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Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Living in a Pagan World
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Living in a Pagan World
by SPCK - N T Wright
Living in a Pagan World 1 Peter 2.11-17 I woke up gradually that morning. I had been tired out by the events of the previous day, and I had been sleeping so deeply that I seemed to be emerging slowly from a warm, dark tunnel. It’s not an unpleasant feeling, but when eventually I …
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Marriage and Divorce
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Marriage and Divorce
by SPCK - N T Wright
Marriage and Divorce 1 Corinthians 7.8-16 Divorce has swept the Western world like a plague. When I was young, nobody I knew, in our street, my school, anywhere, was divorced. There were occasional mentions of marriage breakdown well outside our close family and friends, but it w…
Luke for Everyone - Martha and Mary
Luke for Everyone - Martha and Mary
by SPCK - N T Wright
Martha and Mary Luke 10.38-42 If you thought ‘the good Samaritan’ was radical, this powerful little story suggests that Luke has plenty more where that came from. In describing Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, he has chosen this incident as part of his introduction. It took place at …
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Marriage, Celibacy and Children
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Marriage, Celibacy and Children
by SPCK - N T Wright
Marriage, Celibacy and Children Matthew 19.10-15 We were staying with friends who had recently become grandparents for the first time. They were telling us of the time when their little granddaughter came to stay overnight while her parents were away for a short while. ‘We were s…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Marriage and Its Challenges
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Marriage and Its Challenges
by SPCK - N T Wright
Marriage and Its Challenges 1 Peter 3.1-7 I remember a wise preacher pointing out that even when people are free to make up their own minds and form their own decisions, most of them quickly find a framework to fit into. They adopt a stereotype; they fit into a pattern; they beha…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Newborn Babies
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Newborn Babies
by SPCK - N T Wright
Newborn Babies 1 Peter 1.22-2.3 I was in the car the other day when a programme came on the radio which won my admiration – for sheer daring. An interviewer had gone to a farm where they were raising different kinds of deer, whose meat they were selling as venison to smart restau…
2 Corinthians - No, They are False Prophets!
2 Corinthians - No, They are False Prophets!
by SPCK - N T Wright
No, They Are False Apostles! 2 CORINTHIANS 11.7-15 The door to my study was open when the telephone rang in the hall, so I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation, or rather this end of it. And what I heard was quite disturbing. ‘How could you think I imagined that . . .?’ ‘Bu…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Off with the Old, On with the New
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Off with the Old, On with the New
by SPCK - N T Wright
Off with the Old, On with the New Ephesians 4.17-24 We couldn’t understand why the agency was being so unhelpful. We had answered the advertisement and were eager to rent the apartment that we had been offered. There were some minor problems, but nothing too difficult to sort out…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Among the Philosophers (I)
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Among the Philosophers (I)
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul Among the Philosophers (I) Acts 17.22-34 One of the signs of being really good at chess is that you can play more than one opponent at the same time. Sometimes grand masters will put on a display where they play several different people all at once, walking from one chessboa…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Among the Philosophers (II)
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Among the Philosophers (II)
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul Among the Philosophers (II) Acts 17.22-34 So we continue with our chess game, with Paul playing the role of grand master and taking on all the players of Athens at once. We have seen how he agrees with the Academy that it is indeed impossible, granted what was available to t…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Patience and Trust
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Patience and Trust
by SPCK - N T Wright
Patience and Trust James 5.7-12 When my sister and I were reckoned to be old enough not to need a babysitter any more, my parents occasionally went out for the evening, leaving us on our own. Normally this worked fine. We could see to ourselves, the front door was locked, and in …
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Passover and Betrayal
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Passover and Betrayal
by SPCK - N T Wright
Passover and Betrayal Matthew 26.14-25 ‘And I thought you were my friend!’ The words were meant to sting, and they did. I looked from one man to the other. The meeting had collapsed into bitter accusations, and this was the final one. The speaker got up from his chair and went ov…
The Pastoral Letters - Paul as an Example of God's Saving Grace
The Pastoral Letters - Paul as an Example of God's Saving Grace
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul as an Example of God’s Saving Grace 1Timothy 1.12-17 When I was a boy, television was in its infancy. There was only one channel, and there wasn’t very much to watch on it. But, when I graduated off the programmes for little children (Andy Pandy and Bill and Ben, the Flowerp…
John for Everyone part 2 - Peter Denies Jesus
John for Everyone part 2 - Peter Denies Jesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Peter Denies Jesus John 18.15-27 There is a part of the human brain which seems to be closed off for much of the time, but which can be reached at once through the sense of smell. You can be walking down the street, thinking of something completely different, when a single sniff …
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Peter's Denial
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Peter's Denial
by SPCK - N T Wright
Peter’s Denial Matthew 26.69-75 In his novel Thinks . . . , the English writer David Lodge tells the story of a woman who discovers, after his death, that her husband, whom she had loved and trusted, had been regularly unfaithful to her for several years. At the same time, she me…
Luke for Everyone - Prediction of Peter's Betrayal
Luke for Everyone - Prediction of Peter's Betrayal
by SPCK - N T Wright
Prediction of Peter’s Denial Luke 22.24-38 Imagine a football manager trying to prepare his squad for the match of their lives. They are facing their greatest opponents, with a major trophy at stake. He needs them to be totally focused on the task in hand. He has just outlined to…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Stay the Way You Were Called
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Stay the Way You Were Called
by SPCK - N T Wright
Stay the Way You Were Called 1 Corinthians 7.17-24 I once sat in an entranced audience as one of the leading comedians of the day told a very long, very funny, story. The story itself was clever, witty, and amusing in all sorts of ways; but what fascinated me was the way he would…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Speaking Clearly in Church