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Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6

Scripture: Luke 9:28-36

Jesus takes Peter, John, and James up a mountain to pray. The trek energized Jesus and exhausted the disciples. Through eyes heavy with fatigue, the disciples strained to understand what they were seeing. As Jesus prayed, “the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became dazzling white.” Then they saw Moses and Elijah conferring with Jesus on what is ahead in Jerusalem. Peter felt compelled to “do” something. What was required was that he “be.”

Download the lesson plans for The Feast of the Transfiguration

LPTW Transfiguration Year B, Younger Children
LPTW Transfiguration, Year B, Older Children
LPTW Transfiguration, Year B, Adults
LPTW Transfiguration, Year B, All

Season after Pentecost, Ordinary Time, Proper 13

Scripture: John 6:24-35

The crowd continued looking for Jesus. Maybe they were curious as to how Jesus got to the other side when his boat remained behind. Perhaps they were looking for more miracles. They were drawn to the gentle charisma of this man even though they were struggling to understand what he was saying. They were looking for a sign, missing the message. From our vantage point – 2,000 years later – we still struggle to grasp the message: “I am the bread of life.”

Download the lesson plan for Proper 13

LPTW Proper 13, Year B, Younger Children
LPTW Proper 13, Year B, Older Children
LPTW Proper 13, Year B, Adults
LPTW Proper 13, Year B, All

Season after Pentecost, Ordinary Time, Proper 12

Scripture: John 6:1-21

“There is a child here.” How interesting. The disciples do not see how a child could be much help, but Jesus does. The central aspect of our worship together – bread broken, bread shared –first happened when a little boy offered the little loaves in his picnic basket. When Jesus uses the little boy’s willingness to share, abundance is the outcome. Could we choose to risk noticing abundance?

Download the lesson plans for Proper 12

LPTW Proper 12, Year B, Younger Children
LPTW Proper 12, Year B, Older Children
LPTW Proper 12, Year B, Adults
LPTW Proper 12, Year B, All

Season after Pentecost, Ordinary Time, Proper 11

Scripture: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

The passage from Mark that we have in this set of sessions seems to be telling us, amid all that shows up in our lives, to take time to breathe. Find space to just be. Perhaps it is a walk with a child, time puttering in a garden, or going fishing. We recharge our cell phones so they can keep serving us. Take a lesson from the cell phone: breathe and revitalize.

Download the lesson plan for Proper 11

LPTW Proper 11, Year B, Younger Children
LPTW Proper 11, Year B, Older Children
LPTW Proper 11, Year B, Adults
LPTW Proper 11, Year B, All

Season after Pentecost, Ordinary Time, Proper 10, Year B

Scripture: Mark 6:14-29

A birthday party, a fancy banquet — Herod is having a grand time. A beautiful woman dances. Herod flamboyantly promises her whatever she wants in gratitude for her dance. She wants what? Herod is stuck with his promise; his decision has consequences. John the Baptist’s death casts a shadow across the hearts of the disciples of Jesus.

Download the lesson plans for Proper 10

LPTW Proper 10, Year B, Younger Children
LPTW Proper 10, Year B, Older Children
LPTW Proper 10, Year B, Adults
LPTW Proper 10, Year B, All

Season After Pentecost, Ordinary Time, Proper 8, Year B

Scripture: Mark 5:21-43

Jesus heals two people, an elderly woman, and a young girl, neither of whom had any status in their community. The power that was flowing out from Jesus into them can also flow into the things that need healing in our lives, but we must risk opening up to receive it. Jesus seems to insist that the most important work happens in the ordinary and that our faith makes us well.

Download the lesson plans for Proper 8

LPTW Proper 8, Year B, Younger Children
LPTW Proper 8, Year B, Older Children
LPTW Proper 8, Year B, Adults
LPTW Proper 8, Year B, All

Season after Pentecost, Ordinary Time, Proper 9, Year B

Scripture: Mark 6:1-13

Although Jesus was stung by the hardened hearts of those in his own hometown, he realized that the prophet is not without honor — except in his own hometown. So he moves on and begins to train his disciples. Two by two he sends them out to work in pairs, building their own relationships as they work with those who accept their ministry.

Download the lesson plans for Proper 9

LPTW Proper 9, Year B, Younger Children
LPTW Proper 9, Year B, Older Children
LPTW Proper 9, Year B, Adults
LPTW Proper 9, Year B, All

Season after Pentecost, Ordinary Time, Proper 7, Year B

Scripture: Mark 4:35-41

Amid the storms that toss our boats is the assurance that Jesus sleeps on a pillow in our boat! Are we comfortable enough to look at the question Jesus poses? “Why are you afraid?”

Download the lesson plans for Proper 7

LPTW Proper 7, Year B, Younger Children
LPTW Proper 7, Year B, Older Children
LPTW Proper 7, Year B, Adults
LPTW Proper 7, Year B, All

Season after Pentecost, Ordinary Time, Proper 6, Year B

Scripture: Mark 4:26-34

Jesus has begun his ministry; fresh with the capacity to notice abundance wherever he looks. But how to describe the richness of the Kingdom of God so people can grasp it? Seeds. Maybe that is it – everyone has seen seeds.

Download the lesson plans for Proper 6

LPTW Proper 6, Year B, Younger Children
LPTW Proper 6, Year B, Older Children
LPTW Proper 6, Year B, Adults
LPTW Proper 6, Year B, All

Season After Pentecost, Ordinary Time, Proper 5, Year B

Scripture: Mark 3:20-35

Proper: appropriate, fitting, and during Ordinary Time, the scripture appointed for each particular Sunday. The scriptures for this Season after Pentecost all come from the Gospel of Mark. In today’s Gospel, our story begins with the realization that the crowds around Jesus had become so big that the people could not even eat (presumably because it was too crowded). People were very interested in what he was saying, some thinking that his take on God and his ministry made him look crazy while others were drawn to his new kind of message.

We see his family try to come and make him stop, worried about what people were saying about him. But rather than taking a breather or taking a time out, Jesus instead challenges the notion and challenges the notion of family.

Download the lesson plans for Proper 5

LPTW Proper 5, Year B, Younger Children
LPTW Proper 5, Year B, Older Children
LPTW Proper 5, Year B, Adults
LPTW Proper 5, Year B, All