Times and Seasons - A Liturgy for a Blue Christmas
Times and Seasons - A Liturgy for a Blue Christmas
by Andrew Pratt and Marjorie Dobson
A Liturgy for a Blue Christmas (This is not a Full Service, but a liturgy that could be inserted into worship at any suitable time during the Advent/Christmas period with, or without, the addition of further hymns and prayers. Christmas is not a happy time for everyone.) Leader: …
Hark, the herald-angels sing a Christmas Meditation
Hark, the herald-angels sing a Christmas Meditation
by Andrew Pratt
Hark, the herald-angels sing – a Christmas Meditation. Use these thoughts to introduce the hymn and reach back to the meaning behind the words and the wonder of which they speak. From Inextinguishable Blaze - Click Here Extract: Hark, the herald-angels sing - a Christmas Medi…
Lo, he comes with clouds descending – an Advent Meditation
Lo, he comes with clouds descending – an Advent Meditation
by Andrew Pratt
Lo, he comes with clouds descending – an Advent Meditation Taken from the book Inextinguishable blaze Part of the understanding that we have of religious story is the way it follows the calendar. This is not just a random whim, but a means of reminding us of God's action in hum…
Nunc Dimittis
Nunc Dimittis
by Andrew Pratt
Nunc Dimittis - Simeon's song at the birth of Jesus Taken from the Book Nothing Too Religious - Click Here Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.co.uk. Please include any reproduction for local church and school use on your CCL Licen…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Third Sunday of Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Third Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Third Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 35: 1-10 James 5: 7-10 Matthew 11: 2-11 One of the recently edited Dead Sea Scrolls (no. 521 of the Cave 4 collection, if anyone out there wants the reference) contains a portrait of the coming Messiah that, like Matthew 11, looks back to Is…
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 - Christ the King Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Christ the King Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Sundays Before Advent Christ the King Ezekiel 34.11–16, 20–4 Ephesians 1.15–23 Matthew 25.31–46 Matthew 25 is all about preparedness. First of all, there are the foolish bridesmaids, who ran out of oil and so missed the wedding; then there is the s…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The First Sunday of Advent Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The First Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The First Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 2:1–5 Romans 13:11–14 Matthew 24:36–44 Reflection on the first Sunday in Advent year A In The Magician’s Nephew, one of his Narnia books, C. S. Lewis describes a wood, which the children reach by magic. It is a kind of no-place, which Po…
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 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 …
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Christ the King Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Christ the King Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christ the King Daniel 7.9-10, 13-14 Revelation 1.4b-8 John 18.33b-37 The ‘Feast of Christ the King’ was invented by Pius XI in 1925. Only in 1970 was it moved from October to the last Sunday before Advent. It slid into Anglicanism very recently, introducing three muddles. First,…
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The Second Sunday of Advent Year C
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The Second Sunday of Advent Year C
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday of Advent Malachi 3.1–4 Philippians 1.3–11 Luke 3.1–6 The passage from Malachi and the passage from Luke go together well. At first glance, the alternative reading from Baruch (5.1–9) matches the Luke passage even better, since Luke and Baruch both seem to be qu…
Rhythms of remembering - Advent - Friday Morning Prayer