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Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A Ezekiel 37.1–14 Romans 8.6–11 John 11.1–45 There is a story that St Francis once got up to preach, looked down at the hushed, expectant faces below him and said, ‘God has not given me anything to say to you.’ And with that, he blessed the people,…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - Coming to Rome at Last
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - Coming to Rome at Last
by SPCK - N T Wright
Coming to Rome at Last ROMANS 15.14-24 I mentioned earlier in this book how, when my family and I first moved to North America, we were struck again and again at the thought of what the pioneers had achieved in such very recent history. They had navigated uncharted rivers, climbe…
New Testament Wisdom for Everyone - Building A Christian Character
New Testament Wisdom for Everyone - Building A Christian Character
by SPCK - N T Wright
2 THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE SELF BUILDING A CHRISTIAN CHARACTER 2 Peter 1: 1-11 My grandson, aged one and a half, was taken the other day into a big toyshop. It was a riot of exciting things, all in bright colours. From floor to ceiling, from one end of the shop to the other, and…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Day of Pentecost Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Day of Pentecost Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Day of Pentecost Acts 2.1–21 Romans 8.14–17 John 14.8–17 The Israelites had been aware of certain persons in their midst, unpredictable and untameable, in whom the Spirit of YHWH dwelt. They spoke his word, led his people, encouraged, rebuked, prayed for and agonized over Israel.…
2 Corinthians - Death and Glory
2 Corinthians - Death and Glory
by SPCK - N T Wright
Death and Glory 2 CORINTHIANS 3.7-11 The two teenagers were slumped in armchairs. Both of them had their headphones plugged into personal stereos, and had the faraway look of people being carried along by hidden sounds. One of them nodded her head gently in time with the beat. Th…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - God's Strange Wisdom
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - God's Strange Wisdom
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Strange Wisdom 1 Corinthians 2.6-13 When my sister celebrated her 21st birthday, she and I were at university, a long way from home. So a cousin of my father’s, who lived nearby, invited the two of us to dinner to celebrate. He and his wife had no children of their own, and…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - God's Promise and Abraham's faith
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - God's Promise and Abraham's faith
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Promise and Abraham’s Faith Galatians 3.1-9 A famous story tells of the tight-rope walker Charles Blondin (1824–97), who set up a rope across Niagara Falls and walked across several times. So confident did he become that he made the journey backwards as well as forwards, an…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Third Sunday of Lent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Third Sunday of Lent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Third Sunday of Lent - Year A Exodus 17.1–7 Romans 5.1–11 John 4.5–42 John’s great sprawling story (what an excellent move to have some of Jesus’ Johannine encounters in full during Lent) offers food for thought at every level. The antipathy between Jews and Samaritans wa…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday of Lent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday of Lent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Lent - Year A Genesis 12.1–4a Romans 4.1–5, 13–17 John 3.1–17 ‘Leave country, kin and home, and go.’ And Abram went. The call was like that other word, to leave and cleave, spoken before the Fall: a marriage vow, a challenge and a pledge of loyalty. Like,…
Lent for Everyone Year A - Friday: Week 2 in Lent Year A
Lent for Everyone Year A - Friday: Week 2 in Lent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
WEEK 2: FRIDAY Matthew 12.22–50; focused on 12.27–32 27 Just in case anyone thought that the vision of a gentle, humble Messiah meant that he would be a pushover for every evil power that came along, the present passage sets the balance straight. One of the things everybody knew …
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Before the Sanhedrin
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Before the Sanhedrin
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul Before the Sanhedrin Acts 23.1-11 Ever since the French Revolution, politics has been seen in terms of a left–right spectrum. The further Left you go (it is assumed), the more you will favour freedom from constricting and aristocratic authority, loose structures, plenty of v…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul in Ephesus
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul in Ephesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul in Ephesus Acts 19.1-10 The response of the disciples Paul met at Ephesus has passed into common parlance, at least among theologians. Not long ago I was helping to organize a conference, and was inviting distinguished speakers from various parts of the world to attend and r…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 3 Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 3 Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 3 Genesis 45.3–11, 15 1 Corinthians 15.35–38, 42–50 Luke 6.27–38 The resurrection is central to Christianity, not just as a dogma but as a driving principle. Unfortunately, Paul’s writing in this, the earliest discussion of it, is dense and difficult, and some of the regul…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Shipwreck
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Shipwreck
by SPCK - N T Wright
Shipwreck Acts 27.33-44 We were already horribly late for the service. It was nobody’s fault, really; the traffic had been far, far worse than anyone could have imagined. I had phoned through and told people how it was, but it was really important, still, that we got there as qui…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Seeing and Not Seeing
John for Everyone Part 1 - Seeing and Not Seeing
by SPCK - N T Wright
Seeing and Not Seeing John 9.35-41 Who decides when the picture is in focus? I attended a lecture the other night in which the speaker showed us some wonderful colour slides of medieval paintings of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The colour was magnificent; the interpretati…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The First Exodus
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The First Exodus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The First Exodus 1 Corinthians 10.1-5 As you drive on the main road through central Northumberland, between Newcastle upon Tyne and the Scottish border, you see frequent signs saying things like ‘150 Accidents Last Year On This Road,’ and ‘Number of Speeding Fines Last Month: 37’…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Third Sunday of Epiphany Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Third Sunday of Epiphany Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Third Sunday of Epiphany Nehemiah 8.1–3, 5–6, 8–10 1 Corinthians 12.12–31a Luke 4.14–21 Read the text, and give the sense. Both matter. The first is given, there on the page. The second is risky, a matter of prayer and the Spirit, a deep breath and taking the plunge. History …
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - United Praise under the Messiah's Universal Role