Narrative Lectionary from Working Preacher

A king who takes what he wants. A prophet brave enough to say, "You are the man." This week on I Love to Tell the Story, Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard dig into the story of David and Bathsheba from 2 Samuel 11 and 12 for October 25, 2026.

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This fall, Working Preacher is celebrating 19 years as a lectionary resource. Thank you for giving generously to ensure the site's future as a source for Narrative Lectionary resources, including this podcast.

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Joshua gathers the people, retells everything God has done, and asks them to choose. They say yes. Then Joshua tells them they can't do it.

In this final episode of the covenant and commandments sub-series, Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard explore Joshua 24:1-15 (with optional verses 16-24), the covenant renewal at Shechem, for Sunday, October 18, 2026. They trace how the covenant must be renewed in every generation and why God's faithfulness, not Israel's, is what holds the story together.

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Celebrate Working Preacher's 19th anniversary!

This fall, Working Preacher is celebrating 19 years as a lectionary resource. Thank you for giving generously to ensure the site's future as a source for Narrative Lectionary resources, including this podcast.

Support Working Preacher

Why does Exodus 19 come before Exodus 20? Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard turn to Exodus 19:3-7 and 20:1-17 for the Narrative Lectionary on October 11, 2026. At Mount Sinai, God names Israel a priestly kingdom and a holy nation before a single commandment is given. The covenant comes first, and the law shows how to live it out.

Find episodes and links at workingpreacher.org/narrative.

Mentioned in this episode:

Celebrate Working Preacher's 19th anniversary!

This fall, Working Preacher is celebrating 19 years as a lectionary resource. Thank you for giving generously to ensure the site's future as a source for Narrative Lectionary resources, including this podcast.

Support Working Preacher

Why would God tell Moses to stop praying and start moving? Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard dig into Exodus 14 for the Narrative Lectionary on October 4, 2026. They explore the "Back to Egypt committee" that lives in every congregation, wrestle with the violence against the Egyptians, and trace how the parting of the waters echoes God's work in creation. At the sea, the place of chaos and death, God makes a way into new life.

Find episodes and links at workingpreacher.org/narrative.

Mentioned in this episode:

Celebrate Working Preacher's 19th anniversary!

This fall, Working Preacher is celebrating 19 years as a lectionary resource. Thank you for giving generously to ensure the site's future as a source for Narrative Lectionary resources, including this podcast.

Support Working Preacher

Joseph goes from trusted overseer to prisoner in a single chapter, and somehow God is at work in both. In this episode of I Love to Tell the Story, hosts Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard dig into Genesis 39, the account of Joseph in Potiphar's house.

• Accompanying commentary by Dennis Olson
• Overview to Narrative Lectionary Year 1 readings featuring Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Kristofer Phan Coffman

Mentioned in this episode:

Celebrate Working Preacher's 19th anniversary!

This fall, Working Preacher is celebrating 19 years as a lectionary resource. Thank you for giving generously to ensure the site's future as a source for Narrative Lectionary resources, including this podcast.

Support Working Preacher

What does it mean to leave everything behind on nothing but a promise?

This week Rolf Jacobson, Catherine Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard turn to Genesis 12:1-9, the call of Abram, one of the most consequential moments in the entire Bible. After last week's flood story closed out the primeval history, the camera "zooms in" on one ordinary, childless couple from Mesopotamia, and the plot of the rest of the Old Testament begins.

In this episode:

* Why Abram, of all people? The hosts dig into the mystery the rabbis themselves wrestled with

* The three (or four) promises: land, descendants, blessing, and a great name

* What it meant in a kinship-based society to leave your country, your kindred, and your father's house

* Sarai's infertility, and a pastoral care note on the language we use to preach it

* The real danger and vulnerability behind Abram and Sarai's journey, read through the lens of migration

* How God's faithfulness, even more than Abram's, drives this story forward

Mentioned in this episode:

Celebrate Working Preacher's 19th anniversary!

This fall, Working Preacher is celebrating 19 years as a lectionary resource. Thank you for giving generously to ensure the site's future as a source for Narrative Lectionary resources, including this podcast.

Support Working Preacher

Welcome to a new year of the Narrative Lectionary. This year we're in the Gospel of Matthew, and we're kicking things off with a six week sub series on covenant and commandment, starting with the genesis flood narrative.

Rolf Jacobson and Cameron Howard dig into one of the most uncomfortable stories in Scripture, the one we somehow turned into nursery decor. Why do we put a story about God wiping out nearly all life on earth on baby blankets and crib mobiles? Rolf and Cameron talk through the tension in Genesis 6 through 9, the idea that divine judgment fits the crime, and what it means that in a monotheistic tradition, God has to wrestle with God's own justice and mercy internally, with no "good god versus bad god" to divide the blame.

They also unpack the covenant itself in Genesis 9, why it's easy to overlook the Noahic covenant when we jump straight to Abraham or Sinai, and why this first covenant, made with "every living creature," might be the best place to start a year of preaching on God's care for the whole earth, not just humanity.

• Overview to Narrative Lectionary Year 1 Readings - Featuring Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Kristofer Phan Coffman (airdate: Sept. 2022)
• Commentary on Genesis 6:5-22; 8:6-12; 9:8-17 by Dennis Olson

Mentioned in this episode:

Celebrate Working Preacher's 19th anniversary!

This fall, Working Preacher is celebrating 19 years as a lectionary resource. Thank you for giving generously to ensure the site's future as a source for Narrative Lectionary resources, including this podcast.

Support Working Preacher

What does it mean to follow Jesus not as first-generation believers, but as the second, third, or fourth generation of the church?

In this episode of I Love to Tell the Story, host Kathryn Schifferdecker welcomes Dr. Edward Piller, New Testament scholar and minister at Evesham Baptist Church in Worcestershire, England, for a rich conversation on the Narrative Lectionary's five-week summer series in 1 and 2 Timothy.

Dr. Piller brings pastoral wisdom and scholarly insight to bear on these often-overlooked letters, exploring what it means for a church community to inherit a living faith and pass it on. Together, Kathryn and Edward walk through all five weeks of the lectionary series, offering preachers a road map for each passage:

* Week 1, 1 Timothy 1:12-17: Salvation as ongoing, daily experience, not a one-time event

* Week 2, 1 Timothy 6:6-19: The call to pursue righteousness and "take hold of the life that really is life"

* Week 3, 2 Timothy 1:1-14: Rekindling the gift of God, for individuals and for congregations

* Week 4, 2 Timothy 2:8-15: The faithfulness of God even when we are faithless ("I hold and I am held")

* Week 5, 2 Timothy 3 - 4: Scripture as living, breathing, dynamic word, and the final sign-off of a life well-lived in faith

Dr. Piller also reflects on preaching the epistles with personal vulnerability, the challenge of wealth and comfort in second-generation Christianity, and what it looks like to receive and pass on a living tradition.

Mentioned in this episode:

Celebrate Working Preacher's 19th anniversary!

This fall, Working Preacher is celebrating 19 years as a lectionary resource. Thank you for giving generously to ensure the site's future as a source for Narrative Lectionary resources, including this podcast.

Support Working Preacher

What happens when a story of radical loyalty meets a story of dangerous courage?

In this special summer series introduction, hosts Rolf Jacobson and Kathryn Schifferdecker open the books of Ruth and Esther, the only two biblical books named for women, and explore why these compact, powerful narratives deserve a place at the center of your preaching and teaching.

Mentioned in this episode:

Celebrate Working Preacher's 19th anniversary!

This fall, Working Preacher is celebrating 19 years as a lectionary resource. Thank you for giving generously to ensure the site's future as a source for Narrative Lectionary resources, including this podcast.

Support Working Preacher

It's the final episode of the Narrative Lectionary year, and what a way to close: the arrival of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2) paired with Paul's call to rejoice from prison (Philippians 4:4-7).

Rolf, Kathryn, and Karoline reflect on what makes this day so significant, and why it's not just a day on the calendar but a way of life.

In this episode:

* Why Acts 2 isn't the Spirit's first appearance in Luke-Acts, and what makes Pentecost different

* The Jewish Festival of Weeks (Shavuot/Pentecost) and why diaspora Jews from across the empire were gathered in Jerusalem

* How Acts 1:8 functions as a "theme verse" for the entire book, and how Pentecost begins to fulfill it

* The surprising pastoral comfort of Philippians 4 alongside the drama of Acts: "The Lord is near"

* A word of encouragement for congregations who feel like Pentecost is someone else's story

Mentioned in this episode:

Celebrate Working Preacher's 19th anniversary!

This fall, Working Preacher is celebrating 19 years as a lectionary resource. Thank you for giving generously to ensure the site's future as a source for Narrative Lectionary resources, including this podcast.

Support Working Preacher