Sermon Brainwave from Working Preacher

The Day of Pentecost offers preachers more than one path in. Matt, Karoline, and Cody explore all four lectionary texts for this week and find each one illuminating a different dimension of the Spirit's work.John 20 gets special attention: instead of the dramatic rush of wind and fire in Acts, the risen Jesus enters a room of grieving, frightened disciples and breathes the Spirit into them at close range. The contrast is striking. Acts invites awe and wonder. John offers intimacy. Both are worth preaching.The conversation ranges across all four texts, with discussion of the Spirit's creative power in Psalm 104, the radical inclusivity of Joel's prophecy poured out on all flesh, and Paul's vision in 1 Corinthians 12 of diverse gifts working together for the common good. Cody offers a "telescoping lens" framework for preachers who want to weave all four readings together.Mentioned in this episode:May 2026 WP Campaign

What does "eternal life" actually mean? In this episode, Matt Skinner, Karoline Lewis, and Cody Sanders dig into the texts for the Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 17, 2026): Acts 1:6–14, Psalm 68:1–10, 32–35, 1 Peter 4:12–14 and 5:6–11, and John 17:1–11.The conversation opens with a close look at the High Priestly Prayer in John 17 and a reframe of eternal life as a quality of relationship with God rather than a quantity of time. Cody's Working Preacher commentary on this passage shapes much of the discussion, including the insight that eternal life is a matter of identity, not duration.The hosts also explore the Ascension text in Acts 1, where wonder becomes a spiritual posture and witness becomes a charge to the whole church. On Psalm 68, the group pushes back against triumphalism by centering the psalm's vision of God as protector of orphans, widows, and the desolate. And in 1 Peter, a sharp discussion of solidarity and suffering asks what it truly means to stand beside those whose backs are against the wall.New episodes of Sermon Brainwave drop weekly. Subscribe and visit workingpreacher.org for commentaries, sermon resources, and more.Mentioned in this episode:May 2026 WP CampaignSupport Working Preacher

Join Profs. Rolf Jacobson, Karoline Lewis, and Matt Skinner for a conversation on the Revised Common Lectionary texts for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (Ord. 5C), Feb. 6, 2022. Recorded via Zoom on Jan. 11, 2022, for Working Preacher. Watch video version at https://youtu.be/npsEtzRf7WgMentioned in this episode:May 2026 WP Campaign

Join Profs. Rolf Jacobson, Karoline Lewis, and Matt Skinner for a conversation on the Revised Common Lectionary texts for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (Ord. 5C), Feb. 6, 2022. Recorded via Zoom on Jan. 11, 2022, for Working Preacher. Watch video version at https://youtu.be/npsEtzRf7WgMentioned in this episode:May 2026 WP Campaign