Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Humility and Danger
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Humility and Danger
by SPCK - N T Wright
Humility and Danger Matthew 18.1-7 Among the saddest sights in our world, some of the worst, I think, are the glimpses we get of children in need. I think of three children grubbing around in a stinking, smouldering garbage heap on the edge of a South American city. They are bare…
New Testament Prayer for Everyone - In The Presence of God
New Testament Prayer for Everyone - In The Presence of God
by SPCK - N T Wright
PART 2 PRAYERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT PRAYERS OF JESUS IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD Matthew 1: 25-30 I remember attending a memorial service to honour one of the world’s great sportsmen. Colin Cowdrey was one of the greatest cricketers of all time; not quite cricket’s Babe Ruth, but not …
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Nicodemus
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Nicodemus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Nicodemus John 3.1-13 I have lost my birth certificate. It’s the sort of thing that happens when you move house, which we did not long ago. I know where it was in the old house. It may have been accidentally thrown away; but I suspect it was put into a very, very safe p…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and John the Baptist
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and John the Baptist
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and John the Baptist Luke 7.18-35 Pull a coin out of your pocket and look at it. What does it tell you? I don’t mean, how rich does it say you are. Nor am I thinking about the actual words that are engraved on it. I’m referring to the pictures, the symbols. The last two cou…
Mark for Everyone - Jesus and Beelzebul
Mark for Everyone - Jesus and Beelzebul
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 3.20–30 Jesus and Beelzebul... ...From the safety of my armchair, I watched the mass demonstration on the TV news. It started peacefully, at least on the surface. Banners and placards gave out a strong message, but the crowd seemed relaxed enough. The polic…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Beelzebul
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Beelzebul
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Beelzebul Matthew 12.22-32 ‘How did they do it?’ We stood looking up at the west front of one of France’s great medieval cathedrals. It was massive, majestic and awe-inspiring. At the same time, the overall shaping of the stone was so beautifully worked that it seemed t…
Hebrews for Everyone - Jesus and Moses
Hebrews for Everyone - Jesus and Moses
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Moses HEBREWS 3.1-6 In the part of England where I grew up there were two main football clubs to support: Newcastle and Sunderland. Loyalty was, and remains, fierce: woe betide you if you found yourself wearing a black-and-white scarf (Newcastle) in the midst of a group…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and John the Baptist
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and John the Baptist
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and John the Baptist Matthew 11.1-6 We had rehearsed the show for weeks, and reckoned we had it pretty well sorted out. We were a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs, but we were quite pleased with our singing, acting and dancing. The show was going to be good, funny and excitin…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Moses
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Moses
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Moses John 5.39-47 You can see it in a class at school. You can see it in a sports team. You can see it in an army barracks. You can see it, in fact, almost anywhere where a peer group builds up and gathers momentum despite the best efforts of those in charge. The boys …
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and Beelzebul
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and Beelzebul
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Beelzebul Luke 11.14-28 A friend was telling me about the first years in which she had been a schoolteacher. ‘It was very strange,’ she said. ‘Sometimes a pupil would be doing just fine, and then suddenly their work would get much worse. We wouldn’t find out why until t…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and His Brothers
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and His Brothers
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and His Brothers John 7.1-9 Many Jewish communities around the world keep the festival of Tabernacles, or ‘Booths’, to this day. The ‘tabernacles’ in question are usually makeshift shelters, made out of whatever comes to hand, set up in the open air in a back yard or porch.…
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Cleanses the Temple
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 11.12–25 Jesus Cleanses the Temple... ...What is the largest, most important building in your country? The one with the most historic meanings and associations? The one where famous people come, either to work or to visit? The one that stands for, and symbo…
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Calms the Storm
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Calms the Storm
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 4.35–41 Jesus Calms the Storm... ...It isn’t only boats that are in danger on the Sea of Galilee. To this day, the car parks on the western shore have signs warning drivers of what happens in high winds. The sea can get very rough very quickly, and big wave…
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Before Pilate
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Before Pilate
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 15.1–15 Jesus Before Pilate... ...Today they sell crosses in fashionable jewellery shops. If you ask the shop assistants, you will find that many of them don’t know where the symbol comes from, or what it means; and neither do many of their customers. It ha…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Calls the Disciples
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Calls the Disciples
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Calls the Disciples Matthew 4.18-25 If you go to Galilee today they will show you a boat that might have belonged to Andrew and Peter, or perhaps the Zebedee family. In one of the most remarkable archaeological finds anywhere in the Holy Land (which is full of them), a boat…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Condemns the Cities
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Condemns the Cities
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Condemns the Cities Matthew 11.16-24 A bright red sports car swept by me in the street, with a roar of exhaust and a swish of tyres. As it slowed momentarily to take the corner, I caught a glimpse of the young man driving it: dark glasses, long hair, the hint of a beard. Ro…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Causes Division
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Causes Division
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Causes Division Matthew 10.32-42 I was once asked to go and preach at the school which I had attended as a boy. It was one of those annual events that many schools have where we were supposed to remember the great pioneers who had founded the school, developed it, and given…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Calms the Storm