First Reading

Lectionary Date: March 1, 2020 [1st Sunday in Lent, Year A]

This week, Tim defamiliarizes a familiar text.

Lectionary Date: February 23, 2020 [Transfiguration Sunday, Year A]

This week, Rachel and Tim are joined by Dr. Amanda Mbuvi, Assistant Professor of Religion at High Point University in High Point, NC. She holds a BA in Philosophy and Literary Theory from Bryn Mawr College, an MTS in Biblical Studies from Palmer Theological Seminary, and a PhD in Religion from Duke University—as well as a Certificate in Nonprofit Management, Duke University! She was drawn to the Hebrew Bible because of its vivid stories and rich language, and because of the way it connects the various streams of her identity, especially as for one who grew up Jewish in the Black church. Her work focuses on questions of identity and community, both in the Bible and in contemporary conversations about how we live with those texts and with each other. We commend to you her first book, Belonging in Genesis: Biblical Israel and the Politics of Identity Formation, which was recently published by Baylor University Press, as well as her blog: amandambuvi.com.

Lectionary Date: February 16, 2020 [6th Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A]

This week, Tim attempts to put a familiar text into context.

Lectionary Date: February 9, 2020 [5th Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A]

This week, Rachel helps us hear the prophetic call to stop hurting ourselves by hurting others.

Lectionary Date: February 2, 2020 [4th Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A]

This week, Rachel's up with an encouragement to begin the conversation about racial justice with this beloved text.

Lectionary Date: January 26, 2020 [3rd Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A]

This week, Rachel and Tim are joined by Dr. Kristin J. Wendland for a rich discussion about this week’s psalm. Kristin is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at her alma mater, Wartburg College in Waverly, IA. Her work focuses on personification, gender, and the divine-human relationship in exilic and post-exilic literature. She is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and holds degrees from Luther Seminary (where she overlapped with Rachel) and Princeton Theological Seminary. You can find her work at WorkingPreacher.org and in the journal, Word and World.

Lectionary Date: January 19, 2020 [2nd Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A]

This week, Tim explores the power of God's calling.

Lectionary Date: January 12, 2020 [1st Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A]

This week, Rachel goes deep in the mishpat.

Lectionary Date: January 6, 2020 [Epiphany of the Lord, Year A]

This week, Tim orients us to some of the themes of a classic Epiphany text.

Lectionary Date: December 24, 2019 [Nativity of the Lord, Year A]

This week, Rachel takes a historical look at one of the most famous "Christmas" texts of the Bible. As a supplement to this episode, check out her commentary on this same passage over at WorkingPreacher.org.