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Hymn - What was the weather like that day
Hymn - What was the weather like that day
by Andrew Pratt
What was the weather like that day? Cold, wet and overcast with rain, or bright and warm with sun and clouds? What formed the back cloth to this pain? What motivated those who came, to watch this scene, to play this game? There is so much we do not know, save tortured death withi…
Hymn - Strange how perfume marked this moment
Hymn - Strange how perfume marked this moment
by Andrew Pratt
Strange how perfume marked this moment, days away from fear and pain, here a woman disregarded, sharing in this time of strain came anointing, unexpected, wouldn’t pass this way again. Verse 2-3 follow Tune: GRAFTON 8.7.8.7.8.7 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 21/2/2012 Stainer…
Hymn: Lost in human expectation
Hymn: Lost in human expectation
by Andrew Pratt
Lost in human expectation, cannot grasp the reason why, love in human incarnation, has to suffer, had to die. Yet it seems our understanding, narrowed by our self-concern, makes us even more demanding, yet less able to discern. Verses 3-4 follow Tune: ALL FOR JESUS, STUTTGART Met…
Hymn: Trust that God who lit the cosmos
Hymn: Trust that God who lit the cosmos
by Andrew Pratt
Trust that God, who lit the cosmos, source and ground of all we are, demonstrated love’s dimension, dying like the evening star, softened, shaded, so diminished, then extinguished, gone from sight, yet the third day rose in glory, bringing hope and shedding light. Verses 2-3 foll…
Lent for Everyone Year A - Easter Day Year A
Lent for Everyone Year A - Easter Day Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
HOLY WEEK: EASTER DAY Matthew 28.1–10 Earthquakes, angels, women running to and fro, a strange command. A highly unlikely tale. Yes, indeed, and that’s the point. Nobody thought in the first century, and nobody should think now, that the point of the Easter story is that this is …
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…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A Ezekiel 37.1–14 Romans 8.6–11 John 11.1–45 There is a story that St Francis once got up to preach, looked down at the hushed, expectant faces below him and said, ‘God has not given me anything to say to you.’ And with that, he blessed the people,…
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