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PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Philemon and the Study of Paul
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Philemon and the Study of Paul
by SPCK - N T Wright
Part 1: PAUL AND HIS WORLD Chapter One RETURN OF THE RUNAWAY? 2 Philemon and the Study of Paul (i) Introduction This brief study of the small masterpiece we call the letter to Philemon has introduced us, in an actual example, to most of the topics we face as we move towards a ful…
Fishing nets
Fishing nets
by Tim Pillinger
This pile of nets made me think of the calling of Jesus' fist apostles, where he challenges Peter, Simon, Andrew and James to become Fishers of Men. On the other hand, Jesus spends much of his time near the sea, and themes of fishing appear in other parts of the gospels. He hel…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The First Sunday of Christmas Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The First Sunday of Christmas Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The First Sunday of Christmas Isaiah 61.10—62.3 Galatians 4.4 –7 Luke 2.15–21 Galatians is one of the most moving of all Paul’s epistles. Paul is fighting for his calling in this epistle. The fight is partly for himself, because if he is wrong, and God has not called him to be an…
Hebrews for Everyone - Jesus and Moses
Hebrews for Everyone - Jesus and Moses
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Moses HEBREWS 3.1-6 In the part of England where I grew up there were two main football clubs to support: Newcastle and Sunderland. Loyalty was, and remains, fierce: woe betide you if you found yourself wearing a black-and-white scarf (Newcastle) in the midst of a group…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Out of his Own Mouth
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Out of his Own Mouth
by SPCK - N T Wright
Out of His Own Mouth Acts 22.12-22 In British football, the ‘manager’, or head coach, is often the most important character in the whole unit. Players come and players go, but if the manager is good he can make things happen, win tournaments, put on excellent performances no matt…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Prophecy Made Sure
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Prophecy Made Sure
by SPCK - N T Wright
Prophecy Made Sure 2 Peter 1.12-21 I am writing this in the middle of winter. First thing in the morning, when I get up, there is no sunlight visible at all. The sky is dark. But, if the clouds are not too thick, there is a light which from ancient times has been seen as an early…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - The Weak and the Strong
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - The Weak and the Strong
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Weak and the Strong ROMANS 14.1-6 We have a friend whose son is a vegetarian. She was describing to us today how she has learned to cook special meals for him – and what sort of compromises with the code he has been prepared to make. In today’s Western world, vegetarianism ha…
2 Corinthians - A House Waiting in the Heavens
2 Corinthians - A House Waiting in the Heavens
by SPCK - N T Wright
A House Waiting in the Heavens 2 CORINTHIANS 5.1-5 ‘Life after death is one of the greatest mysteries in the world, but there’s no need to make it more mysterious than it should be. I recently went for the first time to the magnificent Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, beside St Pet…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Nothing Separate Us from God's Love
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Nothing Separate Us from God's Love
by SPCK - N T Wright
Nothing Shall Separate Us from God’s Love ROMANS 8.31-39 Terrible tales emerge from wars, terrorist action, and other violent scenes. Those held hostage in Lebanon in the 1980s tell of more than one occasion when they were taken off, blindfolded, and told they were going to die. …
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The Gospel of the Messiah
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The Gospel of the Messiah
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Gospel of the Messiah 1 Corinthians 15.1-11 The old man made me a cup of tea, and took me through to his sitting room. ‘Now you must see this,’ he said, passing me a much-handled photograph album. ‘This tells you how we came here.’ The pictures told their own story. The happy…
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…
The Pastoral Letters - God's Revealed Plan
The Pastoral Letters - God's Revealed Plan
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Revealed Plan Titus 1.1-4 ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ It’s the standard question children face from well-meaning adults. Often the answers are surprising. A ballet dancer. A gardener. This girl wants to run a bookshop. This boy wants to play the oboe. Sometim…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Before Agrippa
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Before Agrippa
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul Before AgrippaActs 26.1-11 One of the great, though controversial, bishops of Durham in the first half of the twentieth century was Hensley Henson. He was a brilliant speaker and writer, a much loved (though sharp-tongued) pastor, and a great campaigner on all kinds of soc…
Body - Chapter 6 - The "me" that is "me (part 2)"
Body - Chapter 6 - The "me" that is "me (part 2)"
by SPCK - Paula Gooder
The “me” that is “me” (part 2) Setting your mind on… The final element of the ‘me-ness of me’ that we need to explore, before turning our attention back to the body in the final two chapters, is the mind. Within Western thought, particularly philosophical thought, the mind has be…
the historical character of Jesus - 5b Identity: Jesus – the heavenly high priest
the historical character of Jesus - 5b Identity: Jesus – the heavenly high priest
by SPCK - David Allen
Identity: Jesus – the heavenly high priest While recognizing this continuity between the earthly Jesus and the exalted Son,15 it is heuristically convenient to distinguish the respective portraits within the letter…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 1 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 1 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 1 Isaiah 40.21–31 1 Corinthians 9.16–23 Mark 1.29–39 Nobody in Corinth had seen it before. Nobody had thought of it. It wasn’t on their mental map, anymore than it is in our world. So when Paul wanted to tell them that as Christians, working out how to live in a pagan en…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 15 Year A