A Plain Account

A Plain Account

By A Plain AccountReligion & Spirituality
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A Plain Account episodes

  • Proper 19C | Luke 15:1-10

    Our texts this week are here

    Our prayer this week is “Forgive Us” by Malcolm Guite 

    Shop the books we’re reading and recommending through our affiliate links with Bookshop.org  

    Other resources on our website: commentaries, discipleship, liturgics, music.

    Join us on PATREON! This is a great way to support the show and make this work sustainable for us all. 

    41 min
  • We're on a break! June-Aug 2022

    We had a great time from Advent to Pentecost! We’re really proud of this content we’re producing! And we want it to be sustainable for the long haul! To that end– we’re taking a summer break– from June to August. Expect us back in your podcast feeds the first week of September discussing the Gospel of Luke

    In the meantime, we’ll be working hard to find ways to make this project sustainable for the team– exploring options for funding and listener support. Fill out our listener survey here: 

    Also, we know that many lectionary preachers take a break during the summer– that’s us too! If that’s your plan as well, here are some things to consider for sermon planning:

    • Topics that need to be addressed—vision, discipleship, prayer, worship, service, etc…
    • Biblical books; only 10% of the OT is in the lectionary, so there's a lot to choose from! Consider shorter narrative books like Ruth, Esther, Jonah, Nehemiah, etc...
    • Interests/struggles of the congregation… lament, spiritual gifts, vocation, etc... 
    • Sermon Series: Beatitudes, line by line. Lord’s Prayer, line by line. Fruit of the Spirit >>> the book Alicia mentioned is Analog Christian: Cultivating Contentment, Resilience, and Wisdom in the Digital Age by Jay Y. Kim, out July 26. The story of Exodus or other Old Testament story arcs. Women of Scripture. Table stories and hospitality. Racial Justice, Environmental justice, Economic Justice. 
      • 8 min
    • Pentacost C | Acts 2:1-21

      Our texts this week are here

      Our prayer for this week is from Fran Pratt: A Litany for Walking in the Spirit

      The common prayer from Refuge Home Church http://www.refugehomechurch.org/

      Walter Brueggemann in The Prophetic Imagination – “Imagination comes before implementation.”

      Quote from Jerusha Madsen Neal on workingpreacher.org; more from Jerusha Madsen Neal and the Spirit’s work in her book, The Overshadowed Preacher

      Other resources on our website: commentaries, discipleship, liturgics, music.

      We’ll be spending the Easter season in the book of Acts. Between Megan & Alicia, we will be reading from several Acts commentaries. Commentaries mentioned –

      • Acts by Willie Jennings (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible)
      • The NBBC Acts commentary by Richard P Thompson
      • Acts For Everyone by N T Wright
      • Acts by Beverly Gaventa. (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries)

        • This episode is sponsored by: JPIXEL Web Design: visit www.jpixel.net or call or text J-PIXEL at 269-258-3200, mention the A Plain Account Podcast and receive an additional $150 off your J-PIXEL website design! 

        41 min
      • Easter 7C | Acts 16:16-34

        Our texts this week are here. Reader’s theatre of Acts 16.

        Learn more about The New Jim Crow and Michelle Alexander’s work on her TEDxTalk or this interview with Krista Tippett

        Our prayer for this week – “A blessing for a prisoner” from To Bless The Space Between Us by John O’Donohue

        Other resources on our website: commentaries, discipleship, liturgics, music.

        We’ll be spending the Easter season in the book of Acts. Between Megan & Alicia, we will be reading from several Acts commentaries. Commentaries mentioned –

        • Acts by Willie Jennings (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible)
        • The NBBC Acts commentary by Richard P Thompson
        • Acts For Everyone by N T Wright
        • Acts by Beverly Gaventa. (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries)

          • Sponsor: visit www.jpixel.net or call or text J-PIXEL at 269-258-3200 

          43 min
        • Easter 6C | Acts 16:9-15

          Our texts this week are here

          Our prayer for this week Every Moment Holy

          • A liturgy for those who employ others
          • A liturgy for those who feel awkward in social gatherings

            • "Lydia's faith becomes immediately active: she is baptized along with her whole household, and she opens her home. Social and cultural barriers crumble, and this corner of the empire is beginning to be changed by God's grace." – Brian Peterson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.

            We’ll be spending the Easter season in the book of Acts. Between Megan & Alicia, we will be reading from several Acts commentaries. Commentaries mentioned –

            • Acts by Willie Jennings (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible)
            • The NBBC Acts commentary by Richard P Thompson
            • Acts For Everyone by N T Wright
            • Acts by Beverly Gaventa. (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries)

              • Other resources on our website: commentaries, discipleship, liturgics, music.

              41 min
            • Easter 5C | Acts 11:1-18

              Our texts this week are here

              Our prayer for this week: Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community

              We’ll be spending the Easter season in the book of Acts. Between Megan & Alicia, we will be reading from several Acts commentaries. Commentaries mentioned –

              • Acts by Willie Jennings (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible)
              • The NBBC Acts commentary by Richard P Thompson
              • Acts For Everyone by N T Wright
              • Acts by Beverly Gaventa. (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries)

                • Other resources on our website: commentaries, discipleship, liturgics, music.

                39 min
              • Easter 4C | Acts 9:36-43

                Our texts this week are here

                Our prayer for this week – “A liturgy before serving others” from Every Moment Holy (vol 1) 

                “All day long, as I watch the breeze toss these clothes in the wind, I imagine my prayers spinning away over the tops of the trees. This is good work, this prayer. This is good prayer, this work. So is digging in the garden, cleaning the chicken pens, washing the potatoes, doing the dishes. I know there are people who would give anything to do these things, people whose bodies have become too numb, too busy, too old or painful to do them. These are the practices that sustain life—not only my life and the lives entwined with mine, but the lives of all living beings.”  Barbara Brown Taylor, Altar in the World (p. 46-47)

                Tabitha-type projects worth checking out:

                • Hookin' for Hope Project: https://olivebranchministry.org/faith-in-harm-reduction-1
                • Knitting for Peace Project: https://www.knitting4peace.org/what-we-do/patterns

                  • We’ll be spending the Easter season in the book of Acts. Between Megan & Alicia, we will be reading from several Acts commentaries, including –

                  • Acts by Willie Jennings (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible)
                  • The NBBC Acts commentary by Richard P Thompson
                  • Acts For Everyone by N T Wright
                  • Acts by Beverly Gaventa. (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries)

                    • Other resources on our website: commentaries, discipleship, liturgics, music.

                    46 min
                  • Easter 3C | Acts 9:1-20

                    Our texts this week are here

                    Our prayer for this week is “Not Held” by Walter Brueggeman, from the collection Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth

                    We highly recommend the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

                    Pádraig Ó Tuama reflects on Ilya Kaminsky’s poem, “We Lived Happily During War” in this episode of Poetry Unbound

                    We’ll be spending the Easter season in the book of Acts. Between Megan & Alicia, we will be reading from several Acts commentaries. Commentaries mentioned –

                    • Acts by Willie Jennings (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible)
                    • The NBBC Acts commentary by Richard P. Thompson
                    • Acts For Everyone by N. T. Wright
                    • Acts by Beverly Gaventa. (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries)

                      • Other resources on our website: commentaries, discipleship, liturgics, music.

                      38 min
                    • Easter 2C | Acts 5:27-32

                      Our texts for this week are here

                      Consider utilizing the resources for Earth Day Sunday provided by our friends at Nazarenes For Creation Care nazarenesforcreationcare.com

                      We’ll be spending the Easter season in the book of Acts. Between Megan & Alicia, we will be reading from several Acts commentaries. Commentaries mentioned –

                      • Acts by Willie Jennings (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible)
                      • The NBBC Acts commentary by Richard P Thompson
                      • Acts For Everyone by N T Wright
                      • Acts by Beverly Gaventa (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries)

                        • Prayer from Sarah Bessey – Prayer for Loving the World Again by Sarah Bessey from A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal

                        44 min
                      • Easter C | Luke 24

                        Our texts this week are here

                        Our prayer this week is from Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community, by Padraig O’Tuama

                        Our sponsor this week: Nazarenes for Creation Care … Earth Day Sunday - April 24th 2022 - Nazarenes for Creation Care is offering this free resource to help congregations engage creation in meaningful ways this April 24th. This downloadable resource will include a special liturgy, Scripture readings, song suggestions, prayers, a bulletin insert, action items for engaging in caring for God's good creation, and more! https://www.nazarenesforcreationcare.com/earth-day-sunday.html

                        Other resources on our website: commentaries, discipleship, liturgics, music.

                        44 min

                      About A Plain Account

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                      A Plain Account is a Wesleyan lectionary resource.