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2 Corinthians - The Vision and the Thorn
2 Corinthians - The Vision and the Thorn
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Vision and the Thorn 2 CORINTHIANS 12.1-10 Daedalus was a legendary Greek sculptor and craftsman, famous throughout the ancient world for his many clever inventions. It’s probable that he really did exist, though many of the stories about him and his work are clearly made up …
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - The Two Olive Trees
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - The Two Olive Trees
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Two Olive Trees ROMANS 11.16-24 ‘This place isn’t big enough for both of us!’ We’ve all heard it, or perhaps even said it. Sometimes it’s in an office where two managers are both wanting their plans to go ahead. Sometimes it’s in a sports team where two players both want to b…
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The First Sunday of Christmas Year C
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The First Sunday of Christmas Year C
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The First Sunday of Christmas 1 Samuel 2.18–20, 26 Colossians 3.12–17 Luke 2.41–52 To get the full picture of what is going on in the reading from 1 Samuel, we really need the verses that the lectionary chooses to leave out. The story is actually about different kinds of sonship.…
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year C
Lectionary Reflection Year C - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year C
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday of Christmas Jeremiah 31.7–14 Ephesians 1.3–14 John 1.10–18 What is grace? Both John and Ephesians have the word more than once. It’s a word that we use quite frequently in Christian circles. Most meetings I go to, you know when they’ve ended because someone say…
Poem: The wisdom of women: discernment of thought
Poem: The wisdom of women: discernment of thought
by Andrew Pratt
The wisdom of women: discernment of thought, with love's intuition that cannot be bought; how long will we limit these God given gifts while fudging church unity, fearful of rifts? All people are worthy and all have a place, all people are gifted with God-given grace, yet barrier…
Poem: A sacramental union
Poem: A sacramental union
by Andrew Pratt
Poem: A sacramental union A sacramental union that none can put apart, and those who sought to fudge the law, were challenged from the start. The Pharisees were undermined, the laws would stay in place, with subtle ways of subterfuge destroyed without a trace. Continues... © Andr…
This day we remember the passage to freedom
This day we remember the passage to freedom
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: This day we remember the passage to freedom Proper 18 Year A Exodus 12: 1 – 14 This day we remember the passage to freedom, the Exodus journey, redemption at hand the Passover meal we recall at this season, the sign of God's faithfulness brought to the land. This day we rem…
This is the only earth we know
This is the only earth we know
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: This is the only earth we know Proper 20 Year A Philippians 1: 21 – 30 This is the only earth we know, all else is speculation, and though our visions lead us on, this is the time for action. Within the company of friends and those ranked round about us, is where we share t…
We cannot judge another's way
We cannot judge another's way
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: We cannot judge another's way Proper 11 year A Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 We cannot judge another's way, however clear our view might be, we do not have the eyes of God, we do not have the sight to see. We look at those who stand around, what brought them to this time and plac…
We gather in this holy space
We gather in this holy space
by Andrew Pratt
We gather in this holy space. We pray in penitence and awe. Your spirit moves within this place, we bow, as we have done before. Your law is written on each heart, your love will penetrate each soul, you bring through music, thought and art a covenant to make us whole. Verses 3-4…
What happened to the covenant
What happened to the covenant
by Andrew Pratt
What happened to the covenant, the rainbow in the sky, that signed an end to flood and storm? Still people stand and cry. The floods still come, the waters rage, while homes are swept away, the covenant, of which God spoke, seems of another day. Verses 3-5 follow © Andrew Pratt…
When Moses uttered, ones who heard
When Moses uttered, ones who heard
by Andrew Pratt
When Moses uttered, ones who heard assumed he spoke for them, for now, not for some future time or place still wanting of a Saviour's grace. And yet those words would resonate beyond that early utterance, would still have force in later years to speak to latent needs and fears. V…
When roots grow deep and branches rise
When roots grow deep and branches rise
by Andrew Pratt
When roots grow deep and branches rise they mirror faith secure in grace. And from this ground thanksgiving grows beyond this time, in every place. Verses 2 follows Tune: BRESLAU Metre: LM Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 12/7/2013 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stain…
Times and Seasons - Where can a sense of grace be found
Times and Seasons - Where can a sense of grace be found
by Andrew Pratt
Where can a sense of grace be found? Where is God's song of love to sound? We need to hear that we are safe when words of criticism chafe. Verse 2 follows Tune: RIVAULX Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 19/2/2014 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.co.uk. Please in…
See the veins that run through marble
See the veins that run through marble
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: See the veins that run through marble Proper 16 year A Isaiah 51: 1 – 6 See the veins that run through marble, making every slab unique, like them, strands run through our history, through our thoughts and words we speak. We are hewn from living history, formed by comfort, …
Times and Seasons - So easy now to judge – original sin?
Times and Seasons - So easy now to judge – original sin?
by Andrew Pratt
So easy now to judge – original sin? So easy now to judge: that one was right, another wrong. But we were never there in the narrow trench or corridor of power. We never heard the thunder’s fire, nor found ourselves strung up upon the wire. We never had to make that bleak decisio…
Sometimes, O God, our weariness