Sermon Brainwave from Working Preacher

Jesus feeds a massive crowd in Matthew 14, and the hosts show how this act challenges imperial power. They unpack splagchnizomai, the Greek word for gut-level compassion. They trace Isaiah 55's invitation to abundant life and link it to food insecurity today. Jacob wrestles God at the Jabbok in Genesis 32 and walks away blessed and limping. Romans 9 launches a three-week reckoning with Paul's angu...

Matt Skinner, Karoline Lewis, and Cody Sanders tackle Matthew's parable of the wheat and the weeds and its unsettling questions about judgment and impostors in the community of faith. They turn to Isaiah 44's witness against idols, Jacob's dream at Bethel and God's promise to migrants, Psalm 86's memorable use of the word "ruffians," and Paul's rare focus on creation's groaning for redemption in R...

Cody Sanders, Karoline Lewis, and Matt Skinner unpack the lectionary texts for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. They dig into the parables of the mustard seed, the yeast, the hidden treasure, the pearl, and the dragnet from Matthew 13. The hosts explore why Jesus chose strange, subversive images to describe the kingdom of heaven. They discuss the woman who hides yeast in an enormous amount of flo...

Titles matter. So does the soil. On this episode of Sermon Brainwave, Matt Skinner, Caroline Lewis, and Cody Sanders dig into the texts for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (July 12, 2026). The team wrestles with Matthew's Parable of the Sower and asks what it really means to "bear fruit." Is it congregational growth? Spiritual maturity? Something else entirely? Cody points out the parable's str...

What does it mean to come to Jesus weary and burdened? In this episode of the Sermon Brainwave podcast, Karoline Lewis, Cody Sanders, and Matt Skinner dig into a rich set of texts for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A. The conversation centers on Matthew 11:28–30 and the promise of rest — but not the kind that soothes middle-class stress. These are beatitude people, crushed under systemic w...

What does it mean to take up the cross in a world that rewards safety and silence? Matt Skinner, Karoline Lewis, and Cody Sanders dig into the lectionary texts for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (June 22, 2026), exploring the missionary discourse in Matthew 10, the prophet Jeremiah's anguished vocation, the casting out of Hagar and Ishmael in Genesis 21, Psalm 69's theology of complaint, and th...

What does it mean to truly welcome someone? In this episode of Sermon Brainwave, Matt Skinner, Karoline Lewis, and Cody Sanders dig into a compact but dense set of texts for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (June 28). The gospel reading — just three verses from Matthew 10 — uses the word "welcome" six times and raises big questions about hospitality, belonging, and who the "little ones" really are...

What does it mean to be sent? In this episode of Sermon Brainwave, Cody Sanders, Karoline Lewis, and Matt Skinner dig into the lectionary texts for the Third Sunday after Pentecost: Matthew 9:35–10:8, Exodus 19:2–8a, Romans 5:1–8, and Psalm 100 (with the alternate first reading from Genesis 18:1–15 also in view). The conversation moves from Jesus's missionary discourse in Matthew and what it means...

What does it mean to faith your way toward healing? On this episode of Sermon Brainwave, Karoline Lewis, Cody Sanders, and Matt Skinner dig into the lectionary texts for the Second Sunday after Pentecost (June 7, 2026): Matthew 9:9–13, 18–26; Hosea 5:15–6:6; Genesis 12:1–9; Psalm 50:7–15; and Romans 4:13–25. The conversation moves from the unlikely calling of Matthew the tax collector to the woman...

Matt Skinner, Karoline Lewis, and Cody Sanders dig into one of the most theologically demanding Sundays of the church year. The lectionary texts span Genesis 1:1–2:4a, Psalm 8, 2 Corinthians 13:11–13, and Matthew 28:16–20. The hosts explore what it means to preach a doctrine that Scripture imprints rather than spells out, and why the Trinitarian formula in the Great Commission sends disciples not...

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 clo...

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...

What does it mean to abide in love when Jesus is leaving? On this Sixth Sunday of Easter, Matt Skinner, Karoline Lewis, and Cody Sanders explore the farewell discourse in John 14:15-21, where Jesus promises the Advocate — the Paraclete — and calls his disciples into an active, world-directed form of love. The hosts trace what "keeping the commandments" really means in John's Gospel, connect the Pa...

What does Jesus actually mean when he says "I am the way, the truth, and the life"? And what about those troubling words: "no one comes to the Father except through me"? In this episode of Sermon Brainwave, Cody Sanders, Karoline Lewis, and Matt Skinner explore the Fifth Sunday of Easter texts: John 14:1–14, Acts 7:55–60, Psalm 31, and 1 Peter 2:1–10. Together, they unpack the farewell discourse a...

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday, but in Year A, the primary image isn't the shepherd. It's the door. In John 10:1–10, Jesus describes himself as the gate that protects the vulnerable and invites the imperiled into safety. Hosts Karoline Lewis, Cody Sanders, and Matt Skinner explore what that image means for preaching today: Who are the thieves and bandits? What does it look lik...

What does it mean to recognize the risen Christ? And why is resurrection faith never automatic? In this episode of the Sermon Brainwave podcast, Matt Skinner, Karoline Lewis, and Cody Sanders dig into the Third Sunday of Easter texts: the Emmaus road story in Luke 24, Peter's Pentecost sermon in Acts 2, Psalm 116, and 1 Peter 1. The disciples on the road to Emmaus don't recognize Jesus, and the ho...

In this episode of Sermon Brainwave, hosts Karoline Lewis, Cody Sanders, and Matt Skinner dig into the lectionary texts for Easter Sunday and explore what it means to preach resurrection to a congregation carrying both fear and joy.

Good Friday arrives with some of the heaviest texts of the liturgical year — and Matt Skinner, Karoline Lewis, and Cody Sanders are here to help you preach them well. This episode covers all four lectionary readings for Good Friday (April 2, 2026): Isaiah 52:13–53:12, Psalm 22, Hebrews 10:16–25, and John 18–19. The hosts explore where preachers might "drop into" the long Johannine passion narrativ...

Love, Feet, and the Table. What if Maundy Thursday isn't just somber — but also joyful? In this episode, Cody Sanders, Karoline Lewis, and Matt Skinner explore the rich intimacy of John 13 and its foot washing scene, unpacking why embodiment matters in preaching, how Judas's betrayal is really an act of walking away from intimacy, and why the farewell discourse (chapters 14–17) is essential contex...

"The Passion story is a story about us." This episode of the Sermon Brainwave podcast explores the significance of Palm Sunday and Passion narratives, emphasizing the earth's role in biblical stories, the political and theological implications of Jesus' trial, and how these texts challenge our understanding of power, trust, and God's presence.

The Intersection of Grief and Faith. In this episode of Sermon Brainwave, hosts Karoline Lewis, Matt Skinner, and Cody Sanders discuss the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, focusing on the raising of Lazarus from the dead, the complexities of grief, and the interplay between the divine and human aspects of Jesus. They explore how these themes relate to the community's understanding of resurre...

In this episode of Sermon Brainwave, Karoline Lewis, Matt Skinner, and Cody Sanders discuss the readings for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, focusing on the Gospel of John 9:1-41, Psalm 23, and Ephesians 5:8-14. They explore themes of healing, disability, community, and the role of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The conversation delves into the implications of the blind man's healing, the significance of...

This conversation between hosts Karoline Lewis, Matt Skinner, and Cody Sanders for the Sermon Brainwave podcast delves into the readings for the third Sunday in Lent, focusing on John 4:1-42, Exodus 17, and Psalm 95. The discussion highlights the significance of the woman at the well as a model of evangelism, the role of the disciples, and the importance of the incarnation. It also connects the th...

In this episode of Sermon Brainwave, hosts Cody Sanders, Karoline Lewis, and Matt Skinner delve into the readings for the Second Sunday in Lent, focusing on the Gospel of John, particularly the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus. The conversation highlights the complexities of faith, the nature of understanding Jesus' teachings, and the significance of personal journeys in faith. Cody shares hi...

Sermon Brainwave Episode 1069: Ash Wednesday — Practicing Righteousness in Times of Crisis Join hosts Karoline Lewis, Matt Skinner, and new co-host Cody Sanders for this Ash Wednesday podcast as they explore the lectionary readings for February 18, 2026. This episode introduces Cody Sanders, Associate Professor of Congregational and Community Care Leadership at Luther Seminary, who brings a Baptis...