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Early Christian Letters for Everyone - God's New Commandment
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - God's New Commandment
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s New Commandment 1 John 2. 3-14 Sometimes when we sing hymns, the hymns tell a story. They move from one idea to another, in a linear fashion. There is something satisfying about this. We all like stories, and even when the ‘story’ is a sequence of ideas, it makes sense to u…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Greetings
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Greetings
by SPCK - N T Wright
Greetings Philemon 1.1-7 Jonathan knew it was going to be a difficult meeting. He had woken up very early that morning and gone through it again and again in his mind. He was quite clear about what needed to be done, but he was equally clear that the others wouldn’t see it like t…
The Pastoral Letters - Grace, Hope and Holiness
The Pastoral Letters - Grace, Hope and Holiness
by SPCK - N T Wright
Grace, Hope and Holiness Titus 2.10-15 Soon after the Russian revolution, a group of journalists and social commentators paid a visit to the newly formed Soviet Union to see how the revolutionaries were getting on in establishing a new type of society. They were shown the model c…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Greetings and Thanksgiving
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Greetings and Thanksgiving
by SPCK - N T Wright
Greetings and Thanksgiving 2 Thessalonians 1.1-7a When our four children were younger, we had to spend Christmas Day taking notes. Once the four of them began to open presents from friends and relatives, there was so much paper and string around, and so many toys, books and games…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - In Praise of Jesus Christ
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - In Praise of Jesus Christ
by SPCK - N T Wright
In Praise of Jesus Christ Colossians 1.15-20 I flicked the switch to turn on the television. I didn’t know what the programme would be; I was tired at the end of a long day and just wanted to relax for a few minutes. The sound came on a little before the picture appeared. A voice…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Humility and Danger
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Humility and Danger
by SPCK - N T Wright
Humility and Danger Matthew 18.1-7 Among the saddest sights in our world, some of the worst, I think, are the glimpses we get of children in need. I think of three children grubbing around in a stinking, smouldering garbage heap on the edge of a South American city. They are bare…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and John the Baptist
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and John the Baptist
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and John the Baptist Luke 7.18-35 Pull a coin out of your pocket and look at it. What does it tell you? I don’t mean, how rich does it say you are. Nor am I thinking about the actual words that are engraved on it. I’m referring to the pictures, the symbols. The last two cou…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Moses
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Moses
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Moses John 5.39-47 You can see it in a class at school. You can see it in a sports team. You can see it in an army barracks. You can see it, in fact, almost anywhere where a peer group builds up and gathers momentum despite the best efforts of those in charge. The boys …
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and Beelzebul
Luke for Everyone - Jesus and Beelzebul
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Beelzebul Luke 11.14-28 A friend was telling me about the first years in which she had been a schoolteacher. ‘It was very strange,’ she said. ‘Sometimes a pupil would be doing just fine, and then suddenly their work would get much worse. We wouldn’t find out why until t…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Calls the Disciples
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Calls the Disciples
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Calls the Disciples Matthew 4.18-25 If you go to Galilee today they will show you a boat that might have belonged to Andrew and Peter, or perhaps the Zebedee family. In one of the most remarkable archaeological finds anywhere in the Holy Land (which is full of them), a boat…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Condemns the Cities
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Condemns the Cities
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Condemns the Cities Matthew 11.16-24 A bright red sports car swept by me in the street, with a roar of exhaust and a swish of tyres. As it slowed momentarily to take the corner, I caught a glimpse of the young man driving it: dark glasses, long hair, the hint of a beard. Ro…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Causes Division
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus Causes Division
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Causes Division Matthew 10.32-42 I was once asked to go and preach at the school which I had attended as a boy. It was one of those annual events that many schools have where we were supposed to remember the great pioneers who had founded the school, developed it, and given…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Jesus Mocked and Crucified
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Jesus Mocked and Crucified
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Mocked and Crucified Matthew 27.27-38 Almost the whole world is now a tourist trap. Countries compete with each other to attract visitors, particularly from the richer parts of the world, and to give them a memorable vacation while drawing money into the local economy. The …
The Pastoral Letters - Judgment is Coming- So Get On With Your WorK
The Pastoral Letters - Judgment is Coming- So Get On With Your WorK
by SPCK - N T Wright
Judgment Is Coming – So Get On with Your Work 2Timothy 4.1-5 I was invigilating an exam on a hot summer day. The undergraduates were tired; it was the fourth or fifth exam they had sat already that week, and there were more to come. The sun beat down outside where their friends w…
Luke for Everyone - Judging Others and True Obedience
Luke for Everyone - Judging Others and True Obedience
by SPCK - N T Wright
Judging Others and True Obedience Luke 6.39-49 One picture is worth a thousand words. Here, in quick succession, are four of Jesus’ most vivid word-sketches. They are meant to be funny. Try reading them like that, and you’ll see a dry, perhaps typically Jewish, humour coming thro…
John for Everyone part 2 - Judas Goes Out
John for Everyone part 2 - Judas Goes Out
by SPCK - N T Wright
Judas Goes Out John 13.21-30 A priest working in the villages outside Cambridge reports that when sheep are taken off to be killed, they know instinctively that the slaughterhouse is a bad place. They can smell or sense something which warns of danger. The lorry carrying them wil…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Jews as well as Gentiles Are Guilty of Sin
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Jews as well as Gentiles Are Guilty of Sin
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jews as well as Gentiles Are Guilty of Sin ROMANS 3.9-20 Only twice in my life have I been in a court of law. Neither time was pleasant. Once I was up against a gardening contractor who had ruined my garden and then demanded payment. When I refused, he sued. The proceedings were …
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Light and Darkness