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Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Third Sunday of Epiphany Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Third Sunday of Epiphany Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Third Sunday of Epiphany John 2.1-11 And remember, we are still in the season of Epiphany – the showing forth of Jesus to the world. And this is where we find the proper significance of this story. Consider the difference between the meaning of the words ‘sign’ and ‘miracle…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Second Sunday of Epiphany John 1.43-51 Consider what would make you go, on a friend’s say-so, to meet someone who has influenced him or her. Consider what it would take to make you move from ‘come and see’ to ‘follow me’. Consider how much more courage it takes to ‘follow’ …
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The First Sunday of Epiphany Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The First Sunday of Epiphany Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The First Sunday of Epiphany Isaiah 43.1–7 Acts 8.14–17 Luke 3.15–17, 21–22 We now have the middle of Luke 3 for the second time in four weeks, and verses 19–20 are still missing. This mightn’t matter so much if they didn’t relate as closely as they do to the underlying themes of…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Nicodemus
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Nicodemus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Nicodemus John 3.1-13 I have lost my birth certificate. It’s the sort of thing that happens when you move house, which we did not long ago. I know where it was in the old house. It may have been accidentally thrown away; but I suspect it was put into a very, very safe p…
Mark for Everyone - Jesus and Beelzebul
Mark for Everyone - Jesus and Beelzebul
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 3.20–30 Jesus and Beelzebul... ...From the safety of my armchair, I watched the mass demonstration on the TV news. It started peacefully, at least on the surface. Banners and placards gave out a strong message, but the crowd seemed relaxed enough. The polic…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and John the Baptist
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and John the Baptist
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and John the Baptist Matthew 11.1-6 We had rehearsed the show for weeks, and reckoned we had it pretty well sorted out. We were a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs, but we were quite pleased with our singing, acting and dancing. The show was going to be good, funny and excitin…
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Predicts His Death
Mark for Everyone - Jesus Predicts His Death
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 8.31—9.1 Jesus Predicts His Death... ...I watched from a window as the riot police got ready. They looked like sportsmen preparing for a match, putting on pads and helmets, gloves and special outer clothes. Only this wasn’t a game. It was real. They didn’t …
Mark for Everyone - The Calling of the Disciples
Mark for Everyone - The Calling of the Disciples
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 1.14–20 The Calling of the Disciples... ...The poet John Betjeman describes in his verse autobiography how his father put pressure on him to follow him into the family business. The young John had no desire to do so; he wanted to be a poet. That’s just a st…
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Sower
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Sower
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Sower Luke 8.1-15 If Jesus was telling this story today, he might well include other categories as well. What about the seeds that were planted in good soil but were ruined by acid rain? What about the plants that were coming up nicely but were bulldozed by occ…
Isaiah for Everyone - A Day When There Will Be a Song to Sing
Isaiah for Everyone - A Day When There Will Be a Song to Sing
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Day When There Will Be a Song to Sing Our city’s annual Black History Parade this year had the theme “Looking back and remembering: we’ve come a mighty long way.” The words reminded me of the hymn, “We’ve Come This Far by Faith.”…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - An Implausible Promise
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - An Implausible Promise
by SPCK - John Goldingay
An Implausible Promise Genesis 13: 14-18 I can recall two promises God made to me that seemed unlikely to be fulfilled. Both date from about the time I became principal of a theological college in England, which in U.S. terms is a cross between being a seminary president, provost…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Am I in the Place of God?
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Am I in the Place of God?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Am I in the Place of God Genesis 49:29-50:26 A year or two ago, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahoney, was attacked one night near the cathedral. According to reports that surfaced somewhat later, he was punched, knocked to the ground, and kicked. B…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Blood Cries Out
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Blood Cries Out
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Blood Cries Out Genesis 4: 10-13 I write the week after bombings and attacks in Mumbai that killed hundreds of people. “This is our 9/11,” many Indians said. They did not merely mean that these were attacks on a vast and savage scale, carried out with unprecedented sophistication…
Job for Everyone - Comforters? More like Troublemakers
Job for Everyone - Comforters? More like Troublemakers
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Comforters? More like Troublemakers Job 16: 1-17 When I take students through the book of Job in classes, I invite them to let me know the questions it raises for them, and usually someone asks, “So when we are ministering to people who are suffering like Job, what do we say to t…
Job for Everyone - Eliphaz Rewrites Job's Life Rather Than revise His Own Theology
Job for Everyone - Eliphaz Rewrites Job's Life Rather Than revise His Own Theology
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Eliphaz rewrites Jo’s Life Rather Than Revise His Own Theology Job 22: 1-30 My early years of teaching coincided with a time when many churches were rediscovering the possibility of praying for sick people to be healed and of finding that many were healed. It was an exciting redi…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Filled with Violence
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Filled with Violence
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Filled with Violence Genesis 6: 9-22 At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire undertook a systematic attempt to annihilate the Armenian people in Turkey. One to one and a half million people were killed. In the middle of the twentieth century, the Nazi govern…
Psalms for Everyone - Father of the Fatherless, Protector of the Widow
Psalms for Everyone - Father of the Fatherless, Protector of the Widow
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Father of the fatherless, Protector of the Widow Psalm 68: 1-18 In conversations with people who have inquired about getting married or having children baptized in our church, I have been struck anew by how many are children without fathers or mothers without husbands. I think of…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - How Not to Display Accurate Empathy I