Tripp Fuller

For God to be savior, God has to be at work. Together we delve into the work that God must do if God is to be honored and celebrated as savior. And we get wrapped up in the saving work, not only as objects, but as active participants. 

Isaiah 52:7-10 What kind of good news are we talking about here? Can the power of God be redeemed by the outstretched arm of Luke Cage?

Psalm 98  God reigns. God is judge. And the people celebrate. Again. In part, people celebrate because God remembers.

Hebrews 1:1-12 A great story is unfolding: a story in which Jesus is better than the great things that have come before. And maybe not only Jesus but also humans are greater than the angels.

John 1:1-14 John’s gospel proclamation is bigger and better than whatever you think he’s saying. And the greatest surprise of all is that we, too, get to share in the life of the family of God.

Original Blessing by Danielle Shroyer

A Man Attested by God by J. R. Daniel Kirk

Danielle Shroyer is an author, speaker, and blogger. She serves as the Theologian-in-Residence at Journey Church, one of the first independent emerging churches in the country, where she also pastored for over eight years. Danielle is the author of Where Jesus Prayed: Illuminations on the Lord’s Prayer in the Holy Land  and The Boundary Breaking God: An Unfolding Story of Hope and Promise (Jossey-Bass, 2009). A graduate of Baylor University and Princeton Theological Seminary, Danielle speaks often across the country on issues of theology, faith, church leadership, culture, and story. She has written for Patheos, The Hardest Question, and Immerse magazine, and she blogs often at www.danielleshroyer.com. Danielle lives with her husband and two children in Dallas, Texas

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

An annual reminder that God has chosen to be in relationship with us before we could do anything in response. In the person of Jesus we are given the incarnate presence of God’s deepest blessing with us. And to that blessing we said no. And yet God continues to call us into the relationship God has established. 

Isaiah 62:6-12 God draws us into the place of blessing, where God has come before us. And we have to read it from below.

Psalm 97  God is king. God will judge. Ready to celebrate? Is this good news?

Titus 3:4-7 Danielle wants you to preach Titus. Again! And Jennifer Knapp makes a surprise guest appearance. Salvation is all about God’s goodness.

Luke 2:1-20 Returning to where we were last time… There’s a danger to registration that we might have fresh appreciation for this year.

This week on LectioCast we mentioned…

This awesome organization: The Global Immersion Project

This mystery song: Jennifer Knapp, Trinity

This week on LectioCast we mentioned some truly exceptional pieces of literature:

Original Blessing by Danielle Shroyer

A Man Attested by God by J. R. Daniel Kirk

Danielle Shroyer is an author, speaker, and blogger. She serves as the Theologian-in-Residence at Journey Church, one of the first independent emerging churches in the country, where she also pastored for over eight years. Danielle is the author of Where Jesus Prayed: Illuminations on the Lord’s Prayer in the Holy Land  and The Boundary Breaking God: An Unfolding Story of Hope and Promise (Jossey-Bass, 2009). A graduate of Baylor University and Princeton Theological Seminary, Danielle speaks often across the country on issues of theology, faith, church leadership, culture, and story. She has written for Patheos, The Hardest Question, and Immerse magazine, and she blogs often at www.danielleshroyer.com. Danielle lives with her husband and two children in Dallas, Texas

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

Isaiah 9:2-7 The birth of Jesus echoes the birth of an earlier king, a previous “mighty God, everlasting father.” Let that mess with your Christology! 

Psalm 96  God’s plan of salvation is SO MUCH BIGGER than human salvation. The whole creation is wrapped up in God’s saving work. Do we live in such a way the the whole cosmos would see our life as a cause of celebration?

Titus 2:11-14 Danielle thinks you should preach this on Christmas. Be brave! Do it! There’s a deep call to transformation as well as God’s grace embodied in the person of Jesus.

Luke 2:1-20 There’s a danger to registration that we might have fresh appreciation for this year.

This week on LectioCast we mentioned some truly exceptional pieces of literature:

Original Blessing by Danielle Shroyer

A Man Attested by God by J. R. Daniel Kirk

Danielle Shroyer is an author, speaker, and blogger. She serves as the Theologian-in-Residence at Journey Church, one of the first independent emerging churches in the country, where she also pastored for over eight years. Danielle is the author of Where Jesus Prayed: Illuminations on the Lord’s Prayer in the Holy Land  and The Boundary Breaking God: An Unfolding Story of Hope and Promise (Jossey-Bass, 2009). A graduate of Baylor University and Princeton Theological Seminary, Danielle speaks often across the country on issues of theology, faith, church leadership, culture, and story. She has written for Patheos, The Hardest Question, and Immerse magazine, and she blogs often at www.danielleshroyer.com. Danielle lives with her husband and two children in Dallas, Texas

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

Are we sure we know what we’re waiting for? God is faithful, and God is full of surprises.

Mihee Kim-Kort is a Presbyterian minister and spouse to another Presbyterian minister. She is a mother to three, and in her spare time reads, writes books, blogs and freelances for various publications. Sometimes, she tries something random like woodworking or brush lettering, but ends up on social media procrastinating from writing. She is passionate about the intersections between parenting, justice, and spirituality.

In this special episode I get to ask three world-class theologians five questions about preaching and teaching the Bible. Here they are. And they are four in number:

1. Can we say Jesus is Lord in a post-patriarchal context?

2. How do you know when to stay with a church or denomination? How do you know when to go?

3. What can pastors do to start mainstreaming the basic idea that the gospel transforms how we should think about and deploy power?

4. What are some things preachers can do to start chipping away at the idea that God has a penis?

The answers are insightful as you’d expect and wonderfully wide-ranging. Add this grist to your weekly sermon prepcrastination mill.

What time is it? Where are we in the unfolding narrative of God’s story of promise and deliverance? Isaiah and Jesus each show us what the time of arrival looks like. With Isaiah we look for a time yet to come. With Jesus we remember that the time has already arrived.

Isaiah 35:1-10 An exuberant picture of divine rescue that far outstrips everything we see around us. A picture to give us hope that what is death-dealing today can be life-giving tomorrow. 

Matthew 11:2-11 Isaiah’s vision finds its initial fulfillment in Jesus. The time is now.

Psalm 145:5-10 We know that God is at work when we see the sorts of things happening that Isaiah promised and that God enacted.

James 5:7-10 Patience is not passive.

This week on LectioCast we mentioned some truly exceptional pieces of literature:

Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? by J. R. Daniel Kirk

Unlocking Romans by J. R. Daniel Kirk

A Man Attested by God by J. R. Daniel Kirk

Mihee Kim-Kort is a Presbyterian minister and spouse to another Presbyterian minister. She is a mother to three, and in her spare time reads, writes books, blogs and freelances for various publications. Sometimes, she tries something random like woodworking or brush lettering, but ends up on social media procrastinating from writing. She is passionate about the intersections between parenting, justice, and spirituality.

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

Our calling is to live out the Advent story. We are supposed to be the people who put on full display for the world the acceptance with which God has embraced us. We are the people of Abraham’s children raised from stone, we are the people in whom the lion and lamb lie down together, we are the people of Jew and Gentile accepted while we were yet sinners, we are the people showing Jesus’s kingship through our justice among one another.

Matthew 3:1-12 The preacher whom people seek: not in town, out in the wilderness, where God might be reenacting the exodus, promising an outward moving potential of embrace.

Isaiah 11:1-10 How do we wait for something that has already arrived? The kingdom Isaiah envisions cannot be coerced, it can only be inhabited. It begins by reimagining what the Spirit empowers us for.

Psalm 72 A kingship worth celebrating in its justice and judgment. How do we allow the story to reframe our understanding of Jesus being king? What would a kingship of God look like on the earth?

Romans 15:4-13 Hope. Peace with one another enacts the hope we seek to take hold of. We are the people whom Isaiah 4 saw. Watch out for the “just as…”

Jason’s book: Cancer is Funny: Keeping Faith in Stage-Serious Chemo 

Jason Micheli is a United Methodist pastor in Northern Virginia. He claims that his years in the academy

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

The waiting game begins again. But we’re not waiting for the Messiah to be born. We’re waiting for him to reappear. We’re looking and longing for the new creation that was promised with the reign of God’s faithful servant. And so we watch for an hour whose coming we cannot anticipate. And so we become the future for which we hope.

Isaiah 2:1-5.  When God exalts God’s people, the economy of the world is transformed. The military industrial complex surrenders to the agricultural economy of life-giving work. This word goes out and the peoples come in.

Psalm 122 Celebrating God’s presence as: a place, a place where righteous judgment is administered, a place where our sisters and brothers dwell, a place where my “neighbor” is anyone in need of mercy.

Romans 13:11-14 Waiting looks like becoming in Christ who we already are in Christ. The light looks like Jesus.

Matthew 24:36-44 The surprise of the Son of Man’s arrival takes everyone by storm. But might this simply be an iteration of the ministry of Jesus itself? Jason offers a fascinating interpretation. 

Jason’s book: Cancer is Funny: Keeping Faith in Stage-Serious Chemo 

Jason Micheli is a United Methodist pastor in Northern Virginia. He claims that his years in the academy have done him not a whole world of good, claiming, “I’m now the least well-rounded person in the world, having studied theology at UVA and from Princeton. Seriously, I’ve got no skills apart from parsing Greek nouns and obscure theological categories.” You can find his writing at tamedcynic.com and his book, Cancer is Funny, on Amazon.

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

Christ is king. That’s the week on the liturgical calendar, it’s the promise of God. And it’s our hope in a time when we have figured out that our earthly shepherds are not going to fulfill God’s visions of justice and righteousness. 

Jeremiah 23:1-6 God will shepherd God’s people. God will raise up a faithful shepherd to do it through. And God will see to it that humanity gets to flourish, free from fear, as God created us to do.

Luke 1:68-79 Zechariah prophesies over the ministry of John and anticipates the work of Jesus. It’s a vision of grand, earthy salvation, realized in the forgiveness of sins. God’s promise to work through a human king is coming to pass.

Colossians 1:11-20 Forgiveness leads to a kingdom in which Christ is king. Christ is king as humanity was supposed to be at the beginning: God’s image-bearing rulers of the earth. And God’s reconciling work bursts beyond the boundaries of God’s people to include the entire cosmos. This happens on the cross.

Luke 23:33-43 The shocking culmination of Reign of Christ week: we end with Jesus on the cross. But here, paradoxically, we discover the salvation that Jesus brings as king and messiah. 

 Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral

The promise of new creation bursts through with images of wholeness, shalom, restoration, and God’s relentless passion for God’s beloved people. And when a bystander tries to get Jesus to say that the time has finally come for it, Jesus says, “Actually, it’s about to get a whole lot worse.”

Isaiah 65:17-25 New creation looks like a holistic picture of human thriving and flourishing. It’s shalom. It’s the dignity of meaningful work. It’s God delighting in each of us.

Isaiah 12 We celebrate a God whose identity is tied to our own. We celebrate a God who only “is” in relation to us, who “becomes” in relationship to the doings God promised to do.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Get to work. That is all.

Luke 21:5-19 No, that new creation thing isn’t on the cusp of happening. In fact, things have to get a whole lot worse, first. But take courage–God can save your whole self even if you lose your life. 

 Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.