Author: Rod Groom

Lectionary for July 12th, 2026

Our readings for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10) follow. For a combined link to read them all, go here.

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Isaiah 55:10-13

Psalm 65:1-8 (9-13)

Romans 8:1-11

  • Matthew tells us how the parable of the sower was told and explained by Jesus. While sometimes the seed produces little or no fruit, at other times it can be incredible.
  • Isaiah sings about the natural cycle producing seed and bread. So too will God’s word, which will give us the results God intended. Those who carry forth his word proceed in joy with peace, and the very mountains and the hills  break forth with singing. Even all the trees of the field shall clap their hands!
  • Our Psalm celebrates that not only does God create the world, but he bursts forth in glorious, praiseworthy works of beauty and bounty for all to see and appreciate.
  • In Romans we learn that there is no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus. We have been freed by the Holy Spirit from the law of sin and death. Jesus coming into the physical world and suffering for us put sin and death to death. We walk according to the Spirit and must keep our minds on things of the spirit. Focusing on the flesh will only lead to death, while we can live in the Spirit, because Christ lives in us! Just as he did who raised Jesus from the dead, so will he give life to our mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in us.

We may feel that somehow the church is responsible for helping hearers of the word become open and receptive to it, but it really gets down to individual choice. If people want to learn and be discipled, we must do all we can to help, but it is their choice and commitment to do so that is most important. We are called to share the good seed of God’s word and to distribute it as widely and freely as we can. It will produce the results intended by God. He is good, his word is good, and our attempts to share his good seed are good. We are freed from sin and death and must live according to the Spirit within us, joyfully and peacefully. God is in charge, and we should cooperate in whatever ways we can. As Jesus says in verse 9, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Lectionary Readings for July 8th, 2026

Our readings for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9) follow. For a combined link to read them all, go here.

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Zechariah 9:9-12

Psalm 145:8-14

Romans 7:15-25a

  • In Matthew, Jesus speaks to the crowds about John the Baptist, how he is the Elijah who was to come before the arrival of the expected Messiah. John’s preaching was like a warning dirge, but people did not mourn and turn to him. Jesus’ preaching came in a much lighter spirit, but his listeners did not celebrate. God’s wisdom, despite our thickheadedness, will prevail. Jesus invites everyone to come to him. His yoke is easy and his burden light. He is the Lord, but his teaching is gentle and humble.
  • Zechariah prophesies about the coming righteous king, humble and mounted on a donkey. A king who will bring peace and salvation and freedom for the prisoners. “Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double!”
  • Our Psalm praises and thanks God for his steadfast love, patience, power and mercy.
  • Romans gives us the sinners’ plight. We may know God’s spiritual laws and appreciate them, but our tendency to sin is ever at war within us. We cannot win on our own. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Jesus has just spoken to the disciples of John, who nervously awaits his beheading in Herod’s prison. Jesus praises him to the people and assures us all that despite the confusion and hardness of times we may have to experience, much good comes through following Jesus. We know the hard way that the Law and our consciences tell us to follow, but it also condemns us in our many failings. May we try to be as faithful as John, but know we can rely on Jesus to save us.

Lectionary for June 28th, 2026

Our lectionary readings for the Fifth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 8), June 28, 2026, follow. For a combined link to read them all online, go here.

Matthew 10:40-42

Jeremiah 28:5-9

Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18

Romans 6:12-23

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Wesley’s “The Scripture Way of Salvation”

A message I gave at New Beginnings Community Church on June 24th, 2026:

For a long time now, I have been a fan and a student of John Wesley. He was probably the most faithful interpreter of Scripture you could ask for. He said we should not be required to follow any requirement of religion, but what was exactly in the Bible or could be deduced from what was written in it. In one of his most famous sermons, “The Scripture Way of Salvation,” he pretty much summarizes it all. This is what I am going to talk about tonight, with a little update on his language, and a twist and a shortcut here and there. There’s lots of Scripture, so don’t try to write it all down. If you want it all, I can email it or message it to you.

Continue reading “Wesley’s “The Scripture Way of Salvation””

Lectionary for June 21, 2026

Written in by Rod Groom

Our lectionary readings for the Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 7), June 21, 2026, follow. For a combined link to read them all online, go here.

Matthew 10:24–39
Jeremiah 20:7–13
Psalm 69:7–10, (11–15), 16–18
Romans 6:1b–11

  • In Matthew, Jesus says that disciples and servants are not above their masters and will face similar persecutions. Jesus will be killed, and we may face death ourselves. But have no fear, proclaim the truth from the housetops. They can kill your body but not your soul. Acknowledge Jesus before men, and he will acknowledge you before his Father in heaven. He did not come to bring peace to the earth, but a sword. Your enemies may very well be members of your own family, but you must love Jesus more than them, and pick up your own individual cross of particular sufferings and circumstances and follow him. It may be tough but if you lose your life for his sake, you will truly find it forever.
  • Similar to what Jesus is saying, Jeremiah laments the persecutions he faces. All of this because he proclaims the punishments coming to them from the Lord. He would rather keep his mouth shut and stop being ridiculed and harassed, but he cannot. When he tries, it is like there was a burning fire in his heart, shut up in his bones. He cannot hold it in! His formerly close friends wait for an opportunity to get him, but the Lord is with Jeremiah “like a dread warrior!” They will not succeed.
  • David pleads to the Lord in Psalm 69 to deliver and rescue him. Zeal for the Lord’s house and his righteous ways has consumed him, and he is reproached as God is reproached. People even make up drinking songs to make fun of him.
  • In Romans 6, Paul exhorts us all to not test the grace that forgives us, but to be like Jesus. As we were baptized into his death, so will we be resurrected in him to new life. Like him we must be dead to sin and alive to God.

Following Jesus is not all sweetness and life. It may involve unfriendly circumstances, suffering and death. But sometimes we have to take a stand. So, stand with him, dead to sin but alive to God through Jesus. Love everyone but tell God’s truth as nicely yet as accurately as you can.

Blessings,

Rod