Sibling rivalry
Sibling rivalry
by Marjorie Dobson
Prayer: Sibling rivalry Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 25: 18-34 Sibling rivalry can destroy families, schools, communities and even nations. Although we have an idealised image of family life being peace and harmony and sisters and brothers getting along together and fi…
A strange kind of king
A strange kind of king
by Marjorie Dobson
A strange kind of king - poem Third Sunday after Pentecost Zechariah 9: 9-12 When that king comes riding on a donkey, will he be noticed among the finery and glitz and glamour of a ceremonial state occasion? When, through God’s peacemakers, arms and armoury are decommissioned…
Does it matter?
Does it matter?
by Marjorie Dobson
Does it matter? - poem Third Sunday after Pentecost Romans 7: 15-25a Such little lies. Merest whispers of deception. ‘I didn’t know.’ ‘I wasn’t there.’ ‘I saw nothing.’ But by such lies... 3 July 2011, Third Sunday after Pentecost, Romans 7: 15-25a, poem, deception, lies, den…
Imagining the Lectionary: Faith needs sharpening daily on the grindstone of love (Proper 9A / Ordinary 14A)
Imagining the Lectionary: Faith needs sharpening daily on the grindstone of love (Proper 9A / Ordinary 14A)
by David Perry
Imagining the Lectionary: Faith needs sharpening daily on the grindstone of love (Proper 9A / Ordinary 14A) Text to accompany image “Faith needs sharpening daily on the grindstone of love” Faith gets blunt very easily and very quickly, almost without our noticing that it is…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 17 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 17 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 17 Jeremiah 15.15–21 Romans 12.9–21 Matthew 16.21–8 Oh dear. Now it’s crunch time. Justification by grace through faith is fine. A theology of grace alone, which emphasizes our inability to achieve our own salvation, is central…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 16 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 16 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 16 Isaiah 51.1–6 Romans 12.1–8 Matthew 16.13–20 There seems to be a bit of a break in the argument at this point in Romans. Chapters 9––11 are Paul’s attempt to give some kind of coherent shape to God’s activity in choosing fir…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 20 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 20 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 20 Jonah 3.10—4.11 Philippians 1.21–30 Matthew 20.1–16 Did Jonah ever get the point? The author deliberately chooses an open ending. Jonah knows his God quite well, but that doesn’t mean he has to like him. He thinks God is rid…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 18 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 18 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 18 Ezekiel 33.7–11 Romans 13.8–14 Matthew 18.15–20 I suppose we can take comfort from the fact that today’s passage from Matthew needed to be written at all, because you don’t need to give advice where it is already being follo…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 19 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 19 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 19 Genesis 50.15–21 Romans 14.1–12 Matthew 18.21–35 It is very annoying to think that God may have different standards of judgement from ours. All three of today’s readings warn that the obvious surface reaction to one particul…
Imagining the Lectionary: Pentecost at ground level
Imagining the Lectionary: Pentecost at ground level
by David Perry
Imagining the Lectionary: Pentecost at ground level Reflection accompanying image “Pentecost at ground level” "When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came f…
God, who breathed life
God, who breathed life
by Marjorie Dobson
Prayer: God, who breathed life God, who breathed life into creation, we come to thank you for its beauty. God, who breathed life into Jesus, we come to thank you for his life and ministry. God, who breathed new life into grieving followers, we come to thank you that you did not l…
Many gifts
Many gifts
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem: Many gifts (1 Corinthians 12: 3b-13) If any one person could embody all the graces; all the compassion and understanding; all the wisdom and gifts of ministry that Jesus had, then there would be no need for so many gifts to be given by the Spirit to build up the church. B…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 21 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 21 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sundays – Year A Ordinary Time Proper 21 Exodus 17.1–7 Philippians 2.1–13 Matthew 21.23–32 It sounded like a trick, but for those with ears to hear it answered the authorities’ challenge head on. Jesus’ Temple action was an affront to the power of the chief pries…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 17 Year A