The Christian Calendar on Surprise

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Author

Carl Knudsen
Keywords
- Easter
- Surprise
Scripture

1 Peter 1:3, Luke 24:1-12, Mark 16:1-8, Matthew 28:1-10, John 11:25-26, John 20:1-8, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
The story of Easter is the story of God’s wonderful window of divine surprise.
illustration

The Surprise and Celebration of Easter
Author

Wesley Hill
Keywords
New Testament scholar and Anglican bishop N. T. Wright recalls being at a party once when someone decided to read a portion of the seventeenth-century Prayer Book for laughs. The Prayer Book includes ...
illustration

A Christmas Surprise
Author

Source Unknown
Keywords
Scripture

Luke 1:26, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:8-14
There was a woman who was baking her Christmas cookies and she heard a knock at the door. She opened the door to find a man who was dressed in pretty tattered clothes, and he was obviously poor. And h...
liturgy

Almighty God, you have surprised us
Author

Scott B. Bullock
Keywords
Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 13:44, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 139:7-10, 1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Luke 2:1-20, John 4:7-26, John 21:1-14, Luke 24:13-35, Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 2:25-38, Luke 1:35-38, Hebrews 13:2, Isaiah 43:19
Almighty God, you have surprised us with your presence in unexpected ways. In the expectations of our routine, we have missed the treasure that you place before us. We come to worship you in community...
liturgy

For those who first went out into the
Author

Ann Siddall
Keywords
- Easter
Scripture

1 Peter 1:3, Luke 24:1-12, Mark 16:1-8, Matthew 28:1-10, John 11:25-26, John 20:1-18, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
For those who first went out into the early dawn, when the sky was grey, taking spices to the tomb, there was terror, and surprise. For us, resisting the impulse to sleep in as part of a long weekend,...
illustration

So he took the paint brush and went out
Author

Source Unknown
Keywords
Scripture

Proverbs 16:18 , Luke 14:11 , Numbers 22:21-34, Luke 2:8-18, James 1:17, Acts 20:35, 2 Corinthians 9:15 , Jeremiah 31:31 , 2 Corinthians 9:15, John 1:9-10
So he took the paint brush and went out back. She forgot about it until sometime later when there was another knock at the door. It was him. He obviously had been painting because there was paint spla...
Quote
Author

Rainer Maria Rilke
Keywords
- Christmas
Scripture

Luke 2:6-7, Isaiah 53:2, Matthew 2:1-2, Philippians 2:6-8, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
If you lacked simplicity, how then should this fall to you that midnight skies are a shine with? God, who stoked at men mild in you now comes to mortal eyes. That he’s not more great—does this surpris...
blog

Pentecost for the Rest of Us
Author

Jack Levison
Keywords
- Pentecost
Scripture

Acts 2:1-41
Set Aside the Balloons, the Plastic Doves, and the Chips and Salsa for a Moment... When I arrived at church on Pentecost Sunday a few years ago, I sat down in the pews and looked up to see red and ...
blog

After Easter: Take it a Day at a Time
Author

Dan Baumgartner
Keywords
Recovering from Holy Week Whew. I’m dragging just a little. It’s a few days after Easter. The season has been full of richness, but I’m a bit tired. I’ve written daily Lenten devotionals, newsletter...
lectionary

Maundy Thursday (Guide B)
Author

Paul Koptak
Keywords
Scripture

John 13:1-17, 31b-35, Leviticus 19:18
Introduction Only John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus washed his disciple’s feet during his last meal with them. The other texts for this day remember the Passover and the context it sets for Jesus’s w...
illustration

The Kings’ Cake
Author

The Pastor's Workshop
Keywords
- The Epiphany
Scripture

Matthew 2:1-12
Though it has fallen out of favor in many English-speaking countries, it is traditional in many parts of the world to prepare and eat a Kings’ Cake on Twelfth Night (Jan 5) or Epiphany (Jan 6). Though...
blog

Preaching the Resurrection
Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.
Keywords
Easter after Resurrection Sunday One of the challenges of the Christian calendar for pastors is that we often put so much energy into Holy Week, that by the time we reach Easter Sunday , and parti...
blog

Ash Wednesday and St. Valentine
Author

Scott B. Bullock
Keywords
Scripture

Psalm 107:null, John 21:15-19, Ruth 1:16-17, Matthew 22:37-39, Isaiah 61:3, Romans 5:8
A Valentine’s Day Tradition What better way to say, “I love you,” than passing your beloved some sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, and glycerin wrapped in a chalkly Necco wafer heart? Maybe some of you re...
blog

The Art of Remembering
Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.
Keywords
Scripture

James 1:17, Ephesians 4:null
The Necessity of Memory Memory—or, more actively, remembering , plays an all-important role in our lives. Our culture likes us to focus on the now, "looking forward rather than looking back&q...
blog

Advent Wreath Meaning and Symbolism: A Guide for Creative Worship
Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Keywords
- Advent
Updated for Advent 2025 It may surprise many to learn that Advent wreaths are a fairly new tradition, only dating back to the 19th century. But it provides a powerful way to connect with your congre...
liturgy

Think of a moment when someone that you
Author

Ann Siddall
Keywords
- Easter
Think of a moment when someone that you least expected to see suddenly stands before you. A moment when something you’d lost is found again and you can scarcely believe your eyes. Think of a mome...
Quote
Author

N. T. Wright
Keywords
- Easter
Easter was when Hope in person surprised the whole world by coming forward from the future into the present.
liturgy

In the midst of frenzied shopping and
Author

Ann Siddall
Keywords
- Advent
In the midst of frenzied shopping and end-of-year weariness, we spread out a purple cloth,(a purple cloth is spread over the communion table) read again the ancient stories,(a Bible is placed on th...
blog

All Saints' Day Liturgy and Prayers: Two Options for Your Church
Author

The Pastor's Workshop
Keywords
I wouldn’t be surprised if, as a Protestant pastor, you approach All Saints’ Day with a little unease. After all, because Protestant churches tend not to have a special class of canonized exemplars ...
blog

Hard Holy Days and the Wondrous Mystery
Author

Leslie Leyland Fields
Keywords
- Christmas
Scripture

Isaiah 9:2, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Luke 2:1-7, John 1:14, Isaiah 7:14
Christmas is Over It’s Christmas morning, not yet light. I am ten years old, creeping down the stairs, and I am full of hope. My siblings and I were told there will be no Christmas. Our mother told u...
illustration

Identifying Christians
Author

Kerry Weber
Keywords
On the whole, though, Catholics (and Protestants) aren’t identifiable at first glance. Yet, on Ash Wednesday I’m always surprised by the number of people I see on the streets and in the subways sporti...
illustration

A Life Re-Defined by The Spirit of God
Author

Mark Labberton
Keywords
Scripture

Acts 8:36-38, Acts 8:29-31, Acts 10:44-46, Acts 10:3-6, Acts 10:1-48, Acts 9:17-18, Acts 9:3-6
In his excellent book on worship, The Dangerous Act of Worship , pastor and president of Fuller Seminary Mark Labberton shares a story of the transformation of one of his former congregants: Ben ...
Quote
Author

Michael Joseph Brown
Keywords
- Advent
- God's Work
God's movement is often abrupt and unsettling rather than predictable and settling.
Quote
Author

T. S. Eliot
Keywords
- The Incarnation
- Christmas
Scripture

John 1:14, Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2:25-35, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:41-52, Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 16:15-17
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation.
Quote
Author

J. F. Wilson
Keywords
- Advent
Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 136:1-3, Isaiah 9:2-7
Strange, this familiar Father of prodigals whose love, too much for one lifetime, wills that we shall share the feast of forgiveness and joy in the epilogue of eternity. Strange, this daily advent of ...
Quote
Author

Alfred Lord Tennyson
Keywords
Scripture

Isaiah 9:2, John 8:12, Malachi 4:2, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Revelation 22:16, Psalm 30:5
Rise, happy morn, rise, holy morn Draw forth the cheerful day from night; O Father, touch the east, and light The light that shone when Hope was born.
liturgy

Receive and Rejoice!
Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Keywords
Scripture

Luke 2:20
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. – Luke 2:20 Receive and Rejoice! A joy greater than words A great and glorious joy....
liturgy

In this season of Lent, O God, unsettle
Author

Walter Brueggemann
Keywords
- Lent
In this season of Lent, O God, unsettle us. Increase in us that sense of gnawing that arises from the incongruity between our lives and the life to which you call us, and transform us in newness. Amen...
Quote
Author

Larry Libby
Keywords
Scripture

Luke 2:8-14, Luke 2:1-7, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:46-55, Micah 5:2, John 1:14, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:25-38, John 10:10-11
Late on a sleepy, star-spangled night, those angels peeled back the sky just like you would tear open a sparkling Christmas present. Then, with light and joy pouring out of Heaven like water through a...
Quote
Author

Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Keywords
Scripture

1 Kings 3:5-14, Genesis 41:39-43, James 1:17
God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.