Rick Marshall

5th Sunday in Lent

April 2, 2006
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Year A
Year B
Year C

Lenten Candle Liturgy
Lenten Benedictions/Commissioning/Blessings

Preaching Lent/Easter I
Preaching Lent/Easter II
Preaching Lent/Easter II

John Cobb on atonement
John Cobb on redemption
John Cobb on Jesus
John Cobb on Death of Jesus

Reading 1: 
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Reading 2: 
Psalm 51:1-12
Reading 3: 
Hebrews 5:5-10
Reading 4: 
John 12:20-33
By Rick Marshall

Discussion of the Texts:

Transfiguration Sunday (Last Sunday after Epiphany)

February 26, 2006
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Year A
Year B
Year C

Reading 1: 
2 Kings 2:1-12
Reading 2: 
Psalm 50:1-6
Reading 3: 
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Reading 4: 
Mark 9:2-9
By Rick Marshall

Discussion of the Texts:

7th Sunday after Epiphany

February 19, 2006
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Year B
Year C

Reading 1: 
Isaiah 43:18-25
Reading 2: 
Psalm 41
Reading 3: 
2 Corinthians 1:18-22
Reading 4: 
Mark 2:1-12
By Rick Marshall

Discussion of the Texts:

6th Sunday after Epiphany

February 12, 2006
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Year A
Year B
Year C

Reading 1: 
2 Kings 5:1-14
Reading 2: 
Psalm 30
Reading 3: 
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Reading 4: 
Mark 1:40-45
By Rick Marshall

Discussing the Texts:

The 2 Kings 5:1-14 text came up on Pentecost 19, October 10, 2004, when I wrote about it with a different selection of texts. I have repeated the discussion of it here, but it takes on a different spin with different texts. For Pentecost 19, the theme was permeable boundaries. With today’s set of texts, the theme has more to do with the power of healing and where it comes from.

5th Sunday after Epiphany

February 5, 2006
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Reading 1: 
Isaiah 40:21-31
Reading 2: 
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
Reading 3: 
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Reading 4: 
Mark 1:29-39
By Rick Marshall

Discussion of the Texts:

The Psalm and Isaiah texts are similar in how they express praise in the Creator God. Psalm 147 uses strong verbs to describe God’s actions toward creation: “builds up,” “gathers,” “heals,” “binds up,” “determines,” “gives,” “lifts up.” We are called to sing praises to the Creator God who is deeply involved in the welfare of all creation.

4th Sunday after Epiphany

January 29, 2006
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Year A
Year B
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Reading 1: 
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Reading 2: 
Psalm 111
Reading 3: 
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Reading 4: 
Mark 1:21-28
By Rick Marshall

Discussion of the Texts:

4th Sunday after Epiphany

February 2, 2003
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Year A
Year B
Year C

Reading 1: 
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Reading 2: 
Psalm 111
Reading 3: 
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Reading 4: 
Mark 1:21-28
By Rick Marshall

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

3rd Sunday after Epiphany

January 22, 2006
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Reading 1: 
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Reading 2: 
Psalm 62:5-12
Reading 3: 
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Reading 4: 
Mark 1:14-20
By Rick Marshall

"For the form of this world is passing away." (1 Cor 7:31)

"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand." (Mk 1:15)

"On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. (Ps 62:7)

"When God saw what they (the people of Nineveh) did how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it." (Jonah 3:10)

2nd Sunday after Epiphany

January 15, 2006
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Reading 1: 
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
Reading 2: 
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
Reading 3: 
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Reading 4: 
John 1:43-51
By Rick Marshall

Psalm 139 is one of my favorite psalms, so I would find a way to use verses 1-18 as part of the liturgy for the morning. It’s best to preface it briefly, read it and let it stand on its own. The psalm expresses God’s deep involvement in all of life, in our individual lives. I’ve read this psalm during funeral services after speaking of love and how we take a risk in loving. God, too, takes a risk in loving us. It could easily be used as a private prayer to focus the mind and heart.

Baptism of Christ

January 8, 2006
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Year A
Year B
Year C

Reading 1: 
Genesis 1:1-5
Reading 2: 
Psalm 29
Reading 3: 
Acts 19:1-7
Reading 4: 
Mark 1:4-11
By Rick Marshall

Discussion of the Texts:

Baptism of Christ

January 9, 2000
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Year A
Year B
Year C

Reading 1: 
Isaiah 42:1-9
Reading 2: 
Psalm 29
Reading 3: 
Acts 10:34-43
Reading 4: 
Mark 1:4-11
By Rick Marshall

Psalm
The text is in the form of a doxology, addressed to heavenly beings, in preparation for the request for strength and peace from God in the last verse. Several metaphors are at work, primarily addressing the meaning of "voice of God," especially thunder and flames of fire. Several strong verbs are at play: moving over the waters (Creation, Gen. 1:1), breaks, flashes, shakes, makes to whirl, strips. Also, several senses are involved in the apprehension of these phenomena: hearing, feeling, seeing.

Proper 8

June 29, 2008
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Year A
Year B
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Reading 1: 
Genesis 22:1-14
Reading 2: 
Psalm 13
Reading 3: 
Romans 6:12-23
Reading 4: 
Matthew 10:40-42
By Rick Marshall

Discussing the text

Proper 7

June 22, 2008
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Reading 1: 
Genesis 21:8-21
Reading 2: 
Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17
Reading 3: 
Romans 6:1b-11
Reading 4: 
Matthew 10:24-39
By Rick Marshall

Discussing the text

Proper 6

June 15, 2008
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Year A
Year B
Year C



Reading 1: 
Genesis 18:1-15
Reading 2: 
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
Reading 3: 
Romans 5:1-8
Reading 4: 
Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-23)
By Rick Marshall

Discussing the text

Proper 5

June 8, 2008
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Year B
Year C



Reading 1: 
Genesis 12:1-9
Reading 2: 
Psalm 33:1-12
Reading 3: 
Romans 4:13-25
Reading 4: 
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
By Rick Marshall

Discussing the text
A strong theme that is building in the texts for Pentecost this year is the reminder that God is Creator and that our ultimate loyalty, allegiance and trust are due God and not to any creature. The temptation for humans is to find ultimate commitment in a creature, which is the definition of idolatry. Paul puts his finger on the true center of sin in Romans 1:25 where humans “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator.”

Proper 4

June 1, 2008
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Year A
Year B
Year C



Reading 1: 
Genesis 6:9-22, 7:24, 8:14-19
Reading 2: 
Psalm 46
Reading 3: 
Romans 1:16-17, 3:22b-28, (29-31)
Reading 4: 
Matthew 7:21-29
By Rick Marshall

Discussing the text
All the assigned texts, taken together, point to a basic biblical claim that all things ultimately depend upon God and that God’s intentions for creation are good and protective.

Proper 3

May 25, 2008
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Reading 1: 
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Reading 2: 
Psalm 131
Reading 3: 
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Reading 4: 
Matthew 6:24-34
By Rick Marshall

Discussing the text

Trinity Sunday

May 18, 2008
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Reading 1: 
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Reading 2: 
Psalm 8
Reading 3: 
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Reading 4: 
Matthew 28:16-20
By Rick Marshall

On the Trinity
The historical definition of the Trinity makes very little sense to me. It is a confusing mystification of the divine nature using old arguments based on substance philosophy and how the three aspects of God are related. Substance philosophy is no longer persuasive and therefore undercuts the rationale for the Trinity. This idea of faith is a fundamental distraction from what the general definition of faith tends to be in the Bible, which is trusting the power of the resurrecting God.  

Good Friday

March 21, 2008
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Year A
Year B
Year C

Lenten Candle Liturgy
John Cobb on redemption
Biblical Preaching on the Death of Jesus (Cobb)

Reading 1: 
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Reading 2: 
Psalm 22
Reading 3: 
Hebrews 10:16-25
Reading 4: 
John 18:1-19:42
By Rick Marshall

Discussing the Text

Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday

March 16, 2008
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Year A
Year B
Year C

Lenten Candle Liturgy
John Cobb on redemption
Biblical Preaching on the Death of Jesus (Cobb)



Reading 1: 
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Reading 2: 
Psalm 31:9-16
Reading 3: 
Philippians 2:5-11
Reading 4: 
Matthew 26:14-27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54
By Rick Marshall

Discussig the Text

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