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Hymn: Look: gnawed and bleached, dismembered bones
Hymn: Look: gnawed and bleached, dismembered bones
by Andrew Pratt
Look: gnawed and bleached, dismembered bones, a desert valley strewn with stones, a metaphor of hopelessness, for people worn with weariness. It took a poet's way with thought, an image that his mind had caught: imagine flesh and new found life, a counter to historic strife. Vers…
Once born as the Christ-child, and living among us
Once born as the Christ-child, and living among us
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Once born as the Christ-child, and living among us Third Sunday of Easter 1 Peter 17 - 23 Once born as the Christ-child, and living among us, at one with humanity, sharing our pain. betrayed in self-giving, poured out for our living, in thought word and action, God making l…
2 Corinthians - The Messiah's Love Makes Us Press On
2 Corinthians - The Messiah's Love Makes Us Press On
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Messiah’s Love Makes Us Press On 2 CORINTHIANS 5.11-15 ‘What on earth made you do that?’ The newspaper reporter was incredulous. A young woman had just won a competition. The first prize was a three-week trip around the world. The chance of a lifetime. And she had given it up…
LWPT Meditations - First Sunday in Advent - Year B
LWPT Meditations - First Sunday in Advent - Year B
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – 1st Sunday of advent Year B 1 Corinthians: 7-8 Mark 13: 24-37 We cannot imagine the glorious things that lie ahead for us, and even the Bible is sparing in descriptions. There are passages that speak of peace and plenty, safety and an end to sorrow, but these are alw…
LWPT Meditations - Third Sunday in Lent - Year C
LWPT Meditations - Third Sunday in Lent - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – 3rd Sunday in Lent Year C Isaiah 55:1-9 Psalm 63:1-8 1st Corinthians 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-9 There is comfort, together with two warnings, in today’s Bible passages. That God loves his children is abundantly clear. He invites them freely to feast with him (Isaiah 55:1-2…
LWPT Meditations - Fourth Sunday of Easter - Year C
LWPT Meditations - Fourth Sunday of Easter - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – 4th Sunday of Easter Year C Psalm 23 Revelation 7:9-17 John 10:22-30 We are so familiar with the story of Jesus as the Good Shepherd that there is a danger that we will miss the deeper implications. I remember a picture on the wall at my Sunday school, showing a blon…
God shakes and rattles hopes and dreams
God shakes and rattles hopes and dreams
by Andrew Pratt
God shakes and rattles hopes and dreams Fifth Sunday in Lent Ezekiel 37: 1-14 God shakes and rattles hopes and dreams, confounds our plans, destroys our schemes; the bones of faith seem dry and bare, and is God found? And is God there? The desert scene is hot and still, our deser…
The Pastoral Letters - Don't Be Ashamed
The Pastoral Letters - Don't Be Ashamed
by SPCK - N T Wright
Don’t Be Ashamed! 2Timothy 1.8-14 My grandfather was a clergyman, and like many of us who have to stand up and do things in front of other people he had a recurring nightmare. In his dream, he would find himself standing in the pulpit getting ready to preach a sermon, and look do…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Don't Be Deceived
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Don't Be Deceived
by SPCK - N T Wright
Don’t Be Deceived 2 John 7-13 I was going to quote a Beatles song, but then I remembered that you have to pay a lot of money even to quote a single line. But the song is well enough known, declaring that the only thing one might need is love. It’s ironic, of course, that you have…
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…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Fifth Sunday of Easter Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Fifth Sunday of Easter Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Fifth Sunday of Easter - Year A Acts 7.55–60 1 Peter 2.2–10 John 14.1–14 I’m never quite sure what Jesus meant when he said ‘you will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father’. But I’m quite sure he did not mean ‘you will do lesser works than these’. An o…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - False Prophets
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - False Prophets
by SPCK - N T Wright
False Prophets 2 Peter 2.1-10a ‘I told you it was easy to get lost.’ Our host stood on the doorstep with a wry smile on his face. We had assumed we more or less knew the way. We have a good sense of direction. We had even been there before; surely we would remember the route once…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Humans Reject God and Embrace Corruption
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Humans Reject God and Embrace Corruption
by SPCK - N T Wright
Humans Reject God and Embrace Corruption ROMANS 1.18-23 I have just watched a large copper beech tree being felled. It was a difficult and dangerous job for those engaged in it, and I was fascinated to see how they went about their work, with ropes and other climbing equipment as…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Humanity and Faith
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Humanity and Faith
by SPCK - N T Wright
Humanity and Faith James 4.1-10 Schoolchildren of a certain age form exclusive friendships. Great human dramas are played out on a small scale when your daughter comes home in tears because her ‘best friend’ has declared she isn’t her best friend any more, but has taken up with s…
The Pastoral Letters - Human Families and God's Family
The Pastoral Letters - Human Families and God's Family
by SPCK - N T Wright
Human Families and God’s Family 1Timothy 5.1-8 I know a wonderful couple who have 11 children. Mind you, they didn’t have 11 together. His first wife died; her first husband died; they then met and married; and when they put his six and her five together, lo and behold, they had …
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and the Woman
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and the Woman
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and the Woman John 4.16-26 A friend of mine described the reaction when he went home, as a young teenager, and announced to his mother that he’d become a Christian. Alarmed, she thought he’d joined some kind of cult. ‘They’ve brainwashed you!’ she said. He was ready with th…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus' Promise and Ascension
Luke for Everyone - Jesus' Promise and Ascension
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Promise and Ascension Luke 24.36-53 Luke’s closing scene, for all its joy and excitement, brings into focus for us the real problem of what happened at Easter. What sort of a body did Jesus have? How could it at the same time be solid and real, with flesh and bones, able t…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Newborn Babies