Luke for Everyone - Opposition to Jesus in Nazareth
Luke for Everyone - Opposition to Jesus in Nazareth
by SPCK - N T Wright
Opposition to Jesus in Nazareth Luke 4.14-30 The commentators were ecstatic after the game. ‘He played like a man inspired,’ they said. What images does that conjure up for you? A sports star, perhaps, running rings round the opposition and scoring a brilliant goal. Or, from a di…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Love: The Bridge to God's Future
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Love: The Bridge to God's Future
by SPCK - N T Wright
Love: The Bridge to God’s Future 1 Corinthians 13.8-13 When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a young man, living with his father Leopold (himself a fine musician) in Vienna, he is said to have played a trick on him from time to time. Young Wolfgang would come home from spending a riot…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - On Adultery and Oaths
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - On Adultery and Oaths
by SPCK - N T Wright
On Adultery and Oaths Matthew 5.27-37 As I was getting ready to write this section, an email arrived from an old friend in another country. His church, he said, was facing a question that troubles a great many churches in our day. What did Jesus really mean in his teaching about …
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - On Murder and Reconciliation
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - On Murder and Reconciliation
by SPCK - N T Wright
On Murder and Reconciliation Matthew 5.21-26 It happened again the other day. It is sadly common. A leading politician makes a gesture of contempt towards the opposition. Someone on the other side reacts angrily. Soon dozens of people are on their feet, shouting. Insults fly to a…
The Holy Scriptures
The Holy Scriptures
by Norman J Goreham (1931-2021)
A prayer for enlightenment as we read the Scriptures, this could appropriately be sung as a Gradual hymn before the reading of the Gospel in the Liturgy. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES John 16:15, Luke 24:32 1 Come, Holy Spirit, open sightless eyes and in the truth of Jesus make us wise. 2 …
Responsive Prayer: We cannot comprehend
Responsive Prayer: We cannot comprehend
by Andrew Pratt
Responsive Prayer: We cannot comprehend based on Psalm 147 We cannot comprehend the height and depth, the brightness and beauty of the stars above our heads, so in awe we praise you O God. You rebuild broken cities and gather together the outcasts, bringing peace we dare not imag…
Times and Seasons - So easy now to judge – original sin?
Times and Seasons - So easy now to judge – original sin?
by Andrew Pratt
So easy now to judge – original sin? So easy now to judge: that one was right, another wrong. But we were never there in the narrow trench or corridor of power. We never heard the thunder’s fire, nor found ourselves strung up upon the wire. We never had to make that bleak decisio…
The Accused
The Accused
by Andrew Pratt
Meditation/monologue/drama: The Accused Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Romans 8: 1-11 'The accused'! It felt strange standing there and hearing those words. They were talking about me. Fair enough I suppose, but we never like to hear the truth about ourselves do we? 'The accused'!…
There we were, off up a mountain again
There we were, off up a mountain again
by Andrew Pratt
Dramatic monologue: There we were, off up a mountain again Ascension Acts 1: 1-11 There we were, off up a mountain again. My legs were aching. Not as young as I used to be. Near the summit, thank goodness, but I expect he could hear me moaning. He turned and faced us. Was it imag…
Three disciples saw God's glory
Three disciples saw God's glory
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Three disciples saw God’s glory Last Sunday before Lent year A Matthew 17: 1 – 9 Three disciples saw God’s glory, sunlight pouring from Christ’s face, shielding eyes are almost blinded, shaken by God’s present grace. Was it just imagination, was that Moses there as well? Th…
Time gentlemen please
Time gentlemen please
by Andrew Pratt
Dialogue/drama for two voices: Time gentlemen please Time gentlemen please. I remember the words. Mis-spent youth. The bar cleared. No hassle, just lads wobbling out onto a dark street and making for home. Empty your glasses. Drinking up time. That was allowed. Felt bad if you ha…
Transfiguration
Transfiguration
by Andrew Pratt
Meditation: Transfiguration Last Sunday before Lent year A Matthew 17: 1 – 9 Respite, that’s what I need, respite. Do you ever have one of those periods when you just need lifting out of yourself? And then it comes, like a gift from God. You get an unexpected ‘phone call, a lette…
When the glory of the presence
When the glory of the presence
by Andrew Pratt
Poem: When the glory of the presence Proper 24 year A Exodus 33: 12 – 23 When the glory of the presence of the ground of all our being leaves transcendent worth and wonder, enters in the realm of seeing, are we blinded by the dazzle? Is this presence binding? Freeing? How do we d…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Conflict between the Teacher and Israel
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Conflict between the Teacher and Israel
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Conflict between the Teacher and Israel Matthew 8—23 The intrusion of substantial non-narrative material in these sermons inhibits the movement of the plot. This mixture of Jesus’ ministry and his teaching produces a more measured air; instead of the breathless dash of Mark’s bou…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The new teaching
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The new teaching
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The new teaching The Discourses, Matthew 5—7, 10, 13, 18, 23—25 While Mark has very little actual teaching, Matthew builds the character of Jesus as the Teacher of Israel, and structures the gospel around his five great blocks of teaching – the discourses punctuating the narrativ…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Another Moses?
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Another Moses?
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Another Moses? Beginning ministry, Matthew 3—8.1 In the picture of Matthew in the Lindisfarne Gospels, there is another bearded figure peering out from behind the curtain, holding a book. Some scholars and art historians suggest this might be Moses, with the Law. Certainly, Old T…
The Things He Carried - 2. A Crown of Thorns