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Body, spirit and spirituality
Body, spirit and spirituality
by Colin Smith
This short reflection/sermon (867 words) explains our spirituality as being confined within a physical body whilst we live here on earth. God, however is not so confined but he uses us to operate in the world. Thus the importance of aligning His will to ours in building his ki…
Body - Chapter 2 - Keeping body and soul together
Body - Chapter 2 - Keeping body and soul together
by SPCK - Paula Gooder
Keeping body and soul together We are now in a position to turn our attention to Paul and to his view of the body and soul. As we observed in the previous chapter, different understandings of the soul make it hard for us to work out what we mean when we use the word ‘soul’, let a…
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…
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…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Giving Up the Rights for the Gospel
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Giving Up the Rights for the Gospel
by SPCK - N T Wright
Giving Up the Rights for the Gospel 1 Corinthians 9.12b-18 A haunting song by Joni Mitchell describes a clarinet player standing by the side of the road in a busy city. He wasn’t like ordinary buskers, playing mediocre music in a bored sort of way and hoping for enough small chan…
Body - Chapter 5 - The life-giving spirit
Body - Chapter 5 - The life-giving spirit
by SPCK - Paula Gooder
The life-giving Spirit By now it should be clear that, for Paul, the Spirit/spirit plays a vital role in his positive understanding of bodies. This may cause you to wonder whether we have come a very long way only to arrive back where we began…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The Transformed Resurrection Body
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The Transformed Resurrection Body
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Transformed Resurrection Body 1 Corinthians 15.35-49 Imagine standing outside a car showroom, a hundred or more years from now. An advertisement has brought you and lots of others to see a new type of car. Different from all that went before, the slogan had said. ‘Looks prett…
2 Corinthians - The Judgment Seat of the Messiah
2 Corinthians - The Judgment Seat of the Messiah
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Judgment Seat of the Messiah 2 CORINTHIANS 5.6-10 The first thing we were shown when we went to Corinth was the judgment seat. You come up the road Paul would have walked, climbing a bit as you get to the middle of the town, and you find yourself standing in the ancient Forum…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Faith and Works
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Faith and Works
by SPCK - N T Wright
Faith and Works James 2.14-26 That’s the wrong way round, isn’t it? That’s what we are inclined to think as we read that final verse. If I were to use ‘the body and the spirit’ as a picture for ‘faith and works’, I would make ‘faith’ correspond to the ‘spirit’ and ‘works’ to the …
Luke for Everyone - The Magnificat: Mary's Song of Praise
Luke for Everyone - The Magnificat: Mary's Song of Praise
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Magnificat: Mary’s Song of Praise Luke 1.39-56 What would make you celebrate wildly, without inhibition? Perhaps it would be the news that someone close to you who’d been very sick was getting better and would soon be home. Perhaps it would be the news that your country had e…
Body - Chapter 6 - The "me" that is "me"
Body - Chapter 6 - The "me" that is "me"
by SPCK - Paula Gooder
The “me” that is “me” It is high time that we return to an issue that has been lurking behind this book’s reflections now for some time. If the argument made so far is correct that Paul does not use the word ‘soul’ in the way that Plato did; that, in his writings, the word refers…
LWPT Meditations - Mothering Sunday
LWPT Meditations - Mothering Sunday
by Susan Thorne
Meditation - Mothering Sunday Luke 2: 33-35 It is that word “too” that grabs my attention and clutches at my heart every time I read these verses. “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (v 33) I imagine Mary and Joseph, the proud and happy parents with their tiny baby, only…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - God's Determined Faithfulness
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - God's Determined Faithfulness
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Determined Faithfulness ROMANS 3.1-8 I once carried some valuable jewellery half way round the world. My wife and I were going to New Zealand. Friends of ours in England were wanting to send something – I think it was a necklace – to another part of the family. They didn’t …
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Before the Sanhedrin