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Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The Mystery and the Victory
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - The Mystery and the Victory
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Mystery and the Victory 1 Corinthians 15.50-58 He stood there in baggy jeans, trainers, and an old sweater. ‘You can’t come in like that,’ I said. ‘This is a smart lunch, and we’re the guests. We’ve got to get it right.’ ‘No problem,’ he replied, and within three minutes had …
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Second Sunday of Easter Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Second Sunday of Easter Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Second Sunday of Easter John 20.19-31 Gaze on the faces of the disciples, their jaws clenched, eyes half shut, pictures of defeat. So far we have been gazing on expressions of fright and grief, of doubt and confusion. They’ve seen the stone rolled away, and they’ve seen the e…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 2 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 2 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Proper 2 - Year A Deuteronomy 30.15–20 1 Corinthians 3.1–9 Matthew 5.21–37 This passage in Matthew decisively contradicts anyone who would like to see Jesus as a kind of well-meaning hippy, preaching an ‘all you need is love’ kind of gospel. It is terribly easy to assume that J…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Condemnation of Scribes and Pharisees
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Condemnation of Scribes and Pharisees
by SPCK - N T Wright
Condemnation of Scribes and Pharisees (1) Matthew 23.13-22 I once preached a sermon in a church in America. I spoke particularly of the way in which the ancient pagan gods and goddesses were starting to infiltrate our culture once more, and how as Christians we should learn to re…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Controversy and Vindication
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Controversy and Vindication
by SPCK - N T Wright
Controversy and Vindication Acts 1.1-18 By common consent (even among those who disagreed with him), John Henry Newman was one of the finest minds of the nineteenth century. Having spent his young adult years as an Anglican priest, he famously converted to Roman Catholicism, and …
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Christ the Seed, Christ the Mediator
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Christ the Seed, Christ the Mediator
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christ the Seed, Christ the Mediator Galatians 3.15-22 ‘It’s what he would have wanted.’ How often has that phrase been used to settle an argument, when someone has died and the family are trying to organize the funeral, or the disposal of property, or the appropriate way to brin…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Discussions of Clean and Unclean
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Discussions of Clean and Unclean
by SPCK - N T Wright
Discussions of Clean and Unclean Matthew 15.1-9 All churches have jokes about the power of tradition. How many Anglicans (or Methodists, or Baptists, or Roman Catholics . . . or whatever you like) does it take to change a light bulb? Five, comes the answer: one to change the bulb…
Hebrews For Everyone - Getting through to the Sabbath Rest
Hebrews For Everyone - Getting through to the Sabbath Rest
by SPCK - N T Wright
Getting through to the Sabbath Rest Hebrews 4.1-10 I once heard a story about a priest who was fond of riding his horse – too fond, it turned out, because he was always out riding when he should have been working in his parish. So, according to the story, he called his horse ‘Sab…
John for Everyone Part 1 - God's Son Breaks the Sabbath
John for Everyone Part 1 - God's Son Breaks the Sabbath
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Son Breaks the Sabbath John 5.9b-18 I woke up to hear a voice speaking a language I didn’t understand. Where was I? What was going on? A dim light from the other side of the room reminded me. I was at the conference. I was sharing a room with a colleague from the university…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - God's Secret Plan Unveiled at Last
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - God's Secret Plan Unveiled at Last
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Secret Plan Unveiled at Last Ephesians 3.1-7 Naomi had started a small dressmaking business. She had always been skilful with her hands, and had a good eye for colour and pattern. Now she realized she could turn these abilities to good use, not only to make clothes for hers…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - On Prayer
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - On Prayer
by SPCK - N T Wright
On Prayer Matthew 7.7-12 I hate fundraising. Many people are good at it; many actually enjoy it; but I can’t stand it. I hate asking people for things anyway, and asking for money is the worst of all. As a result, I’m not very good at it. I understand that in some countries it’s …
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Piety in Secret
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Piety in Secret
by SPCK - N T Wright
Piety in Secret Matthew 6.1-6 Once, when living in the Middle East, I went out for a walk in the afternoon. On my way home, feeling slightly hungry, I bought a bar of chocolate at a wayside stall. I got back home, went to my room, made a cup of tea, unwrapped the chocolate and br…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Praying in the Faith
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Praying in the Faith
by SPCK - N T Wright
Praying in the Faith James 5.13-20 There are many things in life which look extremely odd to someone who doesn’t know what’s going on. Imagine watching someone making a musical instrument if you’d never heard music in your life. What, you might think, can such an object possibly …
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 …
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - The Lord's Coming
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - The Lord's Coming
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Lord’s Coming Thessalonians 4.13-18 How do you describe the colour blue to a blind person? If someone has never been able to see, how can you even convey the idea of colour, let alone the difference between colours? That difficulty faces Christians whenever we talk about the …
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - The Oath and the Plot
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - The Oath and the Plot
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Oath and the Plot Acts 23. 12-22 Today in the newspapers there was a story about a woman who had a ridiculously narrow escape. She had stepped out of her office for just a moment of fresh air, when a car, whose driver had suddenly fallen ill, came crashing through the window …
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - The Privileges and Tragedy of Israel
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - The Privileges and Tragedy of Israel
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Privileges and Tragedy of Israel ROMANS 9.1-5 This morning’s newspaper carries a whole page of correspondence about an ugly fact of modern life: anti-Semitism is on the rise again. Jews have been attacked and threatened, vilified and abused in many cities in our supposedly ci…
The Pastoral Letters - The Problems in Crete