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John for Everyone Part 1 - Children of Abraham - Or of the Devil
John for Everyone Part 1 - Children of Abraham - Or of the Devil
by SPCK - N T Wright
Children of Abraham – Or of the Devil John 8.37-47 The famous psychologist Carl Jung published, among his many works, a picture-book illustrating the main points of his thought about the strange ways in which the human mind works. One of the most striking pages is a picture of Ad…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - God's Hidden Treasure - King James
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - God's Hidden Treasure - King James
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Hidden Treasure – King Jesus! Colossians 2.1-7 In many adventure stories such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous Treasure Island, the plot hinges on the discovery of an ancient chart or map. The people who have found it realize that, if only they could understand and follow…
2 Corinthians - The God of All Comfort
2 Corinthians - The God of All Comfort
by SPCK - N T Wright
The God of All Comfort 2 CORINTHIANS 4.13-18 ‘To Carthage then I came,’ wrote T. S. Eliot in one of his famous poems. One can imagine someone picking up the poem in a bookshop and wondering what on earth he was talking about. Had he gone to the real Carthage, in North Africa? If …
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Priests and the Guards
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Priests and the Guards
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Priests and the Guards Matthew 28.11-15 In the world of science, there is a particular form of behaviour that occurs when a long-held belief is under attack. The most famous instance of it was when Copernicus (1473–1543) argued that Earth and the other planets go round the su…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - To God Be the Glory
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - To God Be the Glory
by SPCK - N T Wright
To God Be the Glory ROMANS 11.33-36 I was taken yesterday to see the site of a new bridge across a river. We parked the car in a grassy wood and set off to walk. The trees were quite thick to begin with, and I couldn’t see the river, though I could hear it. I assumed the bridge w…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The First Sunday of Lent Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The First Sunday of Lent Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The First Sunday of Lent Luke 4.1-13 Gaze on Jesus in the wilderness. Gaze on the harsh monochrome of fear and confusion, on the hard bed of stones that brings no comfort. Imagine forty days without the scent of grass, his feet cut raw against the ragged paths, as he searches for…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fourth Sunday of Easter Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Fourth Sunday of Easter Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Fourth Sunday of Easter John 10.22-30 Gaze on a rough, stormy day in Jerusalem. Our usual picture of the Holy Land is of sun and heat, and a life led in the open air, but there can be cold winds and rain, too. Jesus is sheltering in one of the inner courts of the Temple. It’s…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The First Sunday of Epiphany Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The First Sunday of Epiphany Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The First Sunday of Epiphany - Year A Isaiah 42.1–9 Acts 10.34–43 Matthew 3.13–17 Matthew’s is the only Gospel that shows any embarrassment about Jesus’s baptism by John the Baptist. In all of the Gospels, John knows that his baptism is a temporary measure, but he also knows that…
Poem: Father of Jesse and father of David
Poem: Father of Jesse and father of David
by Andrew Pratt
Father of Jesse and father of David, born of a foreigner here in their midst: Ruth would nurse Obed, then comfort and nurture. Boaz brought safety it seemed she had missed. Now as we listen we re-tell this story, try to untangle the mystery and worth, one thing is certain: a love…
Poem: Hear the echoes of the scripture
Poem: Hear the echoes of the scripture
by Andrew Pratt
Poem: Hear the echoes of the scripture Hear the echoes of the scripture in the parting of the waters, see Elijah in the whirlwind, see Elisha, looking, waiting. See Elisha take the mantle, see Elisha strike the water, faith and action moving forward, faith is passed from hand to …
Poem: Wine maker, bread breaker
Poem: Wine maker, bread breaker
by Andrew Pratt
Poem: Wine maker, bread breaker Wine maker, bread breaker source of festivity, coming to greet us with warm creativity. Here is Immanuel, in grace beholding us; Jesus the fear shaker taking, enfolding us, Continues... Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 8/1/2013 Stainer & Bell Ltd…
Up! Up and away! Was it really that crazy
Up! Up and away! Was it really that crazy
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Up! Up and away! Was it really that crazy Ascension Acts 1: 1 – 11; Acts 1: 6 – 14; Psalm 47; Luke 24: 44 – 53 Up! Up and away! Was it really that crazy? Seems too much like magic, so hard to believe. His ministry ended. The cross was behind him. Disciples commissioned, so …
What waste of Godly grace and love
What waste of Godly grace and love
by Andrew Pratt
'What waste of Godly grace and love, this perfume cast away, what waste of money, see the poor before us everyday'. But Judas, driven by his greed, was filling up his purse; and through inherent selfishness perhaps our ways are worse. Verses 3-4 follow TUNE: ST BERNARD Andrew P…
When Moses uttered, ones who heard
When Moses uttered, ones who heard
by Andrew Pratt
When Moses uttered, ones who heard assumed he spoke for them, for now, not for some future time or place still wanting of a Saviour's grace. And yet those words would resonate beyond that early utterance, would still have force in later years to speak to latent needs and fears. V…
Within the Areopagus
Within the Areopagus
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Within the Areopagus Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 17: 22-31 Within the Areopagus debate was heated, talk was fast, Paul joined this lively interchange: debate goes on, the questions last. It was not easy to believe: the 'god' they worshipped was unknown. They harboured an un…
Times and Seasons - Significant gifts for the child of the manger
Times and Seasons - Significant gifts for the child of the manger
by Andrew Pratt
Significant gifts for the child of the manger, the riches of ages we fathom and find. Imagine the scene, those who knelt are arising, the print of this moment ingrained on each mind. And where will they go now? And where will they wander, these seers who have followed a star thro…
Sometimes when all our busyness