Narrative Lectionary 681 (NL105): Covenant and Commandments

What does it look like to rejoice when the fig tree doesn't blossom? Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard open Advent with the prophet Habakkuk, a book about lament, watching, waiting, and living by faith before the answer comes.This episode covers the Narrative Lectionary text for the First Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2026: selected verses from Habakkuk.In this episode:• Babylon rises a century after Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom• Mishpat: when the courts run so that justice never prevails• Is Habakkuk's prayer a real lament or meant to be overheard?• God's surprising answer: the Chaldeans bring their own justice• Standing at the watch post: Habakkuk as an Advent text about waiting• "The righteous live by their faith" (Habakkuk 2:4)• Rejoicing with no fruit, no flock, and no harvest (Habakkuk 3:17-19)• Kathryn shares her father's final words: "It's all God's love and mercy"

“Thus says the king of Assyria.” “Thus says the Lord.” When an empire shouts at the city gates, whose word do you trust?Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard close out the prophets series with Isaiah 36 and 37, where the Rabshakeh, the great Assyrian general, wages psychological warfare outside Jerusalem’s walls in 701 BC. Then they turn to Isaiah 2 and its vision of swords beaten into plowshares, making the case for preaching this as a Christ the King Sunday.

Shall I offer burnt offerings? Thousands of rams? My firstborn? Micah builds his questions to the absurd before landing on what God actually asks: do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.In this episode of I Love to Tell the Story, Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard explore the prophet Micah for Sunday, November 15, 2026, as the Narrative Lectionary continues its series on the prophets. With the northern kingdom fallen to Assyria, Micah dares to say Jerusalem itself is the “high place” and looks instead to little Bethlehem for a ruler from ancient days.

A powerful general. A captive servant girl. A cranky prophet and a muddy river. In 2 Kings 5, the healing of Naaman turns every expectation upside down.Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard continue the prophets series in the fall Narrative Lectionary with the story of Naaman, the Aramean commander healed by the prophet Elisha. They explore how God works through the overlooked and powerless, and why Naaman’s confession that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel was such a startling claim for its time.

God tells a young King Solomon, “Ask what I should give you.” He asks for wisdom, and then he’s handed one of the hardest cases in the Bible.In this episode of I Love to Tell the Story, Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard explore 1 Kings 3 for All Saints Sunday, November 1, 2026: Solomon’s prayer for wisdom and the famous story of two women and the disputed child.

A king who takes what he wants. A prophet brave enough to say, "You are the man." This week on I Love to Tell the Story, Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard dig into the story of David and Bathsheba from 2 Samuel 11 and 12 for October 25, 2026.

Joshua gathers the people, retells everything God has done, and asks them to choose. They say yes. Then Joshua tells them they can't do it.In this final episode of the covenant and commandments sub-series, Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard explore Joshua 24:1-15 (with optional verses 16-24), the covenant renewal at Shechem, for Sunday, October 18, 2026. They trace how the covenant must be renewed in every generation and why God's faithfulness, not Israel's, is what holds the story together.

Why does Exodus 19 come before Exodus 20? Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard turn to Exodus 19:3-7 and 20:1-17 for the Narrative Lectionary on October 11, 2026. At Mount Sinai, God names Israel a priestly kingdom and a holy nation before a single commandment is given. The covenant comes first, and the law shows how to live it out.Find episodes and links at workingpreacher.org/narrative.

Why would God tell Moses to stop praying and start moving? Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard dig into Exodus 14 for the Narrative Lectionary on October 4, 2026. They explore the "Back to Egypt committee" that lives in every congregation, wrestle with the violence against the Egyptians, and trace how the parting of the waters echoes God's work in creation. At the sea, the place of chaos and death, God makes a way into new life.Find episodes and links at workingpreacher.org/narrative.

Joseph goes from trusted overseer to prisoner in a single chapter, and somehow God is at work in both. In this episode of I Love to Tell the Story, hosts Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Cameron Howard dig into Genesis 39, the account of Joseph in Potiphar's house.Accompanying commentary by Dennis OlsonOverview to Narrative Lectionary Year 1 readings featuring Rolf Jacobson, Kathryn Schifferdecker, and Kristofer Phan Coffman