Revelation for Everyone - A Dragon is Angry
Revelation for Everyone - A Dragon is Angry
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Dragon Is Angry Revelation 12.7-18 A happy argument took place in the changing-room after the end of the match. Who had scored the winning goal? There had been a big scramble in the goalmouth; the ball was bouncing to and fro; two of the attacking players had both swung a foo…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - A Life of Love
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - A Life of Love
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Life of Love Thessalonians 4.9-12 ‘I don’t care too much for money,’ sang the Beatles (ironically, just as they were earning millions); ‘Money can’t buy me love.’ Now that is of course true. But ‘love’ is a strange word in most languages, and there are connections between love …
Mark for Everyone - A Lamp on Its Stand
Mark for Everyone - A Lamp on Its Stand
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 4.21–25 A Lamp on Its Stand... ...Yesterday I took part in a procession. It started outside St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, and as Big Ben struck the hour we began to move, singing hymns, around the green and into the great west doors of Westminster Abbe…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - A Year in Corinth
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - A Year in Corinth
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Year in Corinth Acts 18.1-11 This morning, knowing I was going to be thinking about Corinth, I helped myself to a big bowl of Greek yoghurt and honey for breakfast. It still takes me straight back to the little streetside cafe where, in the early 1990s, I first tasted that simp…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - A Stumble with a Purpose
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - A Stumble with a Purpose
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Stumble with a Purpose ROMANS 11.7-15 When Jesus told a story about an older and a younger brother, he was picking up echoes from several powerful stories in the book of Genesis. In Jesus’ own parable in Luke 15, the younger son takes his share of the inheritance, goes off and …
Revelation for Everyone - A Second Monster
Revelation for Everyone - A Second Monster
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Second Monster Revelation 13.11-18 I sat in the room, surrounded by shelf after shelf of old books. It felt good. When we took a break from the seminar (it was in a hotel in a large American city), I got up and walked over to the nearest bookcase to inspect what treats it might…
Mark for Everyone - A Prophet in His Own Town
Mark for Everyone - A Prophet in His Own Town
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 6.1–6 A Prophet in His Own Town... ...Most preachers can remember the first time they stood up to preach in front of their own parents. It’s not the same as with other things people do. If you’re a musician, they probably heard you practising when you were …
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham is the Father of All Believers
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham is the Father of All Believers
by SPCK - N T Wright
Abraham Is the Father of All Believers ROMANS 4.13-17 I had an angry email today from a Jewish Christian who objected strongly to something I had said, very cautiously, about the current problems in the Middle East. (I lived and worked in Jerusalem some years ago, and I still hav…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham the Father of Both Uncircumcised and Circumcised
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham the Father of Both Uncircumcised and Circumcised
by SPCK - N T Wright
Abraham the Father of Both Uncircumcised and Circumcised ROMANS 4.9-12 One of the most solemn moments of a wedding ceremony comes when the bride and groom give or exchange rings. I have taken many weddings in my time. I have also stood there as a proud father for the weddings of …
Hebrews for Everyone - A New Order of Priesthood
Hebrews for Everyone - A New Order of Priesthood
by SPCK - N T Wright
A New Order of Priesthood Hebrews 7.11-19 ‘I want it all to be perfect! There must be nothing wrong! Everything’s got to be just right!’ The bride-to-be was getting more and more excited as the great day approached. Though many people in Western society scoff at the institution o…
Revelation for Everyone - A Little Scroll
Revelation for Everyone - A Little Scroll
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Little Scroll Revelation 10.1-11 One of the most famous baseball umpires of all time, Bill Klem, earned his reputation by insisting that the umpire’s word was not only final, but in a sense creative. On one celebrated occasion, he waited a long time to call a particular pitch. …
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Fourth Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 7: 10-16 Romans 1: 1-7 Matthew 1: 18-25 We were taught in college, and many repeat in the pulpit, that the word ’almah' in Isaiah 7.14 doesn’t mean ‘virgin’, but ‘young woman’. It’s not that easy, actually: the word is rare, and the oth…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The First Sunday of Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The First Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The First Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 2:1-5 Romans 13:11–14 Matthew 24:36–44 With the lectionary’s new year comes St Matthew, with warnings about the days of Noah. Noah’s solitary gospel cameo; he doesn’t feature much in the epistles, either. Why not? The point about Noah’s …
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Address in Antioch
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Address in Antioch
by SPCK - N T Wright
Address in Antioch Acts 13.13-25 I sat in the small meeting room, intrigued at what I was hearing. I had been invited to a presentation organized by local councillors and businessmen in a particular area. They had a project, and they wanted support for it. There was an old factor…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Agrippa and Bernice
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Agrippa and Bernice
by SPCK - N T Wright
Agrippa and Bernice Acts 25.13-27 ‘To see ourselves as others see us.’ That telling line from Burns (actually, he wrote ‘oursels’; but someone would think it was a misprint if I had put that) sums up a good deal of the task of human communication. I am in correspondence, as I spe…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham's Faith - and Ours
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham's Faith - and Ours
by SPCK - N T Wright
Abraham’s Faith – and Ours ROMANS 4.18-25 When my family and I emigrated to Canada in the early 1980s, we frequently thought about the early pioneers, arriving in a new and unknown country with no idea what they would find, what the weather would be like, what crops might grow, o…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - Abraham's Two Families
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - Abraham's Two Families
by SPCK - N T Wright
Abraham’s Two Families ROMANS 9.6-13 When you walk or drive through unfamiliar territory, you have to rely on the map. It is the bottom line. If you find yourself somewhere you didn’t expect, you scratch your head, get out the map again, and figure out where you went wrong. You m…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Adultery and Hypocrisy