The Second Intercessions Handbook - (35) EASTER AT EMMAUS
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (35) EASTER AT EMMAUS
by SPCK - John Pritchard
(35) EASTER AT EMMAUS The Emmaus story in Luke 24 has enduring appeal in its humanity, its wonder and its mixture of simplicity and complexity. Obviously these prayers would work best if this Gospel reading has been used. The prayers follow the developing narrative of the story –…
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (37) PENTECOST
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (37) PENTECOST
by SPCK - John Pritchard
(37) PENTECOST Pentecost lends itself to the use of its strong images, but other festivals and seasons of the year also have symbols attached to them which can be used to reinforce and enliven the intercessions. The response here would have to be introduced and rehearsed, or prin…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Models of God
The Women's Bible Commentary - Models of God
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Models of God There is one important respect in which Job’s patriarchal assumptions are put in question by the book. Job’s mounting frustration with God comes from his expectation that God should behave toward him as Job behaves toward his own dependents. Job has envisioned God i…
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (24) THE PRAYER JESUS TAUGHT US
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (24) THE PRAYER JESUS TAUGHT US
by SPCK - John Pritchard
(23) SOMEWHERE NEARBY If our prayer is going to connect with the world we’re part of for the other 167 hours a week when we aren’t in church, we need to remember the raw-edged realities around us and not domesticate them into tidy, bland packages. These intercessions need to be a…
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (23) SOMEWHERE NEARBY
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (23) SOMEWHERE NEARBY
by SPCK - John Pritchard
(23) SOMEWHERE NEARBY If our prayer is going to connect with the world we’re part of for the other 167 hours a week when we aren’t in church, we need to remember the raw-edged realities around us and not domesticate them into tidy, bland packages. These intercessions need to be a…
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (25) RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (25) RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH
by SPCK - John Pritchard
(24) THE PRAYER JESUS TAUGHT US The Lord’s Prayer is prayed millions of times every day. The problem is to mean what we pray! But Jesus was giving his disciples a framework for prayer which we do well to explore thoroughly all our lives and in all our praying. There are other pla…
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (26) DOORS
The Second Intercessions Handbook - (26) DOORS
by SPCK - John Pritchard
(26) DOORS Sometimes a common image with a range of interpretations can provide a helpful peg for intercession. The visual reinforces the aural. Here the image of doors takes the intercession into both familiar and unfamiliar territory…
Isaiah for everyone - The Man Who Kept His Mouth Shut
Isaiah for everyone - The Man Who Kept His Mouth Shut
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Man Who Kept His Mouth Shut I just came across a comment someone made when my first wife died five years ago. “We are forever grateful that she paid the price of her discipleship.” She “stands tall” among people who have “worked for our comfort and edification . . . Her direc…
Isaiah for everyone - An Ambiguous "Because"
Isaiah for everyone - An Ambiguous "Because"
by SPCK - John Goldingay
An Ambiguous “Because” At Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, is a room dedicated to the million and a half children who were murdered in the Holocaust. It’s a hollowed out cavern with some candles whose light is reflected on the ceiling by hundreds of mirrors so tha…
glimpses of glory - Seventh Sunday of Easter - Year C
glimpses of glory - Seventh Sunday of Easter - Year C
by SPCK - David Adam
The Seventh Sunday of Easter Almighty Father, who through your great love raised your Son into glory, help us to know we are not alone, to know we dwell in you and you in us, to know that the ascended Lord is with us always, and that your Spirit comes to guide and strengthen us. …
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Jezebel, Elijah, and the Northern Kings
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Jezebel, Elijah, and the Northern Kings
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Jezebel, Elijah, and the Northern Kings At 1 Kings 16 the narrative turns much of its attention to the intrigues of the northern kingdom, focusing upon it until the inception of the Jehu dynasty and the end of the Omride dynasty in 2 Kings 10. The kings of Israel receive no benef…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Male-Centered Language and Worldview
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Male-Centered Language and Worldview
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Male-Centered Language and Worldview The address of the letter provides a good illustration of the male-centered worldview of the New Testament writers, which is often compounded by non-inclusive translations. For example, in 1:1, Paul identifies himself as an apostle called by G…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - The Sinner
The Womens' Bible Commentary - The Sinner
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Sinner Accounts of a woman anointing Jesus appear in all four Gospels: Mark 14:3–9; Matthew 26:6–13; John 12:1–8; Luke 7:36–50. Critics are puzzled about exactly how the accounts are related. What seems likely is that one event lies behind them, an event that was changed radi…
The Power of the Parable - A Hymn for the Nameless (Part 2)
The Power of the Parable - A Hymn for the Nameless (Part 2)
by SPCK - John Dominic Crossan
A Hymn for the Nameless (part 2) What, then, my fourth question asks, is the location and situation of Mark’s somewhat startling vision of Christian community. I imagine his gospel written among “the villages of Caesarea Philippi” (8:27) for refugees from the terrible destruction…
The Power of the Parable - A Hymn for the Nameless (Part 1)
The Power of the Parable - A Hymn for the Nameless (Part 1)
by SPCK - John Dominic Crossan
7 A Hymn for the Nameless By the late afternoon of September 2, 31 BCE, Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt had escaped the surrounding squadrons of Octavian and Agrippa, picked up Mark Antony from his abandoned flagship, and fled with him to Alexandria and double suicide…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Visions of Destruction