Tom Wright

In Praise of Jesus Christ Colossians 1.15-20 I flicked the switch to turn on the television. I didn’t know what the programme would be; I was tired at the end of a long day and just wanted to relax for a few minutes. The sound came on a little before the picture appeared. A voice…

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Prayer for Wisdom and Gratitude

by SPCK - N T Wright

Prayer for Wisdom and Gratitude Colossians 1.9-14 We watched, holding our breath, as the mother duck left the pond at the head of her brood. There were seven ducklings in all: four black ones and three yellow ones. They were lively and squeaky, scuttling to and fro. For days they…

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Thanksgiving For Gospel's Work

by SPCK - N T Wright

Thanksgiving For Gospel’s Work Colossians 1.1-8 When Susan bought the house, there wasn’t much growing in the garden. A few tatty little shrubs; a mouldy rosebush or two; a tree that had been bent sideways by a storm and left to grow crooked. It was a depressing sight. A few days…

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Closing Thanks and Greetings

by SPCK - N T Wright

Closing Thanks and Greetings Philippians 4.14-23 Sometimes when you get to the end of a novel or short story, there is a moment when something is revealed that makes sense of a mood, a motive, a feeling that has been in the narrative all along. At last we understand why that man …

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - The Hidden Secret

by SPCK - N T Wright

The Hidden Secret Philippians 4.10-13 It was very dark and gloomy that March. There was still snow in the air, and sometimes on the ground, until mid-way through the month. The sun seemed hardly to peer out from behind grey clouds, and a sharp north-easterly wind blew in off the …

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Celebrate in the Lord!

by SPCK - N T Wright

Celebrate in the Lord! Philippians 4.2-9 You never know when it’s going to happen. Two people who one day are good friends, working alongside each other in the church or community, can suddenly get across each other. A sharp word from one, half-heard by the other; a bitter respon…

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Citizens of Heaven

by SPCK - N T Wright

Citizens of Heaven Philippians 3.17-4.1 The word ‘colony’ today is not exactly popular. It rings of the old days of imperialism, when several European countries were expanding their influence in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and were vying with each other to see who could grab …

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Chasing on to the Finish

by SPCK - N T Wright

Chasing on to the Finish Philippians 3.12-16 The athletics match had reached a critical stage. One of the final races was left to be run: the 440 yards (the old version of today’s 400 metres). The athletes were bunched together as they came to the first bend, and one of them was …

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Gaining the Messiah

by SPCK - N T Wright

Gaining the Messiah Philippians 3.7-11 A story is told of the great nineteenth-century Anglican pastor, poet and theologian John Keble. As a young don in Oxford in the early years of the century, he held at one stage the office of college bursar. Few clergy then, or now for that …

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Warning: Don't Trust the Flesh

by SPCK - N T Wright

Warning: Don’t Trust in the Flesh Philippians 3.1-6 If you saw a movie advertisement which highlighted the word FLESH, you would know what it meant. Pornography, no doubt. Graphic sexual scenes, quite likely. Or at least that’s what they would want you to think, to try to lure yo…

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - On Epaphroditus

by SPCK - N T Wright

On Epaphroditus Philippians 2.25-30 When I was at school a first-year physics teacher once asked us the question in an examination: What are the advantages of having two eyes? The correct answer, of course, was that with two eyes you can see things in three dimensions, and learn …

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - On Timothy

by SPCK - N T Wright

On Timothy Philippians 2.19-24 When I taught in the university, one of my annual tasks was to interview candidates for admission the following year. The first time I did this, a young man came for interview who seemed quiet and subdued. He wasn’t very sure of himself, and didn’t …

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - How Salvation is Worked Out

by SPCK - N T Wright

How Salvation is Worked Out Philippians 2.12-18 It was an ugly city. The fine old buildings had been pulled down over the years, and they had been replaced by huge square concrete monstrosities. They were designed for function, not good looks – though by the time I went there the…

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - The Mind of the Messiah

by SPCK - N T Wright

The Mind of the Messiah When people in the ancient world thought of heroic leaders, rulers and kings they often thought of Alexander the Great (356–323 BC). At the age of 20 he succeeded his father Philip to the throne of Macedonia, quickly made himself master of all Greece, and …

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Unity in Everything

by SPCK - N T Wright

Unity in Everything Philippians 2.1-4 We sat and watched spellbound as the actors moved at what seemed like the speed of light. It was a complex and intricate play, with many layers and double or treble meanings. At times things were happening so fast, all around the stage, that …

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - To Live or to Die?

by SPCK - N T Wright

To Live or to Die? Philippians 1.18b-26 One of the great questions that people have asked throughout human history, and still address particularly to religious leaders, is this: where do we go when we die? Until recently, most people in what used to be the Christian Western world…

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - The Gospel in Public

by SPCK - N T Wright

The Gospel in Public Philippians 1.27-30 ‘Don’t let him see you’re afraid.’ My aunt hissed the words into my ear as the big dog came bounding up the street towards us. It seemed silly advice at the time. I was afraid. I was only seven years old and the previous year a small dog h…

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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - The Gospel in Public

by SPCK - N T Wright

The Gospel in Public Philippians 1.27-30 ‘Don’t let him see you’re afraid.’ My aunt hissed the words into my ear as the big dog came bounding up the street towards us. It seemed silly advice at the time. I was afraid. I was only seven years old and the previous year a small dog h…

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