Shannon Kelly

Proper 24, Year C, Old Testament

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:27-34

Our passage from Jeremiah this week continues the narrative of the past two weeks. First we heard of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the people of Judah. Last week, Jeremiah spoke to the people of Judah living in Babylon and conveyed God’s desire for the people to build houses and families in the foreign land. This week, Jeremiah continues his prophesy declaring the coming of a new covenant with God. This new covenant does not nullify the first; rather, because the people broke their covenant, God is showing Mercy by promising to forget their sin and continue moving forward with the people of God.

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Proper 21, Year C, Old Testament

Scripture: Lamentations 1:1-6

This week our Old Testament passage takes us back in time to a period of tremendous grief and devastation. Lamentations was written following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BCE as a series of five poems. Lamentations is a sort of survivors’ therapy – the author is working out the horror, sadness, and grief experienced through the trauma of the destruction in beautiful and illustrative acrostic poetry. Our portion of the passage today is the very beginning of the poem. The author writes in the third person and uses the image of a woman to portray the city of Jerusalem. The challenge of this scripture when using it in the classroom is to allow the poem to speak honestly to the children without losing the hope we know as Christians.

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Proper 21, Year C, Old Testament Lesson

Scripture: Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Today we jump to the end of the Book of Jeremiah. We hear him being undeterred from his mission. He is not letting go of what God has sent him to do. We hear a story of him buying land even though he is in prison. Why? Why is this important? Because “houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” Even though imprisoned and people think he is done for, Jeremiah continues to build up the kingdom of God.

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Scripture: Jeremiah 4:11-12, [22-28]

 The nature of today’s reading does not lend itself well to study by children because we do not get the whole picture of why God is promising this destruction and judgement. This will be difficult for the children to grasp. Instead, we will focus on the first two versus and the image of the wind. Jeremiah used this image because it would have been something familiar to those he was speaking to as they understand the benefits and destructiveness of wind.

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LPTW Proper 19, Year C, Younger Children, Old Testament
LPTW Proper 19, Year C, Older Children, Old Testament

Proper 18, Year C, Old Testament Lesson

Scripture: Jeremiah 18:1-11

 We are still in the midst of hearing many lessons from the prophet Jeremiah. Today’s reading is from God’s instruction to Jeremiah to ‘pluck up, break down, and destroy’ and to then ‘build up and plant.’ This is an interpretation of God’s call to Jeremiah. This is what God has sent him to do in this world. We will explore what it means for us.

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LPTW Proper 18, Year C, Younger Children Old Testament
LPTW Proper 18, Year C, Older Children Old Testament

Proper 9, Year C, Old Testament Lesson

Scripture: 2 Kings 5:1-14

There is a lot going on in this story, but it is enough for children for it to be a story of healing, brought about by a messenger of God. As we continue to hear stories of prophets, it is good to remember they did much more than simply go around announcing doom or hope. They were agents of God’s healing mercies, as indicated in this story. And God’s healing extends beyond the boundaries we usually put up between people. Another lesson of the story is in Naaman’s response to his instructions. We also often want grand gestures and big obvious signs. Sometimes healing comes from the simplest of acts.

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LPTW Proper 9, Year C, Younger Children, Old Testament
LPTW Proper 9, Year C, Older Children, Old Testament

Eight Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C, Old Testament

Scripture: Sirach 27:4-7

These words come from the Apocrypha from Sirach also known as Ecclesiasticus. Written by Jeshua be Eleazar be Sira in Alexandria, Egypt in the second century BCE, Sirach gives us wise phrases much like the book of Proverbs. Today’s passage is about judging strangers by their words (and actions) rather than trusting them outright. Without developing xenophobia, we might choose to pay more attention to the wisdom of our words and the fruits of our actions.

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LPTW Epiphany 8, Year C, Younger Children, Old Testament
LPTW Epiphany 8, Year C, Older Children, Old Testament

Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C, Old Testament

Scripture: Genesis 45: 3-11, 15

Today we depart from our prophet lineage to catch up with a story from the first book of the Bible at its climax. The long saga of Joseph and his brothers is about to come to an end. Joseph does share many traits with the prophets. In addition to foretelling the future, he attributes his crazy circumstances to God’s ultimate care. His faith in God changes how he views his situation. And it informs how he chooses to treat his family. Today’s focus is on forgiveness.

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LPTW Epiphany 7, Year C, Younger Children, Old Testament
LPTW Epiphany 7, Year C, Older Children, Old Testament

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C, Old Testament

Scripture:  Jeremiah 17:5-10

This reading is a standard, blessing and curse type saying, an oracle of judgment against Judah. Although it reads like other wisdom literature, it is written after King Josiah’s reform has failed and before the Exile. Jeremiah is warning the people to put their trust back in the Lord, and to stop thinking anything or anyone else can save them. Our approach for this class will be to build trust among the students and to explore the concept of placing our trust in God.

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LPTW Epiphany 6, Year C, Younger Children, Old Testament
LPTW Epiphany 6, Year C, Older Children, Old Testament

Fifth Week after the Epiphany, Year C, Old Testament

Scripture:  Isaiah 6:1-8

Two themes weave together in today’s reading: an experience of God and a commissioning to ministry. Isaiah has a mystical experience and is in a state of awe. In this state, he is called to be a prophet to God’s people, to speak on behalf of the Lord. He answers with the famous phrase, “Here I am.” Too often these themes are examined separately, losing the power of one leading directly to the other. We first experience God, then we serve God. Divorcing the two leads to empty worship without service or empty service without worship.

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LPTW Epiphany 5, Year C, Younger Children, Old Testament
LPTW Epiphany 5, Year C, Older Children, Old Testament