Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Exhortation to Steadfastness
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Exhortation to Steadfastness
by SPCK - N T Wright
Exhortation to Steadfastness 2 Thessalonians 2.13-17 ‘Stand firm and hold on tight.’ When did you last hear those words? On an airport bus, perhaps, taking you from the terminal building to the plane. On a boat ferrying passengers across a busy river. On a narrow mountain ledge w…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The First Exodus
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The First Exodus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The First Exodus 1 Corinthians 10.1-5 As you drive on the main road through central Northumberland, between Newcastle upon Tyne and the Scottish border, you see frequent signs saying things like ‘150 Accidents Last Year On This Road,’ and ‘Number of Speeding Fines Last Month: 37’…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Third Sunday in Lent Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Third Sunday in Lent Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Third Sunday of Lent Isaiah 55.1–9 1 Corinthians 10.1–13 Luke 13.1–9 Just in case anyone thought the Old Testament was all gloomy and the New cheerful, here are two passages of dire warning from the New Testament preceded by a warm, redeeming invitation from the Old. Underlyi…
Deep Church Rising - 9 (part 2) Real Life-Giving Presence
Deep Church Rising - 9 (part 2) Real Life-Giving Presence
by SPCK - Andrew Walker and Robin Parry
Real Life-Giving Presence The importance of real presence is that the meal itself, according to the tradition, is a means by which we participate in the eternal life in Christ- “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:54)…
52 Reflections on Faith - Trinity Sunday: The circle of life
52 Reflections on Faith - Trinity Sunday: The circle of life
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Trinity Sunday:The circle of life Probably the most popular icon of the Holy Trinity these days is the one by the Russian iconographer Andrei Rublev, which is displayed in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Reproduced widely, it has become very well known in recent years outside th…
52 Reflections on Faith - Corpus Christi: Sanctifying Matter
52 Reflections on Faith - Corpus Christi: Sanctifying Matter
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Corpus Christi: Sanctifying matter A lot of people are familiar with the name of the French Jesuit scientist-priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955), but few know in any detail what he had to say. Teilhard, as he is often known, was born in the Auvergne region of France and…
Breaking Bread in a Noisy City -Eucharistic Prayer
Breaking Bread in a Noisy City -Eucharistic Prayer
by Chris Shannahan
Breaking Bread in a Noisy City is a Eucharistic Prayer that emerged from living and working in inner city Birmingham. It draws on the life and images of the city to prepare congregatins to share in Holy Communion. L: On the streets of our city E: GOD IS FOUND EACH DAY. L: To …
Echoing the Word - Preparation and penitence
Echoing the Word - Preparation and penitence
by SPCK - Paula Gooder & Michael Perham
1 Preparation and penitence The liturgy begins with a greeting between the president and the people; in this greeting the community is gathered and bound together, and relationships are formed and acknowledged. The president may invoke the persons of the Trinity, proclaiming the …
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - ABIDE IN LOVE
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - ABIDE IN LOVE
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
ABIDE IN LOVE Jesus uses the image of the vine to describe his relationship with his disciples, even when he is physically absent. He is the ‘true’ or ‘real vine’, and we are branches which must remain in the vine to bear fruit, the fruit of love, one of John’s key themes. Jesus …
The Meal Jesus Gave Us - The party and the parties - 8
The Meal Jesus Gave Us - The party and the parties - 8
by SPCK - Tom Wright
8 The party and the parties Part Two THE THANK-YOU PARTY The Jesus-meal (to use an unusual though neutral phrase for it) was already woven into the heart of Christian living by the time Paul wrote to Corinth in the mid-50s, twenty years or so after Jesus’ death and resurrection. …
The Meal Jesus Gave Us - A taste of what's to come - 11
The Meal Jesus Gave Us - A taste of what's to come - 11
by SPCK - Tom Wright
11 A taste of things to come Part Two THE THANK-YOU PARTY When the Israelites were wandering through the desert on their way to the promised land, Moses sent spies ahead into Canaan who would come back to tell what they had seen. (You can read the story in Numbers 13.)…
Echoing the Word - Blessing and dismissal
Echoing the Word - Blessing and dismissal
by SPCK - Paula Gooder & Michael Perham
21 Blessing and dismissal Although it may be argued that, after the blessing experienced in receiving the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist, no extra words of blessing at the conclusion of the service can add much to the service, a blessing by the president at the end o…
Echoing the Word - Proper prefaces
Echoing the Word - Proper prefaces
by SPCK - Paula Gooder & Michael Perham
7 Proper prefaces The ‘proper preface’ is the variable part of the Eucharistic Prayer before the Sanctus. Such prefaces are unknown in the Eastern churches, where each Eucharistic Prayer has its own invariable preface. That is also the case in Common Worship in relation to Prayer…
Echoing the Word - Prayers at the preparation of the table