Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year 1, NL)
42 results found.
Psalm 23 in conversation (Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18)
This familiar text takes on new dimensions when read in tandem with this week’s epistle and gospel texts.
April 21, Easter 4B (Psalm 23; John 10:11–18)
A dead shepherd isn’t helpful to anyone, least of all to the sheep left behind.
The iconic divine shepherd
Two new books trace the history of a rich religious image.
April 30, Easter 4A (Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; John 10:1-10)
The church in Acts 2 will follow Jesus, for they know his voice.
by Jenna Smith
Jesus’ many names (Matthew 1:18-25)
Thank God Joseph recognized him.
December 18, Adv 4A (Matthew 1:18-25)
Joseph has a massive decision to make.
Liz Tichenor’s life in the wake of her infant’s death
We are called to accompany the bodies we love from birth to death and beyond.
May 3, Easter 4A (Psalm 23; John 10:1–10)
December 22, Advent 4A (Matthew 1:18–25; Isaiah 7:10–16; Romans 1:1–7)
The U.S.-Mexico border, where migrants are hunted
What does it do to the body and spirit to be preyed upon constantly?
Who is my shepherd? (Psalm 23)
It took me decades to realize Psalm 23 isn’t exactly about Jesus.
April 22, Easter 4B (Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18)
The "jobsworth" and the good shepherd.
by David Heim
What people need from their pastors
The ailing young man wanted to be face to face with God. I opened my shoebox.
by Samuel Wells
A feast of scriptural language
Sarah Ruden writes some of the most sumptuous words about Bible words I’ve ever read.
Good people and new names (Matthew 1:18–25)
Every child is from God. Joseph gets an explicit divine promise.
December 18, Fourth Sunday of Advent: Matthew 1:18–25
Matthew's geneaology underscores that God has always worked through messy and broken families.
April 17, Fourth Sunday of Easter: Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30
A shepherd’s staff has a crook for drawing the sheep away from danger, and a blunt end for prodding them toward places they would rather not go. This week’s texts embrace the tension between the two in the shepherd’s role.
Fearing evil
It feels to me like evil is hovering over the prison in the form of a government ready to kill a woman who prayed with me when my father was dying of cancer. There isn't a thing I can do about it except pray this psalm and damn if we can't get it right.
A psalm for the living
In his years as a pastor my husband read the 23rd Psalm at the bedsides of quite a few people who were dying. It was the most frequently requested passage among those who were facing their own going and still able to choose. When I began to volunteer for hospice, I found, as he had, that even for people who had wandered far from church, even for the skeptical and the uncertain, even for those who were unused to prayer and didn't want to be prayed over, the 23rd Psalm provided a place of return that was beautiful, familiar, inviting, and reassuring.