read more on BishopMike.com (español) LENT 4B – March 14, 2021 Numbers 21:4-9 – Moses lifts up the serpent in the wilderness. Murmuring. Fiery serpents.  Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 – They cried to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them from their distress…  Ephesians 2:1-10 – Dead in your trespasses, for by grace you have been saved by faith… for good works.  John 3:14-21 – Just as Moses “lifted up” the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. Light has come into the world, but people preferred darkness. For God so loved the world…

Lifted Up - Lent 4B

Read more on BishopMike.com (español) LENT 3B – March 7, 2021 Exodus 20:1-17 - Moses’ covenant (age 80?). Ten Commandments. I brought you out of the land of Israel.  Psalm 19 - Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You… 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 – The gospel is foolishness to those perishing, but to us the power of God. Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. God chose what was weak and despised in the world… John 2:13-22 - Cleansing of the Temple. Early in John’s gospel. Then resurrection prediction. Destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it.

Your Body is a Temple. Jesus’ Too. - Lent 3B

Read more on BishopMike.com (español) Lent 2B – February 28, 2021   Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 – Abraham’s covenant (age 99).    Psalm 22:23-31 – My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?    Romans 4:13-25 - Abraham wasn’t saved by the law. His trusting God’s promises is reckoned to him as righteousness.    Mark 8:31-38 – Peter’s confession and rebuke. Crucifixion prediction. Take up your cross and follow me.

Sarah Laughed - Lent 2B

Weekly reflections from Mike Rinehart, bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Podcast includes relevant ideas about preaching on the revised common lectionary.