Lectionary 07/09/2025
- Proper 18 /Ordinary 23 - Year C
Lectionary Readings
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Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Greetings
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Greetings
by SPCK - N T Wright
Greetings Philemon 1.1-7 Jonathan knew it was going to be a difficult meeting. He had woken up very early that morning and gone through it again and again in his mind. He was quite clear about what needed to be done, but he was equally clear that the others wouldn’t see it like t…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Paul's Appeal
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Paul's Appeal
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul’s Appeal Philemon 1.8-14 There was once a leading bishop in the Church of England who took a strong line on several of the major issues facing the church and the society of his day. Many times he went to see the Archbishop of Canterbury to put pressure on him to steer the ch…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Paul's Perspective
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Paul's Perspective
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul’s Perspective Philemon 1.15-25 ‘I have sometimes been told’, said my friend, ‘that God is an artist, and that we are his paintings.’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘and actually I think Paul says something like that, in Ephesians 2.10: “We are his handiwork.”’ ‘Well,’ my friend replied, ‘th…
Lectionary Reflection Year C - Proper 18 Year C
Lectionary Reflection Year C - Proper 18 Year C
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Proper 18 Deuteronomy 30.15–20 Philemon 1–21 Luke 14.25–33 Which of your letters would you like preserved for a couple of millennia? Philemon is one of the most ‘domestic’ of the documents of the New Testament, and it is impossible not to read it like an unfinished novel. What ha…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 18 Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 18 Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 18 Jeremiah 18.1–11 Philemon 1–21 Luke 14.25–33 Luke 14 has more than its fair share of ‘hard sayings’. Hate your family; give up your possessions. A nice clear message for the end of the summer holidays. And, to back it up, a solemn warning: such carrying the cross requ…
Meditation - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
Meditation - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
by David Middleton
Meditation – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr C More than life itself? Luke 14: 25-33 Hello Jesus: I’m sorry for coming to you so late at night, but it’s the only time I seem to be able to talk to you. I was in that great crowd today, following you around. I don’t suppose you noti…
Exodus and Leviticus - One Kind of Fear Turns to Another
Exodus and Leviticus - One Kind of Fear Turns to Another
by SPCK - John Goldingay
One Kind of Fear Turns to Another EXODUS 13: 17- 14: 31 This weekend our rector is on a discernment retreat, and next weekend he is away preaching at a church in another city. I was a bit slow on the uptake, and someone else had to whisper to me that this is code for his wonderin…
LWPT Meditations - Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
LWPT Meditations - Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr C Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 Philemon 1-21 Luke 14:25-33 One does not think of the apostle Paul as being very personally involved with those he taught or of having much of a sense of humour, but both are demonstrated in his letter to Philemo…
prayer: God, our Maker
prayer: God, our Maker
by Marjorie Dobson
Responsive prayer: God, our Maker God, our maker, when our lives are marred by the scars of disobedience and self-will; God, take us and remake us. When we are broken by circumstance or sorrow, ill-treatment or rejection: God, take us and remake us. Continues... ©Marjorie Dobson
Crazy how the world can splinter
Crazy how the world can splinter
by Andrew Pratt
Crazy how the world can splinter, everything comes crashing down, lives are broken, hopes are shattered, life is like a tarnished crown. Verses 2-3 follows Tune: DIJON; ALL FOR JESUS Metre:8.7.8.7 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 14/8/2013 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, w…
What value can you place on love
What value can you place on love
by Andrew Pratt
What value can you place on love, how can you weigh attention that watches every step you take beyond this world's convention? Verses 2-3 follows Tune: DOMINUS REGIT ME Metre: 8.7.8.7 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 16/8/2013 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.co…
Drama/Monologue: Philemon
Drama/Monologue: Philemon
by Marjorie Dobson
Drama/Monologue: Philemon I was puzzled when the letter arrived from Paul and astounded when I knew who had brought it. I wasn’t quite sure what to do first – read the letter, or throw the runaway slave in jail. In the end I decided I’d let myself calm down a bit by reading the l…
We read of cultures from the past
We read of cultures from the past
by Andrew Pratt
We read of cultures from the past where slaves were normal, commonplace. Today we look with different eyes, to keep a slave would bring disgrace. Yet people still are caught and sold, removed from family and friends, then bought, mistreated and abused. For them life’s horror neve…
Poem - We read of cultures from the past
Poem - We read of cultures from the past
by Andrew Pratt
We read of cultures from the past where slaves were normal, commonplace. Today we look with different eyes, to keep a slave would bring disgrace. Yet people still are caught and sold, removed from family and friends, then bought, mistreated and abused. For them life’s horror neve…
Poem: The cost of living
Poem: The cost of living
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem: The cost of living The cost of living for those with disposable income rises daily and involves minor adjustments to lifestyle and considerable adjustments to the location of the money that is intended for keeping. The cost of living for those with moderate income rises dai…
Monologue: A teeny, weeny bit silly…
Monologue: A teeny, weeny bit silly…
by Andrew Pratt
Monologue: A teeny, weeny bit silly… I have to admit that I felt just a teeny, weeny bit silly. It was to be a three storey house. It was architect planned. Four bedrooms, all en suite...jacuzzis You should have seen the design for the kitchen...every modern appliance. I like tec…
Gazing on the Gospels Year C - Proper 18 Year C
Gazing on the Gospels Year C - Proper 18 Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 18 Luke 14: 25-33 Gaze on a woman baking a fruit cake for a celebration. The ingredients take up half a page in the recipe book. She checks them off one by one – butter, sugar, flour, raisins, sultanas, cherries . . . Smell the fruit, and the pungent spices! But she has no…
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - The Story Retold: Second-Temple Literature
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - The Story Retold: Second-Temple Literature
by SPCK - N T Wright
Chapter TWO LIKE BIRDS HOVERING OVERHEAD: THE FAITHFULNESS OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL (ii) The Continuous Story (c) The Story Retold: Second-Temple Literature Similar retellings of the story of Israel, from various angles depending on the particular interest, are found across different…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Story and Scripture
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Story and Scripture
by SPCK - N T Wright
Chapter TWO LIKE BIRDS HOVERING OVERHEAD: THE FAITHFULNESS OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL (v) Story and Scripture All that we have said so far leads back to a point of enormous importance for our reading of Paul the apostle. The primary way in which scripture itself was seen was not simply…
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - The Theology of a Pharisee
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - The Theology of a Pharisee
by SPCK - N T Wright
Chapter TWO LIKE BIRDS HOVERING OVERHEAD: THE FAITHFULNESS OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL The Theology of a Pharisee It is not difficult to draw out from what has already been said the main lines of Pharisaic theology, bringing into brief and I hope sharp focus the larger and longer treatm…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Openness
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Openness
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Openness Psalm 139 My wife carries in her purse a photograph of her prospective grandchild, an image from her daughter’s sonogram. It is extraordinary to have this vivid reminder of the way a baby is steadily developing in the womb. When the prospective mother is sick, as she …
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 - The Teacher's suffering
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The Teacher's suffering
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The Teacher’s suffering The Passion, Matthew 26—27 Matthew includes nearly every verse of Mark’s Passion in the same order, except little details about the young man (Mk. 4.51–52), and Simon of Cyrene’s sons (Mk. 15.21b). Only about 26 verses are unique to Matthew (26.1–2, 25, 52…
Enabling Church: inclusion of disabled people - Author's introduction
Enabling Church: inclusion of disabled people - Author's introduction
by SPCK - Gordon Temple and Lin Ball
Author’s Introduction: Living interdependently The life experience of those in the African bush is so different from that of those in Europe, as I discovered on a trip to Malawi and Uganda. I felt privileged to spend time with some of the poorest people on the planet: blind peopl…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book I (Pss. 1-41)
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book I (Pss. 1-41)
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Book I (Pss. 1-41) Book I opens, in Psalm 1, with words encouraging faithful meditation upon the Torah. The book continues in Psalm 2 with words of warning to the nations and their rulers to recognize the God of Israel as king over all. The psalms are framed (1:1 and 2:11) with t…
Traces of Glory Year B - The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Sunday after Ascension Day) - Year B
Traces of Glory Year B - The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Sunday after Ascension Day) - Year B
by SPCK - David Adam
The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Sunday after Ascension Day) Holy Spirit of God, We watch for you, we wait for you, We look for you, we long for you. Come Holy Spirit, renew us, refresh us, restore us, That we may live and work to your glory;…
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 4 - Year B
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 4 - Year B
by SPCK - David Adam
Proper 4 God of light and power and glory, we rejoice in your light, We live by your power, we look for your glory. Open our eyes to behold your presence, That we may give ourselves to you; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One god …
The Women's Bible Commentary - Woman Wisdom
The Women's Bible Commentary - Woman Wisdom
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Woman Wisdom The beginning of the second part of the book is signalled by a shift from second-person exhortation in 1:1–6:21 to first-person-singular speech. The speaker identifies himself first as a mortal and then as a king…
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 20 - Year B
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 20 - Year B
by SPCK - David Adam
Proper 20 Holy Father, give us the spirit of contentment and peace, that we may enjoy who we are and what we have. Help us not only to appreciate what you have given us, but to be gracious and generous to others. May the world’s goods be neither hoarded nor squandered but used fo…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - The Body
The Womens' Bible Commentary - The Body
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Body Presuming arguably that Onesimus was Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, like most ancient slaves, would have been enslaved through military conquest, being born to an enslaved mother, piracy, kidnapping, or infant exposure…
Jeremiah for everyone - Clay in the Potter's Hand
Jeremiah for everyone - Clay in the Potter's Hand
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Clay in the Potter's Hand There’s a neat Christian song that expresses our commitment to being “clay in the potter’s hand.” It’s a suggestive image. It means that we are malleable, open to being formed into what God wants us to be…
Fresh Thoughts For Sunday - Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 132 04/09/16
Fresh Thoughts For Sunday - Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 132 04/09/16
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 18 (23) - Year C
Times and Seasons - Full Service - Proper 18 (23) - Year C
by Andrew Pratt and Marjorie Dobson
Full Service-Proper 18 (23) - Year C Service contains: Hymn: Come to us creative Spirit or O the life of the world is a joy and a treasure or Gentle light of new creation Reading: Jeremiah 18:1-11 Responsive prayer: God, our Maker Hymn: Behold the servant of the Lord or Crazy how…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Construction of a Shared Story
The Women's Bible Commentary - Construction of a Shared Story
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Construction of a Shared Story The first of the Moses speeches, Deuteronomy 1:1–4:43, consists of two sections: a “historical review” (Deut. 1–3) and a sermonic interpretation of the commandment against idolatry…
The Act of Prayer Year B - Second Sunday of Epiphany Year B
The Act of Prayer Year B - Second Sunday of Epiphany Year B
by BRF - John Birch
Second Sunday of Epiphany Year B Opening prayer You speak to us in many ways: in the quiet of our worship, the singing of our hymns, the reading of your word, the fellowship we share. Open our ears and hearts that we might hear your gentle voice and, hearing, respond…
The Fatherhood of God