John for Everyone part 2 - Breakfast by the Shore
John for Everyone part 2 - Breakfast by the Shore
by SPCK - N T Wright
Breakfast by the Shore John 21.9-14 I don’t know much about mental health, and the therapy that can produce it. But I do know a little about the healing of memories, and the finding of a forgiveness that can go back to a buried hurt, fear, failure or sin and deal with it. I have …
John for Everyone Part 1 - Children of Abraham - Or of the Devil
John for Everyone Part 1 - Children of Abraham - Or of the Devil
by SPCK - N T Wright
Children of Abraham – Or of the Devil John 8.37-47 The famous psychologist Carl Jung published, among his many works, a picture-book illustrating the main points of his thought about the strange ways in which the human mind works. One of the most striking pages is a picture of Ad…
New Testament Wisdom for Everyone - Building A Christian Character
New Testament Wisdom for Everyone - Building A Christian Character
by SPCK - N T Wright
2 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE SELF BUILDING A CHRISTIAN CHARACTER 2 Peter 1: 1-11 My grandson, aged one and a half, was taken the other day into a big toyshop. It was a riot of exciting things, all in bright colours. From floor to ceiling, from one end of the shop to the other, and…
New Testament Wisdom for Everyone - Chasing On To The Finish
New Testament Wisdom for Everyone - Chasing On To The Finish
by SPCK - N T Wright
4 THE PATH OF THE DISCIPLE CHASING ON TO THE FINISH Philippians 3: 12-16 The athletics match had reached a critical stage. One of the final races was left to be run: the 440 yards (the old version of today’s 400 metres). The athletes were bunched together as they came to the firs…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Chasing on to the Finish
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Chasing on to the Finish
by SPCK - N T Wright
Chasing on to the Finish Philippians 3.12-16 The athletics match had reached a critical stage. One of the final races was left to be run: the 440 yards (the old version of today’s 400 metres). The athletes were bunched together as they came to the first bend, and one of them was …
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Born of God
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Born of God
by SPCK - N T Wright
Born of God 1 John 3.1-10 There are many stories about people who are blind who then receive the gift of sight. One of the most remarkable, of course, is found in chapter 9 of John’s gospel, where Jesus heals a man who had been born blind. But there are plenty more such stories i…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Boasting in the Cross
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Boasting in the Cross
by SPCK - N T Wright
Boasting in the Cross Galatians 6.11-18 At least half of all the items that come through my letter-box each day are what we loosely call ‘junk mail’. Often I receive letters which, though they may have my name at the top, have in fact been mass-produced by a computer as part of a…
2 Corinthians - Boasting in The Lord
2 Corinthians - Boasting in The Lord
by SPCK - N T Wright
Boasting in the Lord 2 CORINTHIANS 10.12-18 I took my son to school on a snowy morning. He was wearing boots, gloves, a woolly hat and a thick coat. When we got there – he was about five years old – we had quite a struggle to take it all off and get him ready for classes. To help…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The First Sunday of Christmas Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The First Sunday of Christmas Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The First Sunday of Christmas - Year A Isaiah 63: 7-9 Hebrews 2: 10-18 Matthew 12: 13-23 More Isaianic translation problems. Fortunately here the meaning is not in doubt. ‘In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them’? – or is it ‘He became t…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Christianity Declared Legal in Achaea
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Christianity Declared Legal in Achaea
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christianity Declared Legal in Achaea Acts 18.12-17 Though I have walked with great pleasure in the hills of the north of England, both the Lake District in the west and the Cheviot hills in the east, I have only once walked in the almost equally famous Peak District of Derbyshir…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Children of God, Led by the Spirit
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Children of God, Led by the Spirit
by SPCK - N T Wright
Children of God, Led by the Spirit ROMANS 8.12-17 Debt is one of the great problems of today’s world. When I was younger, banks didn’t allow many people to run into debt. Credit cards hadn’t been invented. Student loans were not even thought of. Of course, people still got into d…
Hebrews for Everyone - Christian Suffering is God's Discipline
Hebrews for Everyone - Christian Suffering is God's Discipline
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christian Suffering is God’s Discipline Hebrews 12.4-11 Western society is in a turmoil these days about discipline. We have become very aware of the dangers of physical violence at every level. What happens when a child grows up knowing only that authority belongs to the person …
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Children, Parents, Slaves and Masters
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Children, Parents, Slaves and Masters
by SPCK - N T Wright
Children, Parents, Slaves and Masters Ephesians 6.1-9 My first experience of a building site was disillusioning. I was part of the work crew building a factory. (I did the job for four weeks during a university holiday.) Right from the start it became clear that, with only one ex…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Christ the King Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Christ the King Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christ the King Jeremiah 23.1–6 Colossians 1.11–20 Luke 23.33–43 Shepherds, shepherding stories, and shepherding metaphors abound throughout the Bible, as one would expect in that culture. The creative thing in Israel’s traditions, though, was the development of ‘the shepherd’ as…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Christ the King Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Christ the King Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christ the King Daniel 7.9-10, 13-14 Revelation 1.4b-8 John 18.33b-37 The ‘Feast of Christ the King’ was invented by Pius XI in 1925. Only in 1970 was it moved from October to the last Sunday before Advent. It slid into Anglicanism very recently, introducing three muddles. First,…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Christ the Seed, Christ the Mediator
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Christ the Seed, Christ the Mediator
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christ the Seed, Christ the Mediator Galatians 3.15-22 ‘It’s what he would have wanted.’ How often has that phrase been used to settle an argument, when someone has died and the family are trying to organize the funeral, or the disposal of property, or the appropriate way to brin…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Day of Pentecost Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Day of Pentecost Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Day of Pentecost Acts 2.1–21 Romans 8.14–17 John 14.8–17 The Israelites had been aware of certain persons in their midst, unpredictable and untameable, in whom the Spirit of YHWH dwelt. They spoke his word, led his people, encouraged, rebuked, prayed for and agonized over Israel.…
Mark for Everyone - David’s Son and the Widow’s Mite