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Transforming Preaching - Involving the congregation
Transforming Preaching - Involving the congregation
by SPCK - David Heywood
4 Involving the congregation Interactive preaching Tim Stratford tells of the time he preached to a new congregation for the first time. To help give him confidence, he had chosen an existing sermon which had gone well on a previous occasion. But in the new church it met only gla…
Mark The People's Commentary - Storm at Sea
Mark The People's Commentary - Storm at Sea
by BRF - Dick France
Storm at Sea In 1986 the complete hull of a cedar-wood fishing boat from about the first century ad was discovered buried in the mud by the shore of the Lake of Galilee. It is probably typical of the boats in use in Jesus’ time. It is just over 8 metres long by 2.35 metres wide a…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Republic Restored, Empire Established: Augustus
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Republic Restored, Empire Established: Augustus
by SPCK - N T Wright
2. The Reality of Empire (III) Republic Restored, Empire Established: Augustus The many scholarly debates about Augustus have included the question: did he really claim to have restored the republic? If he did, what did he mean by that, and was it true? Was he, as the highly infl…
GOD's rich Pattern - A reason for living
GOD's rich Pattern - A reason for living
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A reason for living Ralph hated the term Parkinson’s disease. He felt he was somehow contagious, and didn’t want anyone to know that he had it. He behaved as though he were ashamed. When tragedy strikes, our first reaction is that we don’t want to go on. Life has no meaning. For …
Job for Everyone - Comforters? More like Troublemakers
Job for Everyone - Comforters? More like Troublemakers
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Comforters? More like Troublemakers Job 16: 1-17 When I take students through the book of Job in classes, I invite them to let me know the questions it raises for them, and usually someone asks, “So when we are ministering to people who are suffering like Job, what do we say to t…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - On Praying for Sodom
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - On Praying for Sodom
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Praying for Sodom Genesis 18: 21-33 Yesterday we prayed in church, as we usually do, for God to grant peace and goodwill among nations. It is tempting to feel cynical about such prayers. Does God listen to them? Do they make a difference? Would it make a difference if we gave …
LWPT Meditations - Third Sunday of Advent - Year C
LWPT Meditations - Third Sunday of Advent - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – Third Sunday of Advent Year C Zephaniah 3: 14-20 Isaiah 12: 2-6 Philippians 4: 4-7 Luke 3: 7-18 It is often the case that in prophesying about the fall of Jerusalem, the exile in Babylon, and the restoration of the people of Israel to their homeland, the prophets fin…
Isaiah for Everyone - Second-Degree Manslaughter
Isaiah for Everyone - Second-Degree Manslaughter
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Second-Degree Manslaughter Isaiah 1: 21-2: 5 The other Sunday, halfway on our five-minute drive to church there was a huge police presence off to the left of our street, with police cars and barriers and police officers apparently searching waste land and dumpsters. Some aspects …
Job for Everyone - If Only Wickedness Did Get Its Reward
Job for Everyone - If Only Wickedness Did Get Its Reward
by SPCK - John Goldingay
If Only Wickedness Did Get Its Reward! Job 21: 1-34 Two or three years before I write, the United States and the Western world as a whole experienced a “great financial meltdown,” with a significant factor in the crisis being the way financial institutions lent money for mortgage…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 5 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 5 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 5 Hosea 5.15—6.6 Romans 4.13–25 Matthew 9.9–13, 18–26 ‘I knew the great Apostle Paul. Buy me a drink, and I’ll tell you all about him. I used to act as his secretary, sometimes, which I knew, even then, was a great honour. Of…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The Teacher's vindication
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The Teacher's vindication
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The Teacher’s vindication The Resurrection, Matthew 28 This atmosphere of supernatural intervention openly visible to all continues into Matthew’s resurrection account, as does his desire to tie up the loose ends and explain the difficulties. While Mark ends with a characteristic…
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…
Meditation - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
Meditation - 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
by David Middleton
Meditation – 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr C Vanity is vanished Luke 12: 13-21 Ecclesiastes 1: 2, 12-14; 2: 18-23 Colossians 3: 1-11 I have worked hard all my life, I have used all my wisdom, knowledge and skill, I have amassed a small fortune, I have financial security for the…
God we lose our moral compass