Lectionary 04/08/2024
- Proper 13/Ordinary 18 - Year B
Lectionary Readings
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Jesus Heals a Leper
Jesus Heals a Leper
by Dave Hopwood
A New Kind of Fishing Bible Ref: Matthew 4,8,9 &12; Mark 1-3; Luke 4-6; John 4 & 5 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to …
Hidden Treasure and Precious Pearls
Hidden Treasure and Precious Pearls
by Dave Hopwood
Food and Water Bible Ref: Matthew 9-11 & 13-16; Mark 6-8; Luke 9; John 6-7 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to read the linkin…
The Death of John the Baptist
The Death of John the Baptist
by Dave Hopwood
Food and Water Bible Ref: Matthew 9-11 & 13-16; Mark 6-8; Luke 9; John 6-7 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to read the linkin…
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand People
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand People
by Dave Hopwood
Food and Water Bible Ref: Matthew 9-11 & 13-16; Mark 6-8; Luke 9; John 6-7 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to read the linkin…
Jesus Walks on Water
Jesus Walks on Water
by Dave Hopwood
Food and Water Bible Ref: Matthew 9-11 & 13-16; Mark 6-8; Luke 9; John 6-7 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to read the linkin…
The Bread of Life
The Bread of Life
by Dave Hopwood
Food and Water Bible Ref: Matthew 9-11 & 13-16; Mark 6-8; Luke 9; John 6-7 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to read the linkin…
What Makes a Person Unclean
What Makes a Person Unclean
by Dave Hopwood
Food and Water Bible Ref: Matthew 9-11 & 13-16; Mark 6-8; Luke 9; John 6-7 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to read the linkin…
A Persistent Canaanite Woman
A Persistent Canaanite Woman
by Dave Hopwood
Food and Water Bible Ref: Matthew 9-11 & 13-16; Mark 6-8; Luke 9; John 6-7 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to read the linkin…
Jesus Heals a Deaf Mute
Jesus Heals a Deaf Mute
by Dave Hopwood
Food and Water Bible Ref: Matthew 9-11 & 13-16; Mark 6-8; Luke 9; John 6-7 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to read the linkin…
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand People
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand People
by Dave Hopwood
Food and Water Bible Ref: Matthew 9-11 & 13-16; Mark 6-8; Luke 9; John 6-7 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to read the linkin…
The Pharisees Ask for a Sign
The Pharisees Ask for a Sign
by Dave Hopwood
Food and Water Bible Ref: Matthew 9-11 & 13-16; Mark 6-8; Luke 9; John 6-7 Each of the following sketches (scenes) can be used to form the basis for a complete act of worship or used as individual scenes on separate occasions. Each scene will require a narrator to read the link…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 13 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 13 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 13 2 Samuel 11.26-12.13a Ephesians 4.1-16 John 6.24-35 Hands up those who took one look at this week’s Old Testament lesson and gave it a wide berth. All right; now hands up those who seized upon it as a chance to preach on How Not To Commit Immorality. Full marks to the l…
Meditation/poem/prayer: Please, God
Meditation/poem/prayer: Please, God
by Marjorie Dobson
Meditation/poem/prayer: Please, God … When I’ve messed things up again, when I’ve made one too many mistakes, when I’ve felt thoroughly ashamed of my behaviour, when my life feels dirty and my heart is heavy with regrets and I can’t see the way out of the troubles I’ve caused – w…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 13 Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 13 Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 13 John 6: 24-35 Gaze on Jesus by the campfire burning on the beach; or in the upper room; or on the shore with the five thousand. What is that in his hands? Almost always, it is bread. Bread broken and the crumbs at his feet which the birds will swoop for as he moves away…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 13 Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 13 Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Proper 13 Exodus 16. 2-4, 9-15 Ephesians 4. 1-16 John 6: 24-35 This is a very revealing set of questions and answers between Jesus and the people following him. It tells us a lot about what the people thought they were looking for in Jesus, and gives us one of Jesus’s own central…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Live Up to Your Calling
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Live Up to Your Calling
by SPCK - N T Wright
Live Up to Your Calling Ephesians 4.1-10 If you buy a new car, what’s the first thing you do? Do you sit down for an hour and read through the manual, to make sure you know every little detail about it before you take to the road? Or do you at once get behind the wheel and go for…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Grown-Up Christianity
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Grown-Up Christianity
by SPCK - N T Wright
Grown-Up Christianity Ephesians 4.11-16 ‘Don’t be a baby.’ The words were meant to hurt, and they did. But they had the desired effect. The schoolboy had been whimpering about somebody being mean to him. He was hoping that the teacher would come to his rescue. But he suddenly rea…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Bread from Heaven
John for Everyone Part 1 - Bread from Heaven
by SPCK - N T Wright
Bread From Heaven John 6.26-35 The historian was in a hurry to finish his Ph.D. There was one chapter to go, which concerned the painting that had been so important during his period, and the influence the artists had had on the wider thought and culture of the time. He went hast…
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Rich Fool
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Rich Fool
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Rich Fool Luke 12.13-34 The modern Western world is built on anxiety. You see it on the faces of people hurrying to work. You see it even more as they travel home, tired but without having solved life’s problems. The faces are weary, puzzled, living with the un…
Poem/Reflection: Righteous anger
Poem/Reflection: Righteous anger
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem/Reflection: Righteous anger It’s easy to explode with indignant anger when it appears that someone else is in the wrong. How could they possibly do that? It’s totally evil. They ought to be locked up. It’s disgraceful! I wish I could get my hands on them. I’d soon show them …
Hymn: We are the ones! The mirror gives the proof
Hymn: We are the ones! The mirror gives the proof
by Andrew Pratt
We are the ones! The mirror gives the proof, each one of us has need to face the truth. To say we do not sin obscures the fact, and now in honest prayer we need to act. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: QUEDLINBURG; TRISAGION Metre: 10.10.10.10 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 11/7/2012 …
Hymn: How could God love against the grain
Hymn: How could God love against the grain
by Andrew Pratt
How could God love against the grain, to offer love we don't deserve; to meet us when we lose our way, to hold us when we twist, or swerve? This gracious, fulsome, steadfast love is more than we can comprehend, it offers hope when all seems lost, resists, survives beyond life's e…
Reflection: One body
Reflection: One body
by Marjorie Dobson
Reflection: One body Don’t know much about cars – not being a driver. Don’t know much about engines – not being a mechanic. Don’t know how to fill up a petrol tank - not owning a vehicle. Don’t know about tyre treads, or changing wheels – never having dealt with them. Only know a…
Hymn: Tossed and blown, events can floor us
Hymn: Tossed and blown, events can floor us
by Andrew Pratt
Tossed and blown, events can floor us, spin the world, we lose our grip; circumstances undermine us, yet again we turn and trip. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: WRAYSBURY Metre: 8.7.8.7 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 17/7/2012 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.co.uk. …
Poem: Bread
Poem: Bread
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem: Bread They’d eaten bread in the desert, just like their ancestors. It had provided food for them in their need, as it had done so many years before. So is that all they wanted? Not entirely. No. History repeated itself. Bread and fishes were not enough to satisfy them., jus…
Hymn: Always looking for a sign
Hymn: Always looking for a sign
by Andrew Pratt
Always looking for a sign, never seeing what is there, people searching for some proof fixing Jesus with a stare. Standing lost and so bemused, hoping for some broken bread, Jesus meets their ignorance, people needing to be fed. Verses 3-4 follow Tune: BATTISHILL Metre: 7.7.7.7 …
Hebrews for Everyone - Faith and the Future: Moses and the Exodus
Hebrews for Everyone - Faith and the Future: Moses and the Exodus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Faith and the Future: Moses and the Exodus Hebrews 11.23-32 ‘The young man came from a wealthy family. His father was a well-respected figure in the community. Everyone expected the son to follow him in his profession and, like him, attain wealth and noble standing. But the young…
LWPT Meditations - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B
LWPT Meditations - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B
by Susan Thorne
Meditation- 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B 2nd Samuel 11: 26-12: 13 Psalm 51: 1-12 Ephesians 4: 1-16 John 6: 24-35 We can usually see what is wrong with other people. David saw immediately the injustice committed by the rich man in the story that Nathan related. What he did…
Exodus and Leviticus - Surviving in the Wilderness
Exodus and Leviticus - Surviving in the Wilderness
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Surviving in the Wilderness EXODUS 15: 22- 17: 7 A former colleague of mine used sometimes to say of a seminary student, “He [I don’t remember it ever being a she] needs to learn to love the church.” The comment would be aroused by the student’s reaction to some piece of apparent…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - But the Thing David Had Done Was Displeasing in Yahweh's Eyes
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - But the Thing David Had Done Was Displeasing in Yahweh's Eyes
by SPCK - John Goldingay
But the Thing David Had Done Was Displeasing in Yahweh’s Eyes 2 Samuel 11: 1- 27 There is a news item today about a state governor who had to resign because of a sex scandal a couple of years ago but is now trying to rehabilitate himself in the eye of the public. As governor, one…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Man Who Has Learned How To Be A Prophet
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Man Who Has Learned How To Be A Prophet
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Man Who Has Learned How to Be a Prophet 2 Samuel 12: 1- 15a A pastor once came to talk to me because he had had an affair. He had actually “got away with it.” He thinks his wife never realized, but he knew he had behaved in a way that was both wrong and stupid, and he knew he…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - God Struggles
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - God Struggles
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God Struggles Genesis 32:24b-33:17 Every Sunday on the way to church we drive past a particular bus shelter with a huge advertising placard, and for some while this placard proclaimed, “You can never have enough money.” I can’t remember what it was advertising (which shows that a…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Central Argument
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Central Argument
by SPCK - N T Wright
Part 1: PAUL AND HIS WORLD Chapter One RETURN OF THE RUNAWAY? 1. A World of Difference (iv) The Central Argument These discussions about the actual situation and the request Paul made have tended, as I said, to make exegetes overlook the point which is just as important in its wa…
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - The Story Retold :Conclusions
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - The Story Retold :Conclusions
by SPCK - N T Wright
Part 1: PAUL AND HIS WORLD PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD Chapter TWO LIKE BIRDS HOVERING OVERHEAD: THE FAITHFULNESS OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL (ii) The Continuous Story (e) The Story Retold: Conclusions This brief summary of multiple retellings of Israel’s story as a whole or in par…
Job for Everyone - Insight Lies in Submission to the Lord
Job for Everyone - Insight Lies in Submission to the Lord
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Insight Lies in Submission to the Lord Job 28: 1-28 In two weeks I have to preach at the seminary’s baccalaureate service (a kind of commissioning service, I could call it for U.K. readers). Each year as I have listened appreciatively to the baccalaureate sermon, I have wondered …
The Living God - Forebears of faith: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
The Living God - Forebears of faith: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Which God Are We Talking About? 1 Forebears of faith: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Everyone loves exploring their family history. Sometimes it’s just because we enjoy finding out things about the past. I was fascinated to discover that a relative had been one of the last people to ge…
Rhythms of remembering - Lent - Thursday Morning Prayer
Rhythms of remembering - Lent - Thursday Morning Prayer
by SPCK - Hannah Ward & Jennifer Wild
LENT - Thursday Morning Prayer Blessed are you, O God: you stoop to wash our feet. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If one offered for love all the wealth of one’s house it would be utterly scorned...
Rhythms of remembering - Lent - Tuesday Evening Prayer
Rhythms of remembering - Lent - Tuesday Evening Prayer
by SPCK - Hannah Ward & Jennifer Wild
LENT - Tuesday Evening Prayer Blessed are you, O God: you keep renewing the earth. Blessed Creator, Father and Mother of all that is made, Fashioner of planet Earth, where Lent is springtime, seed-time, new life emerging,...
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Subtle Link between God’s Grace and People’s Response
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Subtle Link between God’s Grace and People’s Response
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Subtle Link between God’s Grace and People’s Response Psalm 78: 1-37 Yesterday in church the Old Testament reading was the giving of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, and we followed that reading with some congregational discussion of which of these commands seem most import…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - People Who Are Standing Need to Watch Lest They Fall
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - People Who Are Standing Need to Watch Lest They Fall
by SPCK - John Goldingay
People Who Are Standing Need to Watch Lest They Fall Psalm 78: 38-72 A few months ago one of the members of our church, a lively lady in her nineties who always had something to contribute, suddenly became less consistent in coming to church, and then didn’t appear for two or thr…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - What about the authors?
Four Gospels, One Jesus - What about the authors?
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
What about the authors? Redaction and composition I cannot always read my favourite newspaper at coffee-time in our staff common room, because someone else has bagged it already! Never mind, there are others around, and reading various papers reveals their different styles and vi…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Where is he who is born King of the Jews?
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Where is he who is born King of the Jews?
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Where is he who is born King of the Jews? Infancy narratives, Matthew 1—2 Mark begins with ‘the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ’, but Matthew picks another key word – genesis: ‘the book of the generation (biblos geneseos) of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham’ (1.…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The way of an eagle in the sky
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The way of an eagle in the sky
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
‘The way of an eagle in the sky’ Following John’s story, style and structure The ‘way of an eagle in the sky’ may be hard to understand (Prov. 30.19) but many readers have felt similarly as they have sought to follow the twists and turns, heights and depths of this most subtle ev…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Talons bared for conflict
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Talons bared for conflict
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Talons bared for conflict The Book of Signs and “the Jews”, John 2—12 In Tolkien’s stories, Numenor is an Atlantis-like land blessed by Iluvatar (God) which overreaches itself and turns to evil. Its doom is presaged first by eagle-shaped clouds and then by eagles themselves; few …
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book III
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book III
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Book III (Pss. 73-89) Book III opens with “A Psalm of Asaph” (Ps. 73). Like the sons of Korah, Asaph was, according to the book of Chronicles, a temple singer during the reigns of David and Solomon. Fifteen of the seventeen psalms in Book III are attributed to Asaph and the sons …
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book II
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book II
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Book II (Psalms 42-72) Book II of the Psalter, like Book I, contains many lament psalms. But unlike Book I, not all of the psalms are attributed to David. The Korahites, who were, according to the book of Chronicles, temple singers during the reigns of David and Solomon, mix thei…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Status, Power, and Children: The Story of Hannah
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Status, Power, and Children: The Story of Hannah
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Status, Power, and Children: The Story of Hannah (1 Samuel 1-2) The books of Samuel begin with the story of the birth of a son to a woman previously childless. According to the narrative, Hannah, the favored wife of Elkanah, has no children, because YHWH has “closed her womb.” Ha…
John The People's Commentary - More Questions and Answers
John The People's Commentary - More Questions and Answers
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
More Questions and Answers We have seen how John likes to move from signs into a dialogue between Jesus and others which ends with a discourse. So here, we start with three questions from the crowd, each answered by Jesus, which pick up the signs and begin to explore the themes t…
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 13 - Year B
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 13 - Year B
by SPCK - David Adam
Proper 13 Traces of Glory Year B O Lord our God, you give us the true bread that comes down from heaven, even your son Jesus Christ our Lord; grant that as they receive him into your life we may be filled with the fullness of his love and abide in him as he abides in us; through …
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 13 - Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 13 - Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 13 Year B Twelve months of Sundays Hands up those who took one look at this week’s Old Testament lesson and gave it a wide berth. All right; now hands up those who seized upon it as a chance to preach on How Not To Commit Immorality. Full marks to the lectionary for includ…
52 Reflections on Faith - Glorious Food: The Eucharist
52 Reflections on Faith - Glorious Food: The Eucharist
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Glorious food: The Eucharist Whenever I think of food, I think of the well-known song from the musical Oliver: ‘Food, glorious food’. It conjures up images of exotic banquets and unlimited eating. I also think of the saying ‘You are what you eat’. It’s true that whatever we put i…
52 Reflections on Faith - Corpus Christi: Sanctifying Matter
52 Reflections on Faith - Corpus Christi: Sanctifying Matter
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Corpus Christi: Sanctifying matter A lot of people are familiar with the name of the French Jesuit scientist-priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955), but few know in any detail what he had to say. Teilhard, as he is often known, was born in the Auvergne region of France and…
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 14 - Year B
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 14 - Year B
by SPCK - David Adam
Proper 14 Lord Jesus, true bread from heaven, giving life and refreshment to the world, fill our lives with your goodness, fill your church with your presence, that we may live and work to your praise and glory, who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, are one God, now and forev…
Fresh Thoughts for Sunday - Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 75 02/08/15
Fresh Thoughts for Sunday - Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 75 02/08/15
by Twelvebaskets Ltd
A selection of commentary, reflection and prayer ideas from various Christian authors and the full bible texts from the NRSV for this week's lectionary. NOW INCLUDING SERIALISED BOOKS FROM SPCK AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM BRF. Check below for details. Subscribe to Fresh Thoughts For S…
Times and Seasons - Full Service - Proper 13 (18) - Year B
Times and Seasons - Full Service - Proper 13 (18) - Year B
by Andrew Pratt and Marjorie Dobson
Ninth after Trinity Proper 13 (18) - Year B **Service contains Hymn: Be still, for the presence of the Lord or Here in the silence of this place Prayer: God who listens Reading: Psalm 51:1-12 Meditation/poem/prayer: Please, God … Hymn: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound or How co…
journeying with John - 3 Lent
journeying with John - 3 Lent
by SPCK - Woodward, Gooder and Pryce
3 Lent JOURNEYING WITH JOHN John’s Gospel differs from the other three Gospels in many ways, but in terms of style one of the most striking differences is the inclusion of what scholars call ‘discourses’, which are lengthy or formal discussions of a subject…
Fresh Thoughts For Sunday - Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 231
Fresh Thoughts For Sunday - Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 231
by Twelvebaskets Ltd
A selection of commentary, reflection and prayer ideas from various Christian authors and the full bible texts from the NRSV for this week's lectionary. NOW INCLUDING SERIALISED BOOKS FROM SPCK AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM BRF. Check below for details. Subscribe to Fresh Thoughts For S…
Vine Video - Putting Ourselves in the Story - Becki Stennett - The Vine Video - 1st August 2021
Vine Video - Putting Ourselves in the Story - Becki Stennett - The Vine Video - 1st August 2021
by Twelvebaskets Ltd
Putting Ourselves in the Story - Becki Stennett The Vine Video - 1st August 2021 This spoken word piece helps us engage with the Old Testament reading for today, and helps us reflect more generally about our engagement with scripture. Download the video to watch the whole piece a…
Prayer and action
Prayer and action
by Colin Smith
This short 1190 words reflection/sermon examines both the Exodus story and the feeding of the 5000. The importance of taking action in difficult circumstances is highlighted. The role of prayer and the wisdom of turning to Jesus himself or to a prophet is also considered.
The Bread of life (Feeding of the 5000)(sketch)
The Bread of life (Feeding of the 5000)(sketch)
by Colin Smith
This short sketch relates, in dramatic form, the events occurring when Jesus fed the 5000. Using 5 characters, a narrator and the “crowd” it is an imaginative dialogue which closely follows the Biblical account. It is a useful addition to, or replacement of the reading to the pas…
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LWPT Meditations - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B
by Susan Thorne
Meditation- 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B 2nd Samuel 11: 26-12: 13 Psalm 51: 1-12 Ephesians 4: 1-16 John 6: 24-35 We can usually see what is wrong with other people. David saw immediately the injustice committed by the rich man in the story that Nathan related. What he did…
50 Praise, Pray and Play Sessions - Jesus the teacher (2)
50 Praise, Pray and Play Sessions - Jesus the teacher (2)
by BRF - Rona Orme
Jesus taught with authority. He taught that his words and instructions are the correct way to live - looking after people in need, not being greedy, not judging others, and asking God for the things we need. This session highlights the importance of basing our lives on his teachi…
A Bit Like Jesus - Practise what you preach
A Bit Like Jesus - Practise what you preach
by SPCK - Robin Gill
WEEK 2 Hypocrisy Practise what you preach Those who regularly deliver sermons in church should live in fear of this proverb. It might have been designed for us. Do we really live up to what we preach? A common factor in many of the uses of the word ‘hypocrite’ in the first thre…
Poem/Reflection: What about Paul?
Poem/Reflection: What about Paul?
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem/Reflection: What about Paul? You could say that Paul had a great deal of get-up-and-go. You could also say that he very quickly got-up-and-went. No doubt about it, he had plenty of energy. No doubt about it, he also had plenty of enemies. He also had enough sense to set out …
Imagining the Lectionary: There was a rich man (Proper 21C / Pentecost 19C)
Imagining the Lectionary: There was a rich man (Proper 21C / Pentecost 19C)
by David Perry
Imagining the Lectionary: There was a rich man (Proper 21Yr C / Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost Yr C) Reflection accompanying images “There was a rich man - Clock sculpture Manchester peoples history museum 2 - Clock sculpture Manchester peoples history museum 3 - Enough food f…
Reflection: Samaritan believers
Reflection: Samaritan believers
by Marjorie Dobson
Reflection: Samaritan believers …? It must have been a shock, hearing that Samaritans had accepted the word of God. They were the ancient enemies. Their territory was treated as a foreign land. The dispute between their two factions had been bitter and long-standing. There was do…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - But the Thing David Had Done Was Displeasing in Yahweh's Eyes
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - But the Thing David Had Done Was Displeasing in Yahweh's Eyes
by SPCK - John Goldingay
But the Thing David Had Done Was Displeasing in Yahweh’s Eyes 2 Samuel 11: 1- 27 There is a news item today about a state governor who had to resign because of a sex scandal a couple of years ago but is now trying to rehabilitate himself in the eye of the public. As governor, one…
Cotswold sheep ewe with young lamb suckling Rare Breed Trust Cot
Cotswold sheep ewe with young lamb suckling Rare Breed Trust Cot
by Mark Boulton
Cotswold sheep ewe with young lamb suckling Rare Breed Trust Cotswold Farm Park Temple Guiting near Stow on the Wold UK. Renowned for both wool and meat this breed dominated the Cotswold Hills during the peak days of the wool trade.
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 12 - Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 12 - Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 12 Year B Think of the Lord’s Prayer while reading Ephesians 3. Paul prays to the Father, from whom all fatherhood ‘in heaven and on earth’ is named, that he will give us . . . all things in Christ, because to him belong the power and the glory for ever, Amen. Perhaps this…
LWPT Meditations - Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
LWPT Meditations - Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr C Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 1st Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31 Opinion is divided regarding the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Is it an account of heaven and hell? Or is it a lesson about wealth and poverty? Its context within Luke’s gospe…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Little Thing Can Have Terrible Consequences and Foreshadow Tragedy
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Little Thing Can Have Terrible Consequences and Foreshadow Tragedy
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Little Things Can Have Terrible Consequences and Foreshadow Tragedy 2 Samuel 6: 1- 23 I write this during Holy Week. In my Bible study group this week someone was expressing his unease with the way we speak of God’s sending his Son to be crucified. Is God some sort of masochist? …
Jeremiah for everyone - More a Summons than a Vocation
Jeremiah for everyone - More a Summons than a Vocation
by SPCK - John Goldingay
More a Summons than a Vocation Last week I took part in a conference on God, the church, and disability. One participant was a woman who has been ordained a priest, but she has a speech impediment that makes it hard to understand what she says, and she has had difficulty finding …
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 20 Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 20 Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 20 Mark 9: 30-37 Gaze on the disciples, a ragged band trudging along and always on the move. So often they are confused by their leader, yet always in awe of him and often afraid to ask, afraid to look the fool. Now he’s made that frightening prediction about ending on a v…
Hymn: How could God love against the grain
Hymn: How could God love against the grain
by Andrew Pratt
How could God love against the grain, to offer love we don't deserve; to meet us when we lose our way, to hold us when we twist, or swerve? This gracious, fulsome, steadfast love is more than we can comprehend, it offers hope when all seems lost, resists, survives beyond life's e…
Hymn: The origin of evil
Hymn: The origin of evil
by Andrew Pratt
THIS HYMN PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK OF JOB AND COULD BE NOTED ON EACH SUNDAY THROUGH OCTOBER ON WHICH THE BOOK OF JOB PROVIDES A KEY READING. The origin of evil that fractures human life, disease and common hatred and endless human strife: the question of the ages, that pe…
Reflection on Psalm 124
Reflection on Psalm 124
by Marjorie Dobson
Reflection on Psalm 124 One small boy – nine years old, perhaps – stood proudly to say the psalm he’d learned by heart and proclaimed those words, ‘If it had not been the Lord who was on our side when our enemies attacked us, then we would have been swallowed alive …’ And all tho…
Jesus died for our sins
Jesus died for our sins
by Don Stott
Dark trees with "Jesus died for our sins" TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image proportionally) Insert as Picture in the normal way. If needed fill th…
Jesus suffered
Jesus suffered
by Don Stott
TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- • Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image proportionally) • Insert as Picture in the normal way. • If needed fill the slide area by placing the image in…
Reflection/meditation: Agreement
Reflection/meditation: Agreement
by Marjorie Dobson
Reflection/meditation: Agreement It’s all about personal responsibility, isn’t it? It’s all about not being able to pass the blame back to a past generation, or excuse personal behaviour by claiming that it’s all in the genetic structure. At one time everyone relied totally on Go…
Forgive me
Forgive me
by Anna Blanch Rabe
TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- • Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image proportionally) • Insert as Picture in the normal way. • If needed fill the slide area by placing the image in…
Singing Praises
Singing Praises
by Doug Burke
“How good it is to sing praises to our God.” Psalm 147:v1 TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- • Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image proportionally) • Insert as Picture in the normal wa…
Psalm 51:8
Psalm 51:8
by BigBible
TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- • Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image proportionally) • Insert as Picture in the normal way. • If needed fill the slide area by placing the image in…
Love enters in our joy and gladness
Love enters in our joy and gladness
by Andrew Pratt
Love enters in our joy and gladness, love celebrates each win, each goal, love sits with us in deepest sadness, love lives with us and makes us whole. Love holds us in our deepest sorrow, love feels the hurt beneath a sigh, loves walks with us toward tomorrow, loves lives with us…
Times and Seasons - Prayer: Human instincts
Times and Seasons - Prayer: Human instincts
by Marjorie Dobson
Romans 12: 9-21 Prayer: Human instincts Vengeance is a natural reaction and most children have the instinct from an early age. We have to be taught to share, to forgive, to live in peace with one another and to resist our automatic reaction to get our own back. So we pray: When o…
Why now?
Why now?
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem: Why now? Proper 17 Year A Romans 12: 9-21 Vengeance is a natural reaction and most children have the instinct from an early age. We have to be taught to share, to forgive, to live in peace with one another and to resist our automatic reaction to get our own back. So we pray…
Human instincts
Human instincts
by Marjorie Dobson
Prayer: Human instincts Proper 17 Year A Romans 12: 9-21 Vengeance is a natural reaction and most children have the instinct from an early age. We have to be taught to share, to forgive, to live in peace with one another and to resist our automatic reaction to get our own back. S…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Fourth Sunday of Lent Numbers 21.4–9 Ephesians 2.1–10 John 3.14–21 The serpent slithers its way through myth and legend, poetry and art. Too potent a symbol to be ignored, some cultures have worshipped it, while others have feared and loathed it. Freud said predictable things…
A Tale from a Riverbank
A Tale from a Riverbank
by Roger Price
This is one of a number of monologues that I have written for use in worship or some other reflective purpose. This one deals with the events of baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan by John from the point of view of a bystander waiting his turn to be baptised . A Tale From a Rive…
Reflection/Poem: Thankful for the Law
Reflection/Poem: Thankful for the Law
by Marjorie Dobson
Reflection/Poem: Thankful for the Law For those of us who live in settled lands, have homes and families and reasonable stability, make money for our basic needs although it never seems enough, embrace democracy whilst grumbling against the government and are thankful that we do …
John The People's Commentary - Prophet or Messiah?
John The People's Commentary - Prophet or Messiah?
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
Prophet or Messiah? As the story unfolds, Jesus has gently led the woman to a greater understanding of who he is, from her initial ignorance (4:9) to calling him ‘sir’ (4:11, 15); as he confronted her with the facts of her life, she began to wonder if he might be greater than Jac…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 15 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 15 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 15 1 Kings 2.10-12; 3.3-14 Ephesians 5.15-20 John 6.51-58 A glance at the bits of 1 Kings 1—3 which are not read in this sequence will explain why Solomon so desperately needed wisdom. His father’s victories, though remarkable, could not be relied on for long-term security…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 21 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 21 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 21 Esther 7.1-6, 9-10 James 5.13-20 Mark 9.38-50 The ancient world was full of stories in which the threatened hero or heroine is rescued at last, and the people who had almost overcome them are condemned instead. David kills Goliath. Homer’s heroes – some of them, anyway …
The Act of Prayer Year C - First Sunday of Christmas - Year C
The Act of Prayer Year C - First Sunday of Christmas - Year C
by BRF - John Birch
The First Sunday of Christmas Year C Opening prayer A lot has happened in the last week. Some of us have spent time travelling to visit family and old friends. Gifts and greetings have been exchanged; carols have been sung to remind us of the birth of the Christ-child. Now a sens…
Fresh Thoughts for Sunday - Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 78 23/08/15