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Hymn: Great God of change and constant contradiction
Hymn: Great God of change and constant contradiction
by Andrew Pratt
Great God of change and constant contradiction, we sense your presence everywhere we go; while you transcend all human understanding, our praise on earth will sing, will rise and grow. How can we reach beyond our human compass? Great God, your grace can bring us to our knees. Our…
John for Everyone part 2 - No King but Caesar
John for Everyone part 2 - No King but Caesar
by SPCK - N T Wright
No King but Caesar John 19.8-16a From our seats, high in the stands, we watched as the football match swung this way and that. Our team was doing well and scored a couple of early goals. We were delighted; surely they could hang on to a lead like that? When the opposition scored …
Job for Everyone - A Witness in the Heavens?
Job for Everyone - A Witness in the Heavens?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Witness in the Heavens? Job 16: 18- 17: 16 When I was a young assistant pastor in London (what would now be called a youth pastor, but youth pastors hadn’t been invented yet), one of the prize members of our largely middleclass youth group was a teenager from the local projects…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Stuff Happens
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Stuff Happens
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Stuff Happens Genesis 12: 6b-10 Three or four years ago, a friend of mine got a job as a youth pastor on the East Coast. It meant his wife had to give up her job in California, but she had originally come from the East Coast, and she was entirely happy to make the move. They foun…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The Expulsion and Its Consequences
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The Expulsion and Its Consequences
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Expulsion and Its Consequences Genesis 3: 23-24 I was once walking through the seminary campus when I spotted a former student, whom I had known quite well, sitting in a patio area with rather a disconsolate look. When I asked him if he was OK, he replied, “I’ve made a train …
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The First Family, the First Worship, the First Acceptance, the First Rejection
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - The First Family, the First Worship, the First Acceptance, the First Rejection
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The First Family, the First worship, the First Acceptance, the First Rejection Genesis 4: 1-5a I once went through quite a long period of time (several years, I think) when God did not seem very real. I didn’t exactly doubt whether God was there; it was just that I didn’t feel Go…
Job for Everyone - The God of Wrath
Job for Everyone - The God of Wrath
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The God of Wrath Job 9: 1-35 We were preparing dinner for people in a homeless shelter on Friday when out of the blue my pastor asked me, “What do you say when people ask you why the God of the Old Testament is so different from the God of the New Testament?” Quick as a flash I r…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The God of the Storm
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The God of the Storm
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The God of the Storm 2 Samuel 22: 1- 20 The song says, “It never rains in Southern California,” but it goes on to say that they never warn you that it does sometimes pour. I myself never needed galoshes in Britain, where we usually have only gentle rain, though we have it rather …
Psalms for Everyone - The Wretched of the Earth
Psalms for Everyone - The Wretched of the Earth
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Wretched of the Earth Psalm 9: 19- 10: 18 My stepdaughter and her husband spend their lives seeking to make known the plight of Darfuri refugees in Chad; they make dangerous visits there from time to time. They tell horrifying stories about the way the Sudanese government tre…
Job for Everyone - When Life Falls Apart
Job for Everyone - When Life Falls Apart
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Covenant or Contract Job 1: 6-12 Yesterday the air-conditioning/heating maintenance office called. After we had a big problem with the air conditioning last year, I took out a maintenance contract to try to avoid a recurrence of problems of that magnitude, so I now pay a certain …
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - When God Finds It Hard to Be Tough
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - When God Finds It Hard to Be Tough
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When God Finds It Hard to Be Tough JUDGES 10:1- 11:29 In my prayers each day (well, most days, to be honest), I pray either for the nation or for the church in our nation. I do so against the background of the fact that nations grow and triumph and then decline and fall, and that…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Why Did It Happen to Me?
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Why Did It Happen to Me?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Why Did It Happen to Me? Genesis 4: 5b-9 I was talking to a woman who was angry with God. It was a strangely unfocused anger. She was a homemaker of the old-fashioned kind. She had been faithful to her husband, and as far as she knew he had been faithful to her. But he was only r…
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - You Are What You Eat
Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone - You Are What You Eat
by SPCK - John Goldingay
You Are What You Eat Deuteronomy 14: 1- 29 Three nights ago I got very sick just for a little while after eating out; what I ate was salad, halibut, rice, and vegetables. I should doubtless have complained to the restaurant or reported the matter to the city, but I was too busy b…
Gazing on the Gospels Year C - Proper 18 Year C
Gazing on the Gospels Year C - Proper 18 Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 18 Luke 14: 25-33 Gaze on a woman baking a fruit cake for a celebration. The ingredients take up half a page in the recipe book. She checks them off one by one – butter, sugar, flour, raisins, sultanas, cherries . . . Smell the fruit, and the pungent spices! But she has no…
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The Third Sunday of Lent Year C
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The Third Sunday of Lent Year C
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Third Sunday of Lent Isaiah 55.1–9 1 Corinthians 10.1–13 Luke 13.1–9 On the face of it, today’s readings from Isaiah and Corinthians could hardly provide a greater contrast. The passage from Isaiah is lyrical, joyful, full of assurance, whereas Paul’s tone in 1 Corinthians 10…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - God Struggles
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - God Struggles
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God Struggles Genesis 32:24b-33:17 Every Sunday on the way to church we drive past a particular bus shelter with a huge advertising placard, and for some while this placard proclaimed, “You can never have enough money.” I can’t remember what it was advertising (which shows that a…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - God was with Joseph