The Work of Imagination Commentary & Preaching Guide

The Work of Imagination Commentary & Preaching Guide is a Lent–Easter resource offering scripture commentary, weekly sermon scaffolds, and practical tools to support preachers and worship planners.

Theme Overview

Lent calls us to speak truthfully in a season shaped by grief, resistance, and hope. The Work of Imagination invites communities to linger with difficult texts, confront systems that harm, and trust that God is at work even in places of struggle and surrender. Rooted in prophetic imagination, this Lent–Easter series frames preaching as an act of courage—naming injustice while pointing toward mercy, transformation, and life beyond despair.

Imagination is not escape—it’s spiritual resistance. This Commentary & Preaching Guide opens the scriptures with honesty and hope, offering preachers tools to engage the biblical text deeply and to proclaim sermons that invite communities into embodied love, faithful action, and courageous hope.

Weekly Themes:

• Ash Wednesday: Sacred Turning (Part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount)
  Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21 and Joel 2:12–14
• Week One: Rooted Resistance (Jesus In the Wildness)
  Matthew 4:1–11 and Jeremiah 29:1–9
• Week Two: Disruptive Blessings (Sermon on the Plain)
  Luke 6:17–36 and James 1:19–27
• Week Three: Holy Confrontation (Jesus and the Canaanite Woman)
  Matthew 15:21–28 and Numbers 27:1–11
• Week Four: Accountable Leadership (Jesus the Good Shepherd)
  John 10:1–18 and Ezekiel 34:1–10
• Week Five: True Allegiance (Paying Imperial Tax to Caesar)
  Mark 12:13–17 and Titus 3:1–8
• Palm Sunday: Sacred Protest (Jesus' Triumphal Entry)
  Matthew 21:1–17 and Galatians 6:(1–6), 7–16
• Maundy Thursday: Risky Mercy (Passover and the Garden)
  Luke 22:7–46 and Isaiah 55
• Good Friday: Empire's Shadow (Jesus' Final Day)
  Mark 14:32–72, 15:1–47 and Psalm 22
• Easter: Fulfilling Imagination (Mary's Announcement of the Resurrection)
  John 20:1–18 and Philippians 2:12–18

Description

Created for pastors, worship leaders, and teachers, this resource helps ground your community in the season’s prophetic imagination. In addition to original commentaries, the preaching guide also includes many tools which will be helpful in planning your Lent–Easter preaching. Each week includes:

• Two scripture texts framing the week’s direction
• Original commentary on both texts, written by an experienced biblical scholar to inspire faithful and practical preaching
• A theological summary with justice-centered interpretation
• A character spotlight to engage the text through lived experience
• Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy objectives to guide formation (from remembering to creating)
• A sermon scaffold with suggested paths, illustrations, and applications
• Concise prophetic statements for refrains or takeaways
• Reflection and community questions for small groups or study
• Additional resources to deepen engagement (articles, art, music, media)

What I Get

PDF download

• Commentary & Preaching Guide covers Ash Wednesday, the Sundays in Lent, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday