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Mark for Everyone - Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 14.1–11... ...If the storm clouds are gathering over Jerusalem in chapter 13, in chapter 14 they are coming together over the head of Jesus himself. The parallel between the two is important: the fate Jesus has predicted for the Temple (destruction at the h…
Mark for Everyone - The Crucifixion
Mark for Everyone - The Crucifixion
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 15.16–32 The Crucifixion... ...Peacekeeping forces, which have become a regular feature of our world, often have to contain themselves in the face of severe local provocation. They can easily build up a backlog of resentment and anger against the people who…
Mark for Everyone - The Death of Jesus
Mark for Everyone - The Death of Jesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 15.33–39 The Death of Jesus... ...There are times when I envy musical composers, and this is one of them. If I were capable of setting this brief but shocking story to music, I know how I would start. Darkness at noon: low chords on the heavy brass, a brood…
Mark for Everyone - The Parable of the Tenants
Mark for Everyone - The Parable of the Tenants
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 12.1–12 The Parable of the Tenants... ...Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice is normally listed as a comedy. The main characters all end up with their problems resolved. But the last two or three times I have seen the play I have come away feeling tha…
Mark for Everyone - The Request of James and John
Mark for Everyone - The Request of James and John
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 10.32–45 The Request of James and John... ...What comes to mind first when you think of the crucifixion of Jesus? Perhaps you think of going to church and singing well- known hymns: ‘There is a green hill far away’, or ‘When I survey the wondrous cross’. Pe…
Mark for Everyone - True Greatness
Mark for Everyone - True Greatness
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 9.30–37 True Greatness... ...I don’t know whether Mark wants us to feel sorry for the disciples at this point, but quite frankly I do. Earlier in the gospel Jesus said things to them in code, and they didn’t get it. The parables were secret, hidden messages…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Palm Sunday Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Palm Sunday Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Palm Sunday Isaiah 50.4–9a Philippians 2.5–11 Mark 14.1—15.47 It is as though there are any number of parallel stories in Mark’s account of the trial and death of Jesus. The characters in each story are largely unaware of the others, though they may interact with each other to so…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Day of Pentecost Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Day of Pentecost Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Day of Pentecost Acts 2.1–21 Romans 8.14–17 John 14.8–17 The Israelites had been aware of certain persons in their midst, unpredictable and untameable, in whom the Spirit of YHWH dwelt. They spoke his word, led his people, encouraged, rebuked, prayed for and agonized over Israel.…
Mark for Everyone - Herod and John the Baptist
Mark for Everyone - Herod and John the Baptist
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 6.17–29 Herod and John the Baptist... ...What sells newspapers? Three things, and if they’re combined, so much the better. Royalty: almost any story about a member of a royal family will sell, not only in Britain or Norway or wherever it began, but around t…
Mark for Everyone - The Speculations of Herod
Mark for Everyone - The Speculations of Herod
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 6.14–16The Speculations of Herod... ...Private life is a modern invention. Until quite recently, most people lived in small communities where everyone knew every- one else’s business. Until a few hundred years ago, everybody heard what was going on in the w…
What better way to spend the night
What better way to spend the night
by Andrew Pratt
What better way to spend the night than walking down a city street? Near shuttered shop fronts bodies sleep. Is Christ among the ones we greet? The stars are bright, the frost is sharp, and home will draw us from the cold. Outside the door, beyond the warmth, young people die bef…
When ever disaster brings death and destruction
When ever disaster brings death and destruction
by Andrew Pratt
When ever disaster brings death and destruction, when people are suff'ring and questions arise, we should not assume some divine retribution condemning the people that we might despise. God's judgement is subtle, each person is counted, each one is significant, folded in grace. G…
Rhythms of remembering - Lent - Thursday Morning Prayer
Rhythms of remembering - Lent - Thursday Morning Prayer
by SPCK - Hannah Ward & Jennifer Wild
LENT - Thursday Morning Prayer Blessed are you, O God: you stoop to wash our feet. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If one offered for love all the wealth of one’s house it would be utterly scorned...
They met within an upper room
They met within an upper room
by Andrew Pratt
They met within an upper room, they wondered at their friend, disciples who had followed, now anticipate the end. The tension here was palpable for he would be betrayed. and yet he spoke of peace to them, they need not be afraid. Verses 3-4 follow Tune: CLAUDIUS (Fink) AKA: BETHE…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Conflict between the Teacher and Israel
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Conflict between the Teacher and Israel
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Conflict between the Teacher and Israel Matthew 8—23 The intrusion of substantial non-narrative material in these sermons inhibits the movement of the plot. This mixture of Jesus’ ministry and his teaching produces a more measured air; instead of the breathless dash of Mark’s bou…
Poem: Act of God