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Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Giving Up the Rights for the Gospel
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Giving Up the Rights for the Gospel
by SPCK - N T Wright
Giving Up the Rights for the Gospel 1 Corinthians 9.12b-18 A haunting song by Joni Mitchell describes a clarinet player standing by the side of the road in a busy city. He wasn’t like ordinary buskers, playing mediocre music in a bored sort of way and hoping for enough small chan…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus' Authoritative Healings
Luke for Everyone - Jesus' Authoritative Healings
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus’ Authoritative Healings Luke 4.31-44 Last time I went to Capernaum you could hardly move because of the people. There were coaches full of pilgrims coming and going, parties of tourists with guides talking in several different languages, people taking photographs, people tr…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Mission and Magic
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Mission and Magic
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mission and Magic Acts 13.1-12 Jim was full of enthusiasm when he left college. From his earliest memories he had been passionate about justice, about fairness, about people respecting one another and being able to live together in harmony. He had always admired the police (in En…
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 …
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Redeemed from the Law's Curse
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Redeemed from the Law's Curse
by SPCK - N T Wright
Redeemed from the Law’s Curse Galatians 3.10-14 I sat in the traffic jam for two hours. The road signs told me I was pointing in the right direction. From what I knew of the road it looked as though I was in the right place. But nothing was moving. The clock ticked slowly on; I w…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Thanksgiving For Gospel's Work
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Thanksgiving For Gospel's Work
by SPCK - N T Wright
Thanksgiving For Gospel’s Work Colossians 1.1-8 When Susan bought the house, there wasn’t much growing in the garden. A few tatty little shrubs; a mouldy rosebush or two; a tree that had been bent sideways by a storm and left to grow crooked. It was a depressing sight. A few days…
Luke for Everyone - Temptation in the Wilderness
Luke for Everyone - Temptation in the Wilderness
by SPCK - N T Wright
Temptation in the Wilderness Luke 4.1-13 Jesus was not Superman. Many today, including some devout Christians, see him as a kind of Christian version of the movie character, able to do whatever he wanted, to ‘zap’ reality into any shape he liked. In the movies, Superman looks lik…
The Pastoral Letters - The Character of a Bishop
The Pastoral Letters - The Character of a Bishop
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Character of a Bishop 1Timothy 3.1-7 A friend gave me a lift in the car the other night. He’s a politician and has been a member of parliament for 25 years. But now he’s decided to run for a new kind of public office: he’s hoping to be a candidate to be Mayor of London. ‘Sudd…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - The Challenge of Love
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - The Challenge of Love
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Challenge of Love 1 John 3.11-4.6 One of my favourite stories from the Old Testament is found in the book of 2 Kings, chapter 6. The context is one of continual skirmishing, and sometimes open warfare, between Israel, the northern half of the people of God, and Syria, their n…
Hebrews for Everyone - The God of Peace Be With You
Hebrews for Everyone - The God of Peace Be With You
by SPCK - N T Wright
The God of Peace Be With You Hebrews 13.17-25 I was chatting with a friend who had recently become a bishop. He was and is a wonderful man, scholarly, wise, outgoing, full of ideas and devotion and love and goodness. You might have thought any church would be glad to have him as …
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - The New Way of Life
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - The New Way of Life
by SPCK - N T Wright
The New Way of Life 1 Peter 3.8-16 Most of us know the feeling of getting into a car we haven’t driven before. You have a look round, see where the switch for the lights is, check the angle of the mirrors, and so on. It may take a moment to figure out, with some of today’s cars, …
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Parable of Clean and Unclean
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Parable of Clean and Unclean
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of Clean and Unclean Matthew 15.10-20 One of the best-loved characters in children’s stories is Winnie-the- Pooh. In one escapade of this down-to-earth, loveable toy bear (the creation of the writer A. A. Milne), Pooh attempts to trap an Elephant – or, as he mispronou…
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…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Timothy's Report
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Timothy's Report
by SPCK - N T Wright
Timothy’s Report Thessalonians 3.6-10 Learning to read Paul is a bit like learning to enjoy great music. It’s quite easy to whistle a tune that you’ve heard on the radio or sung in church. The tune probably only lasts for ten seconds or so, and you can recognize and remember it. …
Revelation for Everyone - Two Witnesses
Revelation for Everyone - Two Witnesses
by SPCK - N T Wright
Two Witnesses Revelation 11.1-14 People find many books puzzling, but the Bible is often the most puzzling of all. People find many parts of the Bible puzzling, but Revelation is often seen as the most puzzling book of all. And people find Revelation puzzling, but the first half …
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Unity in Everything
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Unity in Everything
by SPCK - N T Wright
Unity in Everything Philippians 2.1-4 We sat and watched spellbound as the actors moved at what seemed like the speed of light. It was a complex and intricate play, with many layers and double or treble meanings. At times things were happening so fast, all around the stage, that …
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year C