Jane Williams
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany - Year A 1 Kings 17.8–16 1 Corinthians 1.18–31 John 2.1–11 Most of us think we would like the kind of communication with God that Elijah has. The narrator of 1 Kings tells us, very matter-of-factly, that God tells Elijah to do something, and Elijah g…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Third Sunday of Epiphany Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Third Sunday of Epiphany Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Third Sunday of Epiphany - Year A Isaiah 9.1–4 1 Corinthians 1.10–18 Matthew 4.12–23 Corinth in the first century was a busy, loud, exciting place. It had been a reasonably wealthy trading centre for a couple of centuries at least, and that had attracted people of many religi…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday of Epiphany - Year A Isaiah 49.1–7 1 Corinthians 1.1–9 John 1.29–42 To be called by God is a thing of joy and terror, in about equal measures. The Corinthians are largely experiencing the excitement, at present, but their walk of discipleship will certainly lead…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The First Sunday of Epiphany Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The First Sunday of Epiphany Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The First Sunday of Epiphany - Year A Isaiah 42.1–9 Acts 10.34–43 Matthew 3.13–17 Matthew’s is the only Gospel that shows any embarrassment about Jesus’s baptism by John the Baptist. In all of the Gospels, John knows that his baptism is a temporary measure, but he also knows that…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday of Christmas - Year A Jeremiah 31:7–14 Ephesians 1:3–14 John 1:1–18 . It is very difficult, in the middle of the school run or the supermarket shop, to remember that in us God is fulfilling the whole purpose of creation. It is even more difficult to look at the …
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The First Sunday of Christmas Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The First Sunday of Christmas Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The First Sunday of Christmas - Year A Isaiah 63:7–9 Hebrews 2:10–18 Matthew 2:13–23 Isaiah and Hebrews show us God’s way of being in the world, a way that should be blindingly obvious to us at Christmas. Isaiah is reminding the people of all that God has done for them throughout…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Christmas Eve/Christmas Day Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Christmas Eve/Christmas Day Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
?Christmas Eve/Christmas Day - Year A Isaiah 9:2–7 Titus 2:11–14 Luke 2:1–20 Luke starts what is to be one of the world’s most famous narratives on the world stage, as it is traditionally recounted. He starts with emperors and governors, who are, after all, the people who make hi…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Fourth Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 7:10–16 Romans 1:1–7 Matthew 1:18–25 Why won’t King Ahaz ask God for a sign? The reason he gives sounds like a good religious response, but the tone of the story makes it clear that it isn’t. What he says is ‘I will not put the Lord to …
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Third Sunday of Advent Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Third Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Third Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 35:1–10 James 5:7–10 Matthew 11:2–11 In last Sunday’s Gospel reading (Matthew 3. 1–12), John the Baptist arrives to herald the beginning of Jesus’s adult ministry. He is incredibly rude to the people who flock to hear him preach their ju…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Second Sunday of Advent Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Second Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4–13 Matthew 3:1–12 Paul’s letter to the Romans is the most formal that he wrote. He is writing to a church that he does not know, and in whose setting up and history he has not played a part. But he is writing as one …
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The First Sunday of Advent Year A