Sunstrike Files, Dayton, OH (2026)

01/16/2026

January 18, 2026 – Second Sunday after Epiphany

Revised Common Lectionary Readings:

Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40:1-11
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42

Our main job as ministers of the Gospel is to point to Jesus. Everything that we do – preaching, texts, song selection, Bible Study, outreach, etc. – is in service of that obligation. Liturgy is literally “work of the people.” Though it can be a bit hard to define, I look at it in terms of its purpose: “work of the people in coming to Jesus.”

The “order of worship” – particularly in a traditional service or mass – is typically what people mean when they say “liturgy.” It gets to the point, though I think that definition is unfair in the context of a contemporary service. If it is a worship service, it is liturgical. Yes, even that service by St. Mega Man with the lasers and the fog machine that blows during the offering is liturgical. Dismissing the formal structures of traditional liturgy does not make what replaces it any less “liturgical.” It just means it is a different “context” of liturgy.

I liken the “traditional vs. contemporary” designation much like “classical vs. jazz” music. They are two dialects of the same language with all sorts of mixture, interactions, and crossover in between. (Yes, they do borrow from each other.) This is not even getting into the cultural innovations that shape and influence them. Worship and liturgy are alive with the Breath of the God who inspires both.

More thoughts at the link below:

01/14/2026

This is a bit weird... My website updated to Wordpress 6.9, but somehow lost my most recent post! (I found this out while about to put a post up for this week.)

I will get this straightened out...

ADD: So, not only did the update wipe out my entry for January 11, but I see that it also wiped out my entry for Epiphany (January 6)! I had originally written the Epiphany entry on Microsoft Word, so I can just copy and paste.

The January 11 entry I did NOT, so I will rewrite that one from scratch. (I have no idea why I did not. I normally write ALL blog entries that way!)

ADD #2: The "lost" entries are both back up - though in the wrong order if you look on the main page. I have also posted the January 18 entry, which I will put up here shortly.

01/05/2026

As mentioned in earlier entries, my thoughts are all based on readings from the Revised Common Lectionary. This week’s reading covers the Baptism of the Lord.

The four readings are for January 11, 2026 are:

Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17

These four readings share some strong thematic ties and images. As I say in my entry, "This a masterful display of scriptural juxtaposition. Can this picture possibly be more developed?"

Don't let the key signature fool you. I left G major behind and tried something a little different. Click the link to get more of my thoughts and some performance suggestions for the Psalm Response.

12/30/2025

January 6, 2026 - The Feast of the Epiphany

According to the Revised Common Lectionary, the readings for this celebration are:

Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12

Even if you had not gotten to the Matthew reading yet, Isaiah and Psalm 72 should have you screaming “We Three Kings.” One thing I love about this song is that it embodies liturgy as “the work of the people.” Our faith is divinely inspired (otherwise it would not be faith). God uses a number of ways to shape it such as Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.

If we relied solely on Scripture, we would never sing that song.

Before you get too upset, I promise I am not committing libel against one of my favorite Epiphany carols.

Get the rest of my thoughts and performance suggestions in the comments:

12/27/2025

January 4, 2026 - Second Sunday after Christmas

Personally, I would probably focus on the Feast of the Epiphany (which lands on Tuesday January 6) rather than proceed lockstep with the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL).

The main thing to keep in mind when considering the Liturgical Year is that it is a structured, long-form way of telling the story of Jesus. Not every celebration - major or minor - is going to land neatly on Sunday. Christmas (12/25), Epiphany (1/6), All Saints (11/1), and All Souls (11/2) are all tied to specific dates. Christmas (Eve), everyone is going to do regardless. The others all too often get glossed over (in the United States).

And I think that is a shame. I'll mention a few thoughts about Epiphany later. Liturgy is literally "the work of the people." It's about Jesus AND us. Exactly what that means, I hope to expound over time. My "philosophy" - for lack of better word - is that we prioritize Jesus AND His Beloved aka US.

Now, if I was serving a faith community that had a specific dedicated celebration on Epiphany (on Tuesday), then I would have no problem sticking with the RCL in this case.

Here are the listed readings in the RCL:

Jeremiah 31:7-14 OR Sirach 24:1-12
Psalm 147: 12-20 OR Wisdom 10:15-21
Ephesians 1:3-14
John 1:(1-9), 10-18

Scanning through them, no particular themes stick out. (Praise, Adoration, Deliverance, etc. are appropriate ALL of the time.) One thing that somewhat irks me is that this is still Christmas (or Christmastide, if you will). You CANNOT cram everything on Christmas Eve. I don't see why another Christmas reading isn't acceptable except for the reason "Gifts have been exchanged and people are ready to move on." Jesus Christ has just been born and the Magi have not reached him yet; pull out four more songs!

One thing I do like is the choice of John 1 for a number of reasons. This is the first Sunday service of the year. John 1 is a scriptural callback to Genesis 1, albeit this time with the express focus on Jesus. It explicitly reveals Jesus as GOD. (Which ties into Epiphany, but that's another discussion.)

I would take Verses 1-9 and organize them into a Call and Response, either by literally reciting them or turning them into a Call to Worship.

C: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

E: He was in the beginning with God.

C: All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

E: What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
..and so on.

As with everything, it is all contextual. Adopt/Discard/Adapt however you like. Once I have a few ready and scheduled, I will start including links to my website.

12/26/2025

For my next season, my goals are to write more, reclaim my spaces, and dig more into my liturgical background. It has been over a decade since I last worked regularly with a lectionary (as an Archdiocese employee).

Now, I'm hitting the Revised Common Lectionary. (We're in Year A.) I'm planning to write psalm responses and give some thoughts as the days come up.

The Lectionary for New Year's Day 2026 is on the theme "The Holy Name of Jesus" and suggests the following readings:

Numbers 6:22-27 (The Aaronic Blessing)
Psalm 8:1-9 - My psalm response is the picture.
Galatians 4:4-7 OR Philippians 2:5-11
Luke 2:15-21

New Year's Day is on Thursday this year and is not a regular service, though many faith communities still meet. The readings - and the homily (message) - will likely suggest a number of different possible liturgical and musical responses.

Here are some possibilities off the top of my head. Right now, they are tilting toward CCM because I work with them regularly.

"The Blessing" picks off from the Numbers reading.

"No Longer Slaves" (for Galatians)

"What a Beautiful Name" or the hymn "He is Lord" (Philippians)

You could probably do anything referring to the exaltation of Jesus or the incarnation. "Here I Am to Worship" also comes to mind.

For Luke - Anything involving shepherds, the child in the manger, or Bethlehem. I'd hold off on the Magi until Epiphany myself.

Take/discard whatever you need to. These are just suggestions/thoughts to spark ideas.

04/03/2021

Holy Week Video #3: Holy Saturday

In my experience, people get caught up in Holy Week and want to skip from Good Friday straight to Easter. I get it. It's the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Understand it completely.

But I see Holy Saturday - that day between Jesus's Death and Resurrection - as being a place where time just ground to a halt. The Apostles - who truly understood and learned first-hand from the Son of God - were in hiding and had to deal with the guilt of skipping out during His time of need. (Okay... John was there, but you get it.) His mother Mary just watched her beloved son die. There was religious elite who were basking in their perceived victory over the greatest threat to their power.

How many of us had times like that in our lives where there was this disruptive event that ground EVERYTHING to a halt? September 11, 2001? January 6, 2021? Assassination of JFK?

As an adult, there were two days in particular that come to mind. February 27, 2002: The death of my older brother from a housefire. His twin had died the same way in 1980. May 4, 2017: When my father passed away.

For many of us, COVID-19 began another one of those seasons. Like many musicians, on March 14, 2020, I had gigs lined up through the summer... that disappeared on March 15! People had their travel plans disrupted. Entire industries were shutting down. Restaurants, churches, groceries, schools, etc. were forced to change EVERYTHING as quickly as they could. No one had a clue how things were going to develop or that a year later, over 550,000 Americans would have succumbed to the disease.

So... Why am I thinking about this? With death, there is a rebirth. Jesus is coming. Life is coming. Sure, the "Normal" that you knew before is gone, but some other type of "Normal" is on the cusp. Don't lose hope! Don't lose faith!

There's a light up ahead.

01/23/2021

I had fun with the last one, so I decided to take a stab at it again and push myself a little bit more. Same process as before, though I used a Jazz Waltz to keep a tempo instead of an Afro-Cuban beat. (Anything beats the metronome click.)

Perhaps, more importantly, that I actually uploaded the CORRECT video this time rather than the first time I tried to make this post.

http://sunstrikefiles.com/multi-track-video-2-amazing-grace

01/21/2021

So… One of my “projects” for 2021 is learning how to do multi-track videos.

There are a number of reasons the idea came to mind, particularly in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic that has killed 406 Million Americans in the last ten months. If you haven’t checked, virtual ensembles – bands, choirs, etc. – have EXPLODED during that time. The people who already knew how to do this had a leg up on everyone else.

Though I’m primarily a pianist and music director, I also happen to love arranging. Pulling together the people to learn the arrangements – much less during an uncontrolled pandemic – is a bit of a challenge.

You can read the rest of it here: http://sunstrikefiles.com/multi-track-video-the-lord-is-my-light

11/03/2020

Hey Everybody! Welcome to the Sunstrike Files!

My name is Kareem Powell and - as you can guess - I'm the guy behind this. So... What is the Sunstrike Files all about?

Like many musicians around the world, my livelihood has been put "on hold" due in large part to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Being the caregiver to my 77-year-old mother, playing out publicly in crowds is just too risky... particularly as we near the winter months where more activities are going indoors and the infections are surging.

THAT SAID... The world is still a beautiful place, even if we can't go out and see it. There are billions of people out there creating amazing art, whether you are talking music, photography, painting, etc. I'm fortunate enough to know more than a few and decided "Well... We're still creating art. Our stories still need to be told. Why not just have a site dedicated to doing just that?"

And so... "USA Election Eve", I bought the domain name and set up the media channels. While everyone is watching tonight's insanity, I'll be working to put these different parts together and start lining up friends to start bragging about.

Now... As awesome as Facebook and other forms of social media are, the ONLY way we're going to reliably keep in touch is if you sign up for The Sunstrike Files mailing list. There's a signup form here on the page as well as on the website.

And who knows... Are you doing anything cool? Drop me a line. It's time to get some art out there.

Peace out!

Sunstrike Files

01/16/2026

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01/05/2026

12/30/2025

12/27/2025

12/26/2025

04/03/2021

01/23/2021

01/21/2021

11/03/2020

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