Lectionary 14/03/2021
- Fourth Sunday of/in Lent - Year B
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HYMN - God, we lose our moral compass Theme: Prodigal son, LENT 4 TUNE: MANNHEIM Also available as Lyrics Only in Word Document - Click Here Extract: God, we lose our moral compass, stagger blindly, miss the mark, wander deep in self-deception, finding life is cold and stark; in …
Intercessions for Years A, B and C Book - Lent 4 – Year B
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by SPCK - Ian Black
Lent 4 – Year B God of our salvation We trust in your promise. Loving Lord Jesus, on the cross you revealed the Father’s heart. As we lift high the cross may we never be ashamed of its message of salvation . . . Taken from Intercessions for Years A, B and C by Ian Black
All Desires Known - Most Holy and Most Humble Collect
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MOST HOLY AND MOST HUMBLE Collect John 1.1–14 Mighty God, most holy and most humble, you have chosen to hear our cry... Christmas Day (ABC); 2 before Lent (B); Lent 4 (B); Christ the King (C) Taken from All Desires Known by Janet Morley Published by SPCK
Good Saviour Jesus‚ mercy show
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TO GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART RETURN (A HYMN FOR THE LENTEN SEASON) Good Saviour Jesus‚ mercy show to your whole church now penitent‚ that we in godliness may grow throughout these forty days of Lent. This living sacrifice we make: your patient love for us discern‚ the cycle of our s…
Monologue/ reflection: Grumbles
Monologue/ reflection: Grumbles
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Monologue/ reflection: Grumbles Some folk are never satisfied. They live in one place for too long and complain that they get treated like slaves and they moan about it. Then someone comes along to rescue them and they moan about the trouble he’s causing. Then he leads them to fr…
Hymn: Sometimes when standing on the brink
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Sometimes when standing on the brink we know that we are wrong and while we have the power to change, we sing a different song. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: BANGOR (Tans’ur) Metre: CM Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 9/2/2012 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.co.uk. …
Poppies and Snowdrops - Blessing: Though your heart is broken
Poppies and Snowdrops - Blessing: Though your heart is broken
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Blessing: Though your heart is broken Though your heart is broken, God will bring healing, when you are ready to receive it. Though deep darkness fills your soul, God will not let the light go out completely. Continues... ©Marjorie Dobson (First published in POPPIES AND SNOWDROPS…
Hymn: Into darkness and disaster
Hymn: Into darkness and disaster
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Into darkness and disaster, swept along by what we’ve done, making choices that determined things we’ve lost and things we’ve won, sometimes we reflect and wonder at the people we’ve become. Sometimes lost, sometimes despairing, feeling there is no way back to the way we wish we’…
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Prayer: Forgiving God, we are your creation
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Prayer: Forgiving God, we are your creation Forgiving God, we are your creation, yet we are also creatures of this world and we know how sometimes that can lead us away from you. So often we are tempted to be selfish and self-centred. So often we excuse ourselves from doing the r…
Hymn: Trust that God who lit the cosmos
Hymn: Trust that God who lit the cosmos
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Trust that God, who lit the cosmos, source and ground of all we are, demonstrated love’s dimension, dying like the evening star, softened, shaded, so diminished, then extinguished, gone from sight, yet the third day rose in glory, bringing hope and shedding light. Verses 2-3 foll…
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
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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…
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Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B
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The Fourth Sunday of Lent John 3.14-21 Gaze on a dark cellar. You have been trapped inside for ages. It is pitch black in there and there is no switch or bulb hanging overhead to light up your prison. You stumble about feeling the walls, desperate to find a door, or some way out …
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Fourth Sunday of Lent Numbers 21.4-9 Ephesians 2.1–10 John 3.14–21 The imagination nourished by the Bible immediately springs into action at the mention of snakes. In Numbers, they may be real rather than metaphorical, but that does not prevent them from carrying heavy symbol…
Imagining the Lectionary: opened up to the light of love (Lent 4B)
Imagining the Lectionary: opened up to the light of love (Lent 4B)
by David Perry
Imagining the Lectionary: opened up to the light of love (Lent 4B) Reflection accompanying image “The inner workings of a pocket watch” The pocket watch in the photograph belonged to my paternal grandfather, Henry. Together with a few of his handtools it is one of the very few po…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Warning Signs on the Wrong Road
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Warning Signs on the Wrong Road
by SPCK - N T Wright
Warning Signs on the Wrong Road Ephesians 2.1-7 Many years ago, I was staying for a few days in Cape Town, South Africa. Among the people I wanted to meet was an elderly man who lived on the edge of the city, in one of the outer suburbs. We arranged by telephone that I should dri…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Grace, not Works
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Grace, not Works
by SPCK - N T Wright
Grace, not Works Ephesians 2.8-10 In the mid-1970s a country vet in a small town in northern England suddenly became world-famous. James Herriot, quite suddenly and in mid-life, wrote books that sold in huge quantities around the world. Herriot (whose real name was Alfred Wight) …
John for Everyone Part 1 - The Snake and the Love of God
John for Everyone Part 1 - The Snake and the Love of God
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Snake and the Love of God John 3.14-21 ‘And mind you watch out for snakes!’ My wife gave me a final warning before I set off into the hills. The footpaths had been closed for several months because of a widespread and infectious animal disease. Many creatures that normally ke…
John for Everyone part 2 - Mary and her Ointment
John for Everyone part 2 - Mary and her Ointment
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mary and her Ointment John 12.1-8 I always hate it when, in a movie or a novel, a social event suddenly becomes tense and fraught. People who write novels and screenplays seem to like them: anger and bitterness bubbling to the surface, family members losing their tempers with eac…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Jesus' Death Reveals God's Love and Guarantees Final Salvation
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Jesus' Death Reveals God's Love and Guarantees Final Salvation
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Death Reveals God’s Love and Guarantees Final Salvation ROMANS 5.6-11 I have heard it said – one hears all sorts of strange things in church – that John’s gospel is all about the love of God, but Paul’s letters are all about law, justice and hard, sharp things like that. W…
LWPT Meditations - Fourth Sunday of Lent - Year B
LWPT Meditations - Fourth Sunday of Lent - Year B
by Susan Thorne
Meditation - 4th Sunday in Lent Year B Numbers 21: 4-9 Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22 Ephesians 2: 1-10 John 3: 14-21 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3 v 16) Those words are probably…
Exodus and Leviticus - My People - Your God
Exodus and Leviticus - My People - Your God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
My People – Your God EXODUS 6: 2- 7: 13 I am discussing their wedding with a young couple in my student Bible-study group. The wedding is a lovely thing to be involved in, and not only because it will happen within sight of the beach but because it brings home to me as a Brit one…
Psalms for Everyone - How Long, How Long, How Long, How Long?
Psalms for Everyone - How Long, How Long, How Long, How Long?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How Long, How Long, How Long, How Long? Psalm 13 About the same time as the story I described in connection with Psalm 12, I had a dream or a vision—I’m not sure what it was. I was pushing Ann in her wheelchair across a bare plain toward the horizon. It was hard, but I had people…
Psalms for Everyone - Answer to Prayer Phase Two
Psalms for Everyone - Answer to Prayer Phase Two
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Answer to Prayer Phase Two Psalm 30 In connection with Psalm 16, I have mentioned how a few months ago I met, fell in love with, and proposed to someone, then discovered I had prostate cancer and arranged to have surgery. We had a very moving prayer time in church, and I knew God…
Praying for Jerusalem, Praying for Grace
Praying for Jerusalem, Praying for Grace
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Praying for Jerusalem, Praying for Grace Psalm 122-123 When people would ask me what I expected to miss about leaving England to move to the United States, I would say that one of the main things was proximity to Israel. From London I could get there in four hours or so, and I us…
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 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…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book V
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book V
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Book V (Psalms 107-150) Book V of the Psalter opens with Psalm 107, a community hymn celebrating God’s graciousness in delivering the community of faith from exile in Babylon. The psalmist says: “Let the redeemed of YHWH say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from…
Traces of Glory Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Lent - Year B
Traces of Glory Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Lent - Year B
by SPCK - David Adam
The Fourth Sunday of Lent Lord, we seek to make our home in you, for in you is our hope, in you is our peace. May we abide in you as you are in us. Grant, O Lord, in turning to you we may find new vision, new strength and new love, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and rei…
Times and Seasons - Full Service - Fourth Sunday in Lent - Year B
Times and Seasons - Full Service - Fourth Sunday in Lent - Year B
by Andrew Pratt and Marjorie Dobson
Fourth Sunday in Lent - Year B Hymn: Awake, awake to love and work or At another new day's dawning Prayer: Ever-present God Hymn: Come, Lord, to our souls come down or Sometimes when standing on the brink Reading: Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 Reading: Numbers 21:4-9 Hymn: Lead us, heaven…
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - GOD SO LOVED the WORLD
JOHN: The people's bible commentary - GOD SO LOVED the WORLD
by BRF - Richard A. Burridge
GOD SO LOVED the WORLD THINGS As we saw before, this passage can be read either as the end of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, or as a separate comment by the evangelist. Who says it, is less important than what it says, for it is one of this gospel’s supreme passages, full of…
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…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Solomon: The Temple-Birther
The Women's Bible Commentary - Solomon: The Temple-Birther
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Solomon: The Temple-Birther The man of peace (1 Chr. 22:9), Solomon, is a peculiar character in Chronicles. Stripped of his role as temple builder, and relegated to being a mere general contractor and decorator, he is also stripped of his women: no catalogue of wives and secondar…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Snakes, and Progress and Another Attitude to War
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - Snakes, and Progress and Another Attitude to War
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Snakes and Progress and Another Attitude to War NUMBERS 21: 4- 35 Yesterday in church I was aware, as I sometimes am, that many people make the sign of the cross at certain points in the service. I was never taught to do that, and I would feel self-conscious about trying to do it…
Fresh Thoughts For Sunday - Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 210
Fresh Thoughts For Sunday - Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 210
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…
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B - Saturday: Week 3 in Lent Year B
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B - Saturday: Week 3 in Lent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B WEEK 3:SATURDAY... ...I sat for two hours with a young man who could not believe in God’s love. When I say ‘could not’, that is quite literally how it seemed. He could not believe in God’s love in much the same way that he was physically incapable of…
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B - Sunday: Week 4 in Lent Year B
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B - Sunday: Week 4 in Lent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B WEEK 4 SUNDAY... ...Please read the whole Psalm. I know: it’s Sunday, you’re busy, nine verses is easier than forty-three. But please read it anyway. We live in an age of snippets: the British radio station Classic FM has got big, these last ten year…
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…
Be Ready and Prepared for the Son of Man
Be Ready and Prepared for the Son of Man
by Dave Hopwood
Seeing and Believing Bible Ref: Luke 10-13; John 9 & 10 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 linking text as well as t…
Jesus is Tempted in the Wilderness
Jesus is Tempted in the Wilderness
by Dave Hopwood
Early Days Bible Ref: Matthew 3 & 4; Mark 1; Luke 2-4; John 1-4 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 linking tex…
Jesus Sends Out Seventy Two Followers
Jesus Sends Out Seventy Two Followers
by Dave Hopwood
Seeing and Believing Bible Ref: Luke 10-13; John 9 & 10 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 linking text as well as t…
Jesus Visits the Temple as a Boy
Jesus Visits the Temple as a Boy
by Dave Hopwood
Early Days Bible Ref: Matthew 3 & 4; Mark 1; Luke 2-4; John 1-4 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 linking t…
John the Baptist Begins His Ministry
John the Baptist Begins His Ministry
by Dave Hopwood
Early Days Bible Ref: Matthew 3 & 4; Mark 1; Luke 2-4; John 1-4 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 linking tex…
Nicodemus
Nicodemus
by Dave Hopwood
Early Days Bible Ref: Matthew 3 & 4; Mark 1; Luke 2-4; John 1-4 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 linking tex…
The Good Shepherd
The Good Shepherd
by Dave Hopwood
Seeing and Believing Bible Ref: Luke 10-13; John 9 & 10 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 linking text as well as t…
The Samaritan Woman at the Well
The Samaritan Woman at the Well
by Dave Hopwood
Early Days Bible Ref: Matthew 3 & 4; Mark 1; Luke 2-4; John 1-4 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 linking tex…
Water into Wine
Water into Wine
by Dave Hopwood
Early Days Bible Ref: Matthew 3 & 4; Mark 1; Luke 2-4; John 1-4 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 linking tex…
Vine Video - Vine Video - Change Begins with Encounter - Tim Baker - 14th March 2021
Vine Video - Vine Video - Change Begins with Encounter - Tim Baker - 14th March 2021
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The Vine Video - 14th March 2021 Change Begins With Encounter - Tim Baker's Reflection Tim Baker shares a reflection based on the lectionary and the All We Can Lent resources for this week. You could use it as an alternative to the 'all age talk' or as a short sermon/reflection i…
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Hymn: We read our Bibles well
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Hymn - Now is the judgment of the world
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When ever disaster brings death and destruction
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by Andrew Pratt
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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…
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by Andrew Pratt
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Intercessions Years A, B and C - Proper 14 Year A
by SPCK - Ian Black
Proper 14 Year A Give thanks to the Lord Call upon his name. Lord, it is you who comes when we cry out in storm-tossed moments. Reach out to your Church when sight of the strong wind brings fear… Open our ears to hear you say ‘take heart’…
LWPT Meditations - Fourth Sunday of Lent - Year B
LWPT Meditations - Fourth Sunday of Lent - Year B
by Susan Thorne
Meditation - 4th Sunday in Lent Year B Numbers 21: 4-9 Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22 Ephesians 2: 1-10 John 3: 14-21 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3 v 16) Those words are probably…
LWPT Meditations - Second Sunday in Lent - Year A
LWPT Meditations - Second Sunday in Lent - Year A
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – Second Sunday in Lent Year A Genesis 12:1-4a Psalm 121 Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 John 3:1-17 There is an important but somewhat unwelcome message in these readings; we are not saved because we are good... Created by Susan Thorne on behalf of LWPT (Leaders of Worship and Pr…
Mark for Everyone - Jesus' Baptism
Mark for Everyone - Jesus' Baptism
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 1.9–13 Jesus’ Baptism... ...A famous movie-maker had a huge legal wrangle with his long- time mentor and guide. The younger man simply couldn’t handle criticism, and ended up rejecting the person who had helped him so much. When it was all over, a close fri…
How God Became King - 1b The Empty Cloak: The Puzzle of a Lifetime
How God Became King - 1b The Empty Cloak: The Puzzle of a Lifetime
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Empty Cloak: The Puzzle of a Lifetime Come forward about fifteen years from that early experience. In my late twenties, out of the blue, I was asked to give a Bible exposition to the student Christian Union at Cambridge…
The Women's Bible Commentary - The History of the People and Their Enemies in the Exodus
The Women's Bible Commentary - The History of the People and Their Enemies in the Exodus
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The History of the People and Their Enemies in the Exodus The third part of the Wisdom of Solomon is marked by the sudden eclipse of Woman Wisdom, as God acts directly on behalf of the people…
How God Became King - 4e John: Creation and New Creation
How God Became King - 4e John: Creation and New Creation
by SPCK - N T Wright
John: Creation and New Creation The paradox we saw in Matthew, Mark and Luke – that the events involving Jesus are to be seen as the fulfilment of the story of Israel, but that this ‘fulfilment’ is not what Israel was expecting or wanting – is stated sharply right at the start of…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Glossary
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Glossary
by SPCK - N T Wright
GLOSSARY Acts for Everyone Part 2 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 Pau…
Meditation/ poem: God’s testimony
Meditation/ poem: God’s testimony
by Marjorie Dobson
Meditation/ poem: God’s testimony It’s not always easy to keep on believing in God. It may be possible to say that we believe, but in our heart of hearts to know that there is doubt and uncertainty. We are rational beings, or we arrogantly proclaim we are. And in that arrogance l…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - A Light to the Gentiles
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - A Light to the Gentiles
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Light to the Gentiles Acts 13.44-52 Everyone who works with words – the poet, the journalist, the philosopher, the translator, the theologian – knows it all too well. We use a word one day and it seems perfectly all right. It does the job. The next day we are told it now means …
John for Everyone Part 1 - The Father's Will
John for Everyone Part 1 - The Father's Will
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Father’s Will John 6.36-46 C. S. Lewis was once interviewed by an American Christian journalist who was writing about well-known characters who had converted to Christianity during adult life. The theme was ‘decision’. He wanted to get Lewis to say how he had ‘made his decisi…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Practical Support in the Church
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Practical Support in the Church
by SPCK - N T Wright
Practical Support in the Church Galatians 6.6-10 For some years I helped to organize a fund-raising campaign for a church. It was a good cause, lots of people wanted to help, there was great enthusiasm and initiative, and eventually the money was raised. But I found it one of the…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Eating and Drinking the Son of Man
John for Everyone Part 1 - Eating and Drinking the Son of Man
by SPCK - N T Wright
Eating and Drinking the Son of Man John 6.47-59 One of the most moving, and often forgotten, stories about King David concerns the time when he was fighting the Philistines, who had occupied his native town of Bethlehem. Among David’s fiercely loyal fighting men he had three in p…
Prayers for all Occasions - Kindle
Prayers for all Occasions - Kindle
by SPCK - Ian Black
This wonderful collection of 140 original prayers – published here for the first time – is suitable for anyone who leads public prayers, or is looking for a resource to enrich private devotions. Covering a wide variety of subjects, the prayers are grouped under broad headings: …
A moment of wonder, amazement and grandeur
A moment of wonder, amazement and grandeur
by Andrew Pratt
A moment of wonder, amazement and grandeur, a time when God's glory shines clear through our lives, God's grace is beyond us, yet lives in each heartbeat, the source of creation from which peace derives. The eyes of our hearts are enlightened with splendour, inherited glory, the …
glimpses of glory - Proper 4 - Year C
glimpses of glory - Proper 4 - Year C
by SPCK - David Adam
Proper 4 Lord of majesty and splendor, the King of all creation, from you comes all wholeness, peace and well-being. We come with our needs and in our brokenness, seeking your help and knowing that you alone can make us whole. Come, Lord, and renew us; through Jesus Christ our Lo…
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…
The Power of the Parable - A Hymn for the Nameless (Part 1)
The Power of the Parable - A Hymn for the Nameless (Part 1)
by SPCK - John Dominic Crossan
7 A Hymn for the Nameless By the late afternoon of September 2, 31 BCE, Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt had escaped the surrounding squadrons of Octavian and Agrippa, picked up Mark Antony from his abandoned flagship, and fled with him to Alexandria and double suicide…
God's Wondrous Love (Orchardknowes)
God's Wondrous Love (Orchardknowes)
by Norman J Goreham
This hymn is based on words of St. Hippolytus of Rome (c170-c236): "This tree, wide as the heavens itself, has grown up into heaven from the earth. It is an immortal growth and towers between heaven and earth. It is the fulcrum of all things...the centre of the cosmos." Here the …
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - On Trust
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - On Trust
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Trust A senior member of our congregation died last week. Joe had fought in the Second World War and was then one of the first African Americans to graduate from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles…
When Moses uttered, ones who heard
When Moses uttered, ones who heard
by Andrew Pratt
When Moses uttered, ones who heard assumed he spoke for them, for now, not for some future time or place still wanting of a Saviour's grace. And yet those words would resonate beyond that early utterance, would still have force in later years to speak to latent needs and fears. V…
Through the city streets they hurried
Through the city streets they hurried
by Andrew Pratt
Through the city streets they hurried where each shadow, like a shroud, hung across the darkened doorways, sounds of commerce echoed, loud. This had been the scene of bloodshed, Hist’ry heard, a nation sighed, factions fought and people suffered, mothers wept while children cried…
Mark The People's bible commentary - Alone on the Cross
Mark The People's bible commentary - Alone on the Cross
by BRF - Dick France
Alone on the Cross If to overhear Jesus praying in Gethsemane was to tread on holy ground, surely here we venture into the Holy of Holies, as we hear the only words of Jesus on the cross which Mark has recorded. Indeed, these are the only words of Jesus in this Gospel after his e…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Fear or Reverence
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Fear or Reverence
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Fear or Reverence Psalm 76 Last week I was lecturing on the Psalms at a college in Michigan, and I referred to the extraordinary freedom that the Psalms assume we have in our relationship with God. You can say anything to God. In relation to God, we are like children in relation …
Romans 10:11-13
Romans 10:11-13
by BigBible
Created by Jo Brown. As Scripture says, "Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame."For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."…
Prayer: My soul magnifies the Lord
Prayer: My soul magnifies the Lord
by John Birch
Prayers of Adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving for Advent by John Birch ADORATION My soul magnifies the Lord! All is ready Stable prepared Shepherds working Magi journeying Gifts are chosen. My soul magnifies the Lord! Continues... CONFESSION Gracious God, you have done so muc…
Moses asks, 'Now Whats?'
Moses asks, 'Now Whats?'
by Marjorie Dobson
Moses asks, ‘Now what?’ I really have had it up to here with these people. They just have no idea how to behave. You’d think they’d be grateful to be free and out in the desert being guided by God to their Promised Land, but, oh no! That’s not their way. They’re either looking ba…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Jonah's Second Call
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Jonah's Second Call
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Jonah’s Second Call (Jonah 3:1-10) Jonah 3:1 echoes 1:1: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah.” As in the first scene, the Deity commands Jonah to “arise,” “go,” and “call out” (3:2, my trans.). This time, however, Jonah does not flee but immediately obeys. It seems that Jonah get…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 7 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 7 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sundays – Year A Ordinary Time Proper 7 Genesis 21.8–21 Romans 6.1b–11 Matthew 10.24–39 The prince of peace comes with a sword. To that theological oxymoron we must add the sad, and still tragic, story of Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael. Go down into the Genesis story…
Many will fall at the sign of the child
Many will fall at the sign of the child
by Michael Docker
Many will fall at the sign of the child, Just as many will rise with him too: The words of the prophecy speak to our world Lord, inspire us with what we must do When the sign is opposed many thoughts will be known As the actions of some make them plain; The Saviour who died holds…
The Lion's World - 1 - The Point of Narnia The Lion's World
The Lion's World - 1 - The Point of Narnia The Lion's World
by SPCK - Rowan Williams
The point of Narnia The Lion’s World A middle-aged bachelor teaching English Literature at Oxford proposes to publish a children’s fantasy: in most publishers’ offices, it is a proposal destined for the wastepaper basket. Yet no one could deny the extraordinary and continuing app…
Hymn: Here in this book
Hymn: Here in this book
by Michael Docker
Here in this book we read and hear - Words are the Word, we say; By faith we sing this loud and clear, “Show us the Saviour's Way.” Here in this book the poet sighs, Here prophets rail and cry; Here there are wars, a mother cries, A man is born to die. Here in this book the stori…
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Calms the Storm
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Calms the Storm
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 4.35–41 Jesus Calms the Storm... ...It isn’t only boats that are in danger on the Sea of Galilee. To this day, the car parks on the western shore have signs warning drivers of what happens in high winds. The sea can get very rough very quickly, and big wave…
LWPT Meditations - Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C