Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Abraham's Two Sons
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Abraham's Two Sons
by SPCK - N T Wright
Abraham’s Two Sons Galatians 4.21-31 Not long ago, there was an international rugby match played in pouring rain. The pitch became muddier and muddier, and the players got dirtier and dirtier. The spectators couldn’t tell which side was which. Then the referee discovered that eve…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Another KIng
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Another KIng
by SPCK - N T Wright
Another King! Acts 17.1-9 Just north of where I am writing this, and visible from not far away, is the small but famous island of Lindisfarne, commonly known as ‘Holy Island’. It was the first beachhead of Christian faith in England, long before the Romans sent Augustine from Rom…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - All at Sea
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - All at Sea
by SPCK - N T Wright
All at SeaActs 27.1-12 In John Fowles’ novel, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, the reader getting near the end receives a shock. There are two endings. You can choose. Would you like the story to finish like this, or like that? What are you saying about yourself, or about the boo…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - An Explanation is called for
Acts for Everyone part 1 - An Explanation is called for
by SPCK - N T Wright
An Explanation is Called for Acts 3.11-16 ‘How did you do that?’ I stood beside the car as it spluttered into life. I had fiddled and jiggled with everything I could, and hadn’t been able to make it start. (This, I should say, was a long time ago, in the days when you could poke …
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth
by SPCK - N T Wright
Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth Acts 18.18-28 These days people will do anything for sponsorship. Recently a Christian leader made well over a million pounds (roughly US$2 million) by running in the London Marathon. I once had a colleague who made a lot of money for his church by …
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ananias and Saul
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ananias and Saul
by SPCK - N T Wright
Ananias and Saul Acts 9.11-19a As the concert progressed, I watched the different players in the orchestra. There at the back sat a man who looked very, very bored. In fact, he disappeared for about half an hour at one point. (There are stories of musicians turning up in bars nea…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - Aid for Jerusalem
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - Aid for Jerusalem
by SPCK - N T Wright
Aid for Jerusalem ROMANS 15.25-33 I have now translated most of the New Testament for this present series, and I’ve discovered one or two interesting things as I’ve done so. The hardest Greek I have so far faced, without a doubt, is in one particular section of 2 Corinthians, nam…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Apostles on Display
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Apostles on Display
by SPCK - N T Wright
Apostles on Display 1 Corinthians 4.6-13 We walked down the hill in the bright sunshine. This, our guide explained, is where the Roman generals would come when they returned to the city after winning a great victory. They built massive ‘triumphal arches’, some of which are still …
John for Everyone part 2 - Another Helper
John for Everyone part 2 - Another Helper
by SPCK - N T Wright
Another Helper John 14.12-21 ‘If only we’d been there when Jesus was around!’ people often say. ‘It would have been so much easier. He would have explained everything to us, and told us what to do. And he’d have been such an encouragement. Whatever we were doing, he’d be positive…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Announcing the Kingdom
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Announcing the Kingdom
by SPCK - N T Wright
Announcing the Kingdom Matthew 4.12-17 I once knew a small boy (no, it wasn’t me, actually) who used to telephone people at random. When a voice answered the phone, he would say, ‘Are you on the line?’ ‘Yes,’ the unsuspecting victim would reply. ‘Well, get off quick!’ he would sh…
Lent for Everyone Year A - Ash Wednesday
Lent for Everyone Year A - Ash Wednesday
by SPCK - N T Wright
ASH WEDNESDAY Matthew 1-2; focused on 1.18-25 We know very, very little about Joseph. Some legends make him an old man who died while Jesus was growing up, but we don’t know that for sure. We know he worked in the building trade, including what we call carpentry. We know he could…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ascension!
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ascension!
by SPCK - N T Wright
Ascension! Acts 1.9-14 We were having supper with some friends who had recently moved to western Canada. ‘So,’ my wife began, ‘does Vancouver feel like home?’ ‘It’s not home,’ replied the wife energetically. ‘It’s heaven!’ ‘Well, my dear,’ commented her husband, a theologian, rep…
The Pastoral Letters - Appointing Elders
The Pastoral Letters - Appointing Elders
by SPCK - N T Wright
Appointing Elders Titus 1.5-9 The worst moment was when we realized the pilot had no idea what to do next. We were travelling in a light aircraft, going north from Pretoria in South Africa into Zimbabwe, or Rhodesia as it was then called. There were five of us in the plane: the p…
Hebrews for Everyone - Are You Ready for Solid Food?
Hebrews for Everyone - Are You Ready for Solid Food?
by SPCK - N T Wright
Are You Ready for Solid Food? Hebrews 5.11-14 I saw in the newspaper this morning a delightful photograph of a Nepalese royal baby. The Kingdom of Nepal suffered a severe blow a few years ago when a member of the royal family shot dead several of his relatives. Now, with a new ge…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Authority and Example
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Authority and Example
by SPCK - N T Wright
Authority and Example 3 John 9-15 One of the many things I relished about serving as a bishop was the way in which my life would swing sharply from dealing with national and international issues one minute to dealing with small, sharp and tricky problems in this church here or th…
John for Everyone part 2 - Ask, and You Will Receive
John for Everyone part 2 - Ask, and You Will Receive
by SPCK - N T Wright
Ask, and You Will Receive John 16.23-33 In the world of business you can often tell how important someone is by finding out how many people you have to ‘go through’, as we say, in order to speak to them. You telephone, hoping for a word with the chairman of the company. You get t…
New Testament Prayer for Everyone - ASK, SEARCH, KNOCK