SAMUEL is a sermon preparation resource designed for use with the Revised Common Lectionary. Each week, you’ll find that Sunday’s lectionary texts and “Sermon Seeds,” a reflection on the focus text from the Seasons of the Spirit curriculum. Each week, Sermon Seeds are also adapted as “Weekly Seeds” on i.ucc.org for Bible study in the local church and for personal devotion and study.  Along with the text and reflection, you’ll find a prayer, a verse for meditation, and focus questions for discussion. A Bible study forum on i.ucc.org provides a place for sharing responses to the text.

The United Church of Christ participates in the Consultation on Common Texts, which has designed the Revised Common Lectionary. For more information on the lectionary, go to commontexts.org.

Note:  Preachers are invited to participate in our lectionary and preaching forum on myUCC.

SAMUEL is produced by the Congregational Vitality and Discipleship Ministry Team of Local Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ.

The Revised Common Lectionary is © Consultation on Common Texts.

Texts are from the New Revised Standard Version of Holy Scripture, © 1989 by The Division of Christian Education, National Council of Churches.

The psalm antiphon is from The New Century Hymnal, © 1995, The Pilgrim Press. Used with permission.


Music for the psalm and antiphon are available in The New Century Hymnal, plus a complete index of hymns appropriate for each Sunday's lectionary readings. To purchase the Hymnal, call 1-800-325-7061 or simply click here.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible (with the Apocrypha): An Ecumenical Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version (Oxford University Press, 1994).

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, translated by Eugene Peterson (NavPress, 2006).

The New Century Hymnal  (The Pilgrim Press, 1995)

The Inclusive Bible: An Egalitarian Translation, translated by Priests for Equality (Sheed and Ward)

Preaching Commentaries:

Lectionary-based commentaries:

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (series), David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors (Westminster John Knox)

The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, Roger E. Van Harn, editor (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
 Three volumes:
The First Readings: The Old Testament and Acts
The Second Readings: Acts and the Epistles
The Third Readings: The Gospels

New Proclamation: The essential pastoral companion for preaching (Fortress)

New Proclamation Commentary on the Gospels, Andrew Gregory, David Bartlett, Morna Hooker, and Henry Wansbrough (Fortress)

Preaching the New Lectionary (Years A, B, and C), Dianne Bergant. (The Liturgical Press)

Preaching through the Christian Year (A, B, C), Fred B. Craddock, John H. Hayes, Carl R. Holladay, and Gene M. Tucker (Trinity Press International)

Texts for Preaching (Years A, B, C), Walter Brueggemann, Charles B. Cousar, Beverly R. Gaventa and James D. Newsome (Westminster John Knox)

Richard Swanson has written a powerful series for lectionary preaching
(published by The Pilgrim Press):
 Provoking the Gospel of Mark
 Provoking the Gospel of Matthew
 Provoking the Gospel of Luke

John J. Pilch has provided helpful background information on the cultural settings of the lectionary texts by church year:
1. The Cultural World of Jesus, Sunday by Sunday (The Liturgical Press)
2. The Cultural World of the Apostles, Sunday by Sunday (The Liturgical Press)
3. The Cultural World of the Prophets, Sunday by Sunday (The Liturgical Press)

The Stewardship Companion: Lectionary Resources for Preaching, David N. Mosser (Westminster John Knox)

Mark in the Lectionary: An Ecumenical Guide to the Sunday Gospels, Gérald Caron (Paulist Press)

The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary (Abingdon) 

Westminster Bible Companion Series, Patrick D. Miller and David L. Bartlett, editors (Westminster John Knox)

Marcus Borg, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literally (Harper), The Heart of Christianity, and Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time

Walter Brueggemann’s books are, of course, an invaluable source of rich theological reflection for preachers. Here are sources used for Sermon Seeds:
  Finally Comes the Poet: Daring Speech for Proclamation (Fortress)
  The Threat of Life: Sermons on Pain, Power, and Weakness (Augsburg)
  The Word Militant: Preaching a Decentering Word (Fortress)
  The Covenanted Self: Explorations in Law and Covenant (Fortress)
  The Word that Redescribes the World: The Bible and Discipleship (Fortress)
  Inscribing the Text: Sermons and Prayers of Walter Brueggemann (Fortress)
  An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination
   (Westminster John Knox)
  The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith (Fortress)
  Deep Memory, Exuberant Hope: Contested Truth in a Post-Christian World                     
   (Fortress)
  The Prophetic Imagination (Fortress)
  Texts that Linger, Words that Explode: Listening to Prophetic Voices (Fortress)
  Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy (Fortress)

James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Belknap Press)

Megan McKenna, On Your Mark: Reading Mark in the Shadow of the Cross (Orbis Books)

Bernard Brandon Scott, Re-Imagine the World: An Introduction to the Parables of Jesus (Polebridge Press)

Barbara Brown Taylor’s sermons and reflections on preaching:
  God in Pain: Teaching Sermons on Suffering (Abingdon)
  The Preaching Life (Cowley Publications)
  Bread of Angels (Cowley Publications)
  The Seeds of Heaven: Sermons on the Gospel of Matthew (Westminster John Knox)
  Gospel Medicine (Cowley Publications)
  Home by Another Way (Cowley Publications)
  Mixed Blessings (Cowley Publications)

Gardner C. Taylor, The Words of Gardner Taylor, Volumes I-VI, compiled by Edward L. Taylor (Judson Press)

Michael E. Williams, ed., The Storyteller’s Companion to the Bible (Abingdon)