Sermons on God In The Ordinary:

Twenty-Second Sunday In Ordinary Time- Get Behind Me, Satan

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jul 29, 2023

You tell the Lord you don’t want him to die, and he responds by calling you Satan.

The book, Tigers in the Dark, tells about a time when all the electricity went out at a Barnum and Bailey Circus. There was total darkness at the circus. They had just started the act with the tiger trainer locked in a cage with several fierce Bengal tigers. The tigers could see the man - the man ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:21-27

Denomination: Catholic

Jesus Will Never Ever Unfollow You! (Twentieth Sunday In Ordinary Time)

Contributed by Dr John Singarayar Svd on Aug 10, 2020

Discrimination and division make us sick and ill-grown church. Today, Jesus the saviour of the humanity, invites each one of us to involve ourselves wherever humanity suffers.

Jesus will never ever unfollow you! (Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time) Isaiah 56:1, Isaiah 56:6-7, Romans 11:13-15, Romans 11:29-32, Matthew 15:21-28. Reflection Dear sisters and brothers, Let me start the reflection for this Sunday quoting from an article. “One case of a tragic ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 56:1, Isaiah 56:6-7, Romans 11:13-15, Romans 11:29-32, Matthew 15:21-28  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Other

Thirtieth Sunday In Ordinary Time; 30th Sunday B--Bartimaeus.

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Oct 23, 2021

We can all get stuck on the side of the road in different ways at different times in our lives.

The name, fame and shame of Bartimaeus. His name means Bar, meaning “the son of” Timaeus. Others point to the Aramaic or Hebrew word for "unclean" (‘bar-tem’), suggesting that BartimaeSus is "son of the unclean." In reality both names fit because Bartimaeus was a poor ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:46-52

Denomination: Catholic

"Check The Fruits, Fix The Roots” --8th Sunday In Ordinary Time

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Feb 4, 2019

Our First Reading relates the steady application of three processes over time to create a separation or distinction based on intrinsic properties of quality: faults revealed when one speaks, santification, and discernment

Sirach, chapter 27, from our First Reading, relates the steady application of three processes over time to create a separation or distinction based on intrinsic properties of quality: 1). The first is the image of shaking a mesh strainer to reveal the husks from the kernel which is similar to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:39-45

Denomination: Catholic

Fourteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time- Year C: Suitable Explanation Of The Gospel

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jul 1, 2025

An encounter with Jesus Christ through Scripture, prayer, and friendly conversation

You are among the seventy-two disciples Jesus appointed, and commissioned by your baptism, and confirmation to tell others that Jesus saves. The verb used is “apostle”: He literally “apostled” us into the world. The Church officially teaches in the National Statutes of OCIA that baptized ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:1-20

Denomination: Catholic

Twenty-Sixth Sunday In Ordinary Time, C-- Lazarus And Therapy Dogs

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Aug 28, 2022

Someone has said that this is the only prayer in the Bible addressed to a saint that was not answered.

We heard today from Luke 16:21, which says “Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.” Admittedly, the grammatical construction in the Greek can be translated as “worst of all" dogs would lick his sores. However, the ancients knew when a dog licks a person's sores or wounds, healing ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:19-31

Denomination: Catholic

Seventeenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Cycle A -- 17th Sunday, Year A

Contributed by Paul Andrew on May 25, 2020

It’s so important that ordinary Catholics read Scripture as a devotional inquiry which the Catholic Catechism calls “the intimate sense of spiritual realities which believers experience.”

A foolish old farmer, so the story goes, concluded one day that the oats he had fed his mule for years were simply costing him too much. So, he hatched a plan: He mixed a little sawdust in with the feed, and then a little more the next day, and even more the next, each time reducing the amount of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:44-46

Denomination: Catholic

Seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time- The Opening Up Of A Relational Space By Forgiveness.

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jan 11, 2022

Forgiveness is a conditional gift offered that opens a relational space that expects a reciprocal response.

There used to be a sign in the Princeton University Book Store basement which said: "Love your enemies—it will drive them crazy." Clever but love of enemies and forgiving, commanded by Jesus in our Gospel this Sunday, is not hoping that the other person will change or trying to be ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:27-38

Denomination: Catholic

Twenty-Seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A- Wicked Tenants

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Aug 27, 2023

In one word, what do you live for?

In 1962, when President John F. Kennedy was visiting the NASA Space center, he noticed a janitor sweeping the hallway and asked him, “What do you do around here?” To his surprise, the janitor replied, “Well, Mr. President, I’m helping to put a man on the moon.” This janitor found meaning in seeing ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 21:33-43, Isaiah 5:1-7

Denomination: Catholic

Have No Fear (Twelfth Sunday In Ordinary Time - Only The Gospel Reflection)

Contributed by Dr John Singarayar Svd on Jun 21, 2020

Jesus instructs us that we need not have fear of anything and anyone, including us.

Reflection Matthew 10:26-33 Have No Fear Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 10 verses from 26-33, says to the disciples that have no fear on this earth. Who are these disciples? The disciples, who follow Jesus and who are sent out for their missionary journey. At this juncture, Jesus ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:26-33

Denomination: Other

Seventh Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year C -- The Word Nonviolent Can Be An Adjective, It Modifies How

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jan 20, 2025

Jesus is asking us today not so much as “how can I find a gracious God? But “How can I find God in my enemy?” And, how can we be children of God in real life without loving our enemies?

The fictional Klingon language from Star Trek has no words for love. Of course, the Klingons were creatures of pure logic, not emotion. So, the closest words for “love” in their language were “honor” or “unhate.” That would be easy for us if we could define love simply as “unhating” others. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 26:2-23, Luke 6:27-38

Denomination: Catholic

Esther: God & Man Work Together

Contributed by Dean Rhine on Dec 9, 2003

Lessons from Esther about working with God

“Esther: God and Man work together” Esther 4 Intro: One of the favorite stories I have heard Tim Brown tell frequently since I’ve been here is the story about the man isolated in the flood. As the waters rose, he prayed for God to deliver him. A man in a rowboat came by as the water was up to ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Master's Choice

Contributed by Zenola Diggs on Dec 21, 2000

A realization that God (The Master) can use ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

"THE MASTER’S CHOICE" Luke 1:26-35,38 Minister Zenola Diggs October 23, 1999 * First Sermon Service * Mt. Zion Baptist Church-Nashville, Tennessee INTRODUCTION: Many of you sitting here today have come to know Rodney and me as the "Marriage Ministers". We have spent many hours teaching and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:26-37

Denomination: United Methodist

The Calling Of The Twelve Series

Contributed by Dr. Bradford Reaves on Apr 22, 2021

What happens when 12 ordinary men answer the call of 1 Almighty God?

Introduction The story is told of a group of men who had been sailing in the Atlantic Ocean when they came too close to shore and crashed against the rocks. Out of concern for other sailors in similar conditions, the surviving group determined to build a lighthouse to warn others of the impending ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:12-16

Denomination: Brethren

With God The Impossible Becomes Possible Series

Contributed by Michael Trigg on Oct 15, 2006

Today, are you living in and relying on God’s Holy Spirit, or are you trying to rely on your own might and power?

INTRODUCTION. We are continuing our exploration of the prophecies of Zechariah. We are looking, at the moment, at the visions that God gave Zechariah, and are recorded in chapters 1 to 6. This time we are looking at the fifth vision: The Golden Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees. These visions ...read more

Scripture: Zechariah 4:1-14

Denomination: Baptist