We follow the Narrative Lectionary at Grace. That means the scripture from which we preach is determined at the beginning of the year and moves through the Bible chronologically. I love this style of preaching for two reasons: (1) it promotes Biblical fluency in the congregation because they begin to see the Bible as God’s story, not a hodge-podge of unconnected stories, and (2) it forces me, as a preacher, to submit to the lectionary, rather than try to think up a series that I think is “relevant.”

I experimented with something during Lent last year that I would like to continue doing throughout the course of this next year. I wrote a simple devotional (devo) for the daily reading that comes with the weekly Lectionary texts. I wrote the devos with our high school students in mind. This helped me to dwell in the word, and also helped me feel connected to the students as I wrote for them each day.

The funny thing is that many adults were reading it, too. That got me to thinking. Maybe I should write the same youth-focused devos on my blog and then simulcast them to the Grace Youth Site and to the church’s main site. Why not, right? I found a plug-in called Edit Flow that will allow me to do that.

I ask you to pray for and with me that this daily discipline of reading, meditating, and writing through the Narrative Lectionary will help us all grow deeper in God’s story of promise for the world.

The adventure will begin on September 8. Who’s with me?