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Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Baptism
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus' Baptism
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Baptism Matthew 3.11-17 It’s safe to say that John was as surprised as we are. Or at least, as we should be if we read this passage without knowing what’s coming. To get the flavour, imagine that we are going to a huge concert hall, packed to the doors with eager and excit…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Leaving the State of Sin through Baptism
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Leaving the State of Sin through Baptism
by SPCK - N T Wright
Leaving the State of Sin through Baptism ROMANS 6.1-5 Everybody knows Jesus’ spectacular story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15.11–32). The younger son twists his father’s arm for his share of the property, goes off and spends it all, and comes home, he thinks, in utter disgrace. The…
Hebrews for Everyone - Keep up the Good Work
Hebrews for Everyone - Keep up the Good Work
by SPCK - N T Wright
Keep Up the Good Work Hebrews 6.9-12 Sir Francis Drake was one of many Englishmen who became famous during the reign of Elizabeth I. He sailed round the world, crossed the Atlantic many times, was involved in numerous sea battles in various parts of the world, was twice a member …
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Justified by Faith, Not Works of Law
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Justified by Faith, Not Works of Law
by SPCK - N T Wright
Justified by Faith, Not Works of Law Galatians 2.15-21 A well-known story is told of Margaret Thatcher during the time she was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She was visiting an old people’s home, going from room to room and meeting senior citizens who had lived there a lo…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - Mercy Upon All
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - Mercy Upon All
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mercy Upon All ROMANS 11.25-32 I have only once knowingly met a man who had committed murder. He grew up in the deep South of the United States, and learnt from an early age to hate all black people and to believe that they were part of a great conspiracy to take over the world a…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Meat Offered to Idols
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Meat Offered to Idols
by SPCK - N T Wright
Meat Offered to Idols 1 Corinthians 8.1-6 There is a restaurant in Rome which is built around the ruins of an old temple. Two of the pillars are still visible. The restaurant makes a feature of them, and is proud of the ancient origins of the building where they now serve excelle…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - On Judging Others
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - On Judging Others
by SPCK - N T Wright
On Judging Others Matthew 7.1-6 William Shakespeare based a whole play on the second verse of Matthew 7. Measure for Measure is classified as a ‘comedy’, and indeed everything works out very well in the end. But much of the play is dark and disturbing. Angelo, a noble but stern l…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul the Pastor Looks Back - and Looks on
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul the Pastor Looks Back - and Looks on
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul the Pastor Looks Back – and Looks On Acts 20.13-27 ‘To know George’, said the speaker at his funeral, ‘you had to hear him preach.’ And immediately I felt a strong stab of regret. George Caird had been my teacher throughout my graduate years. I had attended his lectures and …
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Paul Longs to see the Roman Christians
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Paul Longs to see the Roman Christians
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul Longs to see the Roman Christians ROMANS 1.8-13 The first time I went to Rome there was a great deal to see. I knew about many of the classical sites, the spectacular buildings, the ancient palaces, the Forum, and so on. But there were many surprises as well. One in particul…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Philip and Nathanael
John for Everyone Part 1 - Philip and Nathanael
by SPCK - N T Wright
Philip and Nathanael John 1.43-51 Jacob was a schemer and twister. All his early life he had one eye on the main chance, especially if it meant getting one up on his older twin, Esau. In fact, even the story of how they were born included the telling detail: he’d been holding on …
John for Everyone part 2 - Pilate and the Judaeans
John for Everyone part 2 - Pilate and the Judaeans
by SPCK - N T Wright
Pilate and the Judaeans John 18.28-32 I watched today as the television interviewer fired questions at a man whose main aim seemed to be to answer them all at great length without saying anything at all. On and on the interviewer went, trying angle after angle; but the man stood …
Revelation for Everyone - Praise to the Creator
Revelation for Everyone - Praise to the Creator
by SPCK - N T Wright
Praise to the Creator Revelation 4.6b-11 Scientists and anthropologists have often asked themselves, ‘What is it that humans can do that computers can’t do?’ Computers, after all, can play chess better than most of us. They can work out answers to all kinds of questions that woul…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Practical Support in the Church
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Practical Support in the Church
by SPCK - N T Wright
Practical Support in the Church Galatians 6.6-10 For some years I helped to organize a fund-raising campaign for a church. It was a good cause, lots of people wanted to help, there was great enthusiasm and initiative, and eventually the money was raised. But I found it one of the…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Prayer, Sonship and the Sovereignty of God
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Prayer, Sonship and the Sovereignty of God
by SPCK - N T Wright
Prayer, Sonship and the Sovereignty of God ROMANS 8.26-30 How many names can you think of for God? It may sound an odd question. God’s proper name in the Old Testament is of course YHWH; but he is referred to in a great many other ways as well, such as ‘the Almighty’, the Holy On…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Reconciled and Firm in Faith
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Reconciled and Firm in Faith
by SPCK - N T Wright
Reconciled and Firm in Faith Colossians 1.21-23 People come from all over the world to see it, but I would have been just as happy to stay away. On the edge of Minneapolis, in the United States, is a shopping centre so vast that there is room for an entire fun-fair in the middle …
Luke for Everyone - Reading the Signs of the Times
Luke for Everyone - Reading the Signs of the Times
by SPCK - N T Wright
Reading the Signs of the Times Luke 12.49-59 The great composer Ludwig van Beethoven used sometimes to play a trick on polite salon audiences, especially when he guessed that they weren’t really interested in serious music. He would perform a piece on the piano, one of his own sl…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Rescued by God's Power
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Rescued by God's Power
by SPCK - N T Wright
Rescued by God’s Power Judah 17-25 Sometimes a quick burst of biblical dialogue catches a truth in sharp relief. After many generations in which the people of Israel had gone from bad to worse, led by a succession of wicked kings, God finally sends the prophet Elijah to sort it a…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Sharing the Messiah's Suffering