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Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Announcing the Kingdom
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Announcing the Kingdom
by SPCK - N T Wright
Announcing the Kingdom Matthew 4.12-17 I once knew a small boy (no, it wasn’t me, actually) who used to telephone people at random. When a voice answered the phone, he would say, ‘Are you on the line?’ ‘Yes,’ the unsuspecting victim would reply. ‘Well, get off quick!’ he would sh…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Discussions of Clean and Unclean
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Discussions of Clean and Unclean
by SPCK - N T Wright
Discussions of Clean and Unclean Matthew 15.1-9 All churches have jokes about the power of tradition. How many Anglicans (or Methodists, or Baptists, or Roman Catholics . . . or whatever you like) does it take to change a light bulb? Five, comes the answer: one to change the bulb…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Do Not Worry
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Do Not Worry
by SPCK - N T Wright
Do Not Worry Matthew 6.25-34 Has it ever struck you what a basically happy person Jesus was? Oh yes, we know that, according to the prophecies, he was ‘a man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief ’. We know that the darkness and sadness of all the world descended on him as he went…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Fulfilling the Law
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Fulfilling the Law
by SPCK - N T Wright
Fulfilling the Law Matthew 5.13-20 We all know what happens when a revolutionary party suddenly finds itself in power. It’s one thing to shout angrily from the sidelines, but quite another to form a government and run a country. All sorts of things have to be organized and dealt …
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Glossary
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Glossary
by SPCK - N T Wright
GLOSSARY accuser, see the satan age to come, see present age apostle, disciple, the Twelve ‘Apostle’ means ‘one who is sent’. It could be used of an ambassador or official delegate. In the New Testament it is sometimes used specifically of Jesus’ inner circle of twelve; but Paul …
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Introduction
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Introduction
by SPCK - N T Wright
INTRODUCTION On the very first occasion when someone stood up in public to tell people about Jesus, he made it very clear: this message is for everyone. It was a great day – sometimes called the birthday of the church. The great wind of God’s spirit had swept through Jesus’ follo…
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…
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…
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 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…
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 Walks on Water
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Walks on Water
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Walks on Water Matthew 14.23-36 Curiously, only one great picture of this scene has ever been painted (by Conrad Witz in 1444). You might have thought it would make an ideal subject: Jesus as a shimmering figure on the water, the frightened disciples huddling in the boat, a…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Baptism
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Baptism
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Baptism Matthew 3.11-17 It’s safe to say that John was as surprised as we are. Or at least, as we should be if we read this passage without knowing what’s coming. To get the flavour, imagine that we are going to a huge concert hall, packed to the doors with eager and excit…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Fame Increases
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Fame Increases
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Fame Increases Matthew 9.27-37 For many years now, one of the regular themes of fiction-writers has been the spy story. During the Cold War years in particular, when East and West were deeply suspicious of each other (normally this meant Russia and America, but their respe…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Genealogy
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Genealogy
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Genealogy Matthew 1.1-17 In Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest, the hero is asked about his family background, and is forced to confess that he had lost both his parents. He had been found, as a tiny baby, in a handbag. The indignation that greets these rev…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Invitation
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Invitation
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Invitation Matthew 11.25-30 I went this morning to 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 far off. He was known and loved all around the world – n…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' True Family
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' True Family
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ True Family Matthew 12.43-50 One of the saddest moments in my pastoral ministry came some years ago when I was contacted by a man in prison. He was coming towards the end of his sentence, having served some years for serious business fraud. During his time in jail he had t…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Lord of the Sabbath