Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Preaching of John the Baptist
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Preaching of John the Baptist
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Preaching of John the Baptist Matthew 3.1-10 The road, the water, the fire and the axe. Four powerful symbols set the scene for where the story of Jesus really starts. Think first of a police motorcade sweeping through a city street. First there appear motorcycles with flashi…
The Pastoral Letters - The Problems in Crete
The Pastoral Letters - The Problems in Crete
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Problems in Crete Titus 1.10-16 There is a famous puzzle which young philosophers love. Imagine a postcard, blank on both sides except for a single sentence on each. You pick it up and read it. The side you’re looking at says, ‘The statement on the other side of this card is …
John for Everyone part 2 - The Seed Must Die
John for Everyone part 2 - The Seed Must Die
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Seed Must Die John 12.20-26 Every autumn, when I was a boy, we used to collect horse chestnuts. We would watch the trees as the chestnuts started to fall, usually in late September or early October. The prickly, green outer shell would often split; if it didn’t, we would slic…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Seventh Sunday of Easter Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Seventh Sunday of Easter Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Sunday after Ascension Day) Acts 1.15-17, 21-26 1 John 5.9-13 John 17.6-19 The interesting thing about the choice of Matthias has nothing to do with Matthias himself. Nor is it the striking method of his selection, which if applied today would simpli…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Servant
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Servant
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Servant Matthew 12.15-21 The bishop sat at his desk and put his head in his hands. Another three letters had just arrived complaining at the way in which a particular parish had changed its style of music. The director of finance had just reported that unless people in the di…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Epiphany Isaiah 62.1–5 1 Corinthians 12.1–11 John 2.1–11 Nuptial imagery rings through the Bible like a peal of wedding bells. The first two chapters of Genesis reach their climax in the creation of man and woman in God’s image; the last two chapters of Rev…
Revelation bible study guide - The Seven Plagues
Revelation bible study guide - The Seven Plagues
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Seven Plagues Revelation 16 The lunch had been substantial, the meeting was tedious, the room was warm and the speakers droned on and on. The chairman noticed that one of his colleagues was finally subsiding into slumber. With cruel timing, he waited until the poor man’s head…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - The Sending of Timothy
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - The Sending of Timothy
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Sending of Timothy Thessalonians 3.1-5 The young adult daughter of some friends of ours went on a trip round the world, and was so enjoying life that, at one stage, she didn’t phone home for several weeks. Her parents had no way of getting in touch, and were beside themselves…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Lent Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Lent Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Lent Genesis 15.1–12, 17–18 Philippians 3.17—4.1 Luke 13.31–end The question raised by Philippians 3.17 is: how on earth can the Philippian church, Gentile Christians mostly, ‘join in imitating’ Paul? The chapter so far describes how Paul came to regard his o…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Seventh Sunday of Easter Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Seventh Sunday of Easter Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Sunday after Ascension Day) Acts 16.16–34 Revelation 22.12–14, 16–17, 20–21 John 17.20–end If Luke had wanted to play down the trouble caused by the gospel, he would quietly have omitted the Philippi story. Healing for one person means loss of money …
Acts for Everyone part 1 - The Stoning of Stephen
Acts for Everyone part 1 - The Stoning of Stephen
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Stoning of Stephen Acts 7.54-8.3 Francis Thompson was a strange and powerful English poet of the early twentieth century. He was a believing Christian, but his life had been sad and difficult in a number of ways. Yet in the middle of his personal suffering he discovered a str…
Hebrews for Everyone - The Son Becomes the Priest
Hebrews for Everyone - The Son Becomes the Priest
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Son Becomes the Priest Hebrews 5.4-10 A man I know inherited a business from his father. It sounds rather a grand sort of thing: the son comes in, fresh from his excellent schooling, to sit in a splendid office next to that of his father, and to take over in due course, rulin…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - The Son and the Spirit
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - The Son and the Spirit
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Son and the Spirit Galatians 4.1-7 If you’ve ever tried to write a story, you have probably discovered that your characters get themselves into muddles from which it’s quite hard to get them out. Several nineteenth-century novelists faced this problem, often with heroes and h…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - The Snares of the World and the Gift of God
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - The Snares of the World and the Gift of God
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Snares of the World and the Gift of God James 1.9-18 ‘Listen for the echo,’ said my friend. We were standing at the back of a great cathedral, and the choir was about to sing a powerful, beautiful anthem. Sure enough: the conductor knew what he was doing. As each part of the …
Revelation for Everyone - The Song of Triumph
Revelation for Everyone - The Song of Triumph
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Song of Triumph Revelation 11.15-19 Inscribed over the high altar in Westminster Abbey, one of the most famous churches in the world, is the King James Version translation of verse 15, which reads, ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Ch…
Mark for Everyone - The Speculations of Herod
Mark for Everyone - The Speculations of Herod
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 6.14–16The Speculations of Herod... ...Private life is a modern invention. Until quite recently, most people lived in small communities where everyone knew every- one else’s business. Until a few hundred years ago, everybody heard what was going on in the w…
New Testament Prayer for Everyone - The Song of the Lamb