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Great Christian Thinkers - 19 St. Ambrose of Milan
Great Christian Thinkers - 19 St. Ambrose of Milan
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Ambrose of Milan Holy Bishop Ambrose, about whom I now speak to you, died in Milan in the night between 3 and 4 April 397. It was dawn on Holy Saturday. The day before, at about five o’clock in the afternoon, he had settled down to pray, lying on his bed with his arms wide op…
Great Christian Thinkers - 17 St. Hilary of Poitiers
Great Christian Thinkers - 17 St. Hilary of Poitiers
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Hilary of Poitiers I reflect now on a great Father of the Church of the West, St. Hilary of Poitiers, one of the important episcopal figures of the fourth century. In the controversy with the Arians, who considered Jesus the Son of God to be an excellent human creature but on…
Great Christian Thinkers - 33 St. Isidore of Seville
Great Christian Thinkers - 33 St. Isidore of Seville
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Isidore of Seville Saint Isidore of Seville was a younger brother of Leander, archbishop of Seville, and a great friend of Pope Gregory the Great. Pointing this out is important because it enables us to bear in mind a cultural and spiritual approach that is indispensable for …
Great Christian Thinkers - 62 St. Gertrude the Great
Great Christian Thinkers - 62 St. Gertrude the Great
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Gertrude the Great St. Gertrude the Great brings us once again to the monastery of Helfta, where several of the Latin-German masterpieces of religious literature were written by women. Gertrude belonged to this world. She is one of the most famous mystics, the only German wom…
Great Christian Thinkers - 63 St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Great Christian Thinkers - 63 St. Elizabeth of Hungary
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Elizabeth of Hungary Another great woman of the Middle Ages who inspired the greatest admiration is St. Elizabeth of Hungary, also called St. Elizabeth of Thuringia… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by Pope Benedict XVI
The Minister as Entrepreneur - 13 Entrepreneurs in the Bible
The Minister as Entrepreneur - 13 Entrepreneurs in the Bible
by SPCK - Michael Volland
Entrepreneurs in the Bible We can identify various figures in the Bible and in Christian history whose faith in God has resulted in their adopting what might be described as an entrepreneurial approach to their collaboration with God…
Secondary Schools Assemblies Resource Book - The Bible
Secondary Schools Assemblies Resource Book - The Bible
by
Secondary Schools Assemblies Resource Book CHRISTIAN IDEAS THE BIBLE By Gill Hartley Suitable for Key Stage Three Aim To explore and appreciate the variety in and inspiration of the Bible. Preparation and materials • A Bible, preferably a good modern translation, carried in a poc…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The First Sunday of Epiphany Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The First Sunday of Epiphany Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Baptism of Christ - The First Sunday of Epiphany Genesis 1.1–5 Acts 19.1–7 Mark 1.4–11 What is nothingness? We have no concept of it. Our image of it consists of the absence of things that we can picture and describe, which is very different from the nothingness before creati…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 16 Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 16 Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 16 John 6: 56-69 Gaze on Simon Peter. He is standing near to Jesus, and is spokesman yet again for the disciples. He is the first to speak, yet again perhaps too readily. Hear his exclamation: ‘To whom shall we go?’ Listen to his tone of voice. Is he dogmatic or pleading, …
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 15 Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 15 Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 15 John 6: 51-58 Gaze on a typical communion service. In some churches people sit patiently in their pew before being stewarded to the rail. In others, people get up and go when it suits them. There is the circle of people around the altar – the elderly and arthritic stand…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 21 Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 21 Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 21 Mark 9: 38-50 Gaze on Archbishop Cranmer, being led to the stake to die by fire because he would not act against his conscience. In many ways the sixteenth century was more like the time of Jesus than it is ours. Cranmer would have understood more fully the risks and da…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Fourth Sunday before Advent Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Fourth Sunday before Advent Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Fourth Sunday before Advent Mark 12: 28-34 Gaze on Jesus still in the Temple after hours of debate. Imagine him standing in the outer Temple courts where the doves are fluttering and goats bleating and penned ready for sacrifice. Five hundred years old, the Temple is the gold…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 9 Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 9 Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 9 Mark 6: 1-13 Gaze on all the preparations we make for a journey these days. Count the suitcases, shoulder bags, plastic bags, camera cases and picnic hampers that we pile into the back of the car. Today we even need ‘SatNav’ to find our way for us. Gone are the days when…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ascension!
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ascension!
by SPCK - N T Wright
Ascension! Acts 1.9-14 We were having supper with some friends who had recently moved to western Canada. ‘So,’ my wife began, ‘does Vancouver feel like home?’ ‘It’s not home,’ replied the wife energetically. ‘It’s heaven!’ ‘Well, my dear,’ commented her husband, a theologian, rep…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - More than He Bargained for
Acts for Everyone part 1 - More than He Bargained for
by SPCK - N T Wright
There was once a young man who sneaked into church hoping nobody would notice him. The only reason he’d come was because he was keen on a girl who sang in the choir, and he hoped that if he was in the service he’d be able to see her at the end of the service and ask her out. He w…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 18 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 18 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sundays – Year A Ordinary Time Proper 18 Exodus 12.1–14 Romans 13.8–14 Matthew 18.15–20 Jesus’ followers are to struggle to live by the law of reconciliation. It’s always a struggle, but it’s always a law. Some say, of course, that Jesus couldn’t have spoken, as …
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Restoring the Twelve