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Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Being Open to the Unexpected
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - On Being Open to the Unexpected
by SPCK - John Goldingay
On Being Open to the Unexpected Psalm 113-114 In commenting on Psalm 108, I spoke of a friend’s Pentecostal church that seemed to have no more expectation of God’s acting than evangelical or mainline churches do. But yesterday I sat in the ophthalmologist’s waiting room reading a…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Prosperity Gospel Redefined
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The Prosperity Gospel Redefined
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Prosperity Gospel Redefined Psalm 112 My wife used to work for one of the most successful and wealthy people in the United States (this did not mean she brought a wonderful dowry into our marriage). Her job was to help him do something with his money, and the projects she was…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Trust or Control
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Trust or Control
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Trust or Control Psalm 115 Today I received a much-forwarded e-mail with a moving story about a woman showing a caring attitude to a homeless guy and his mentally challenged friend who showed up in a fast-food restaurant. The e-mail promised that if in turn I forward the e-mail t…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Creation as a Reason for Hope
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Creation as a Reason for Hope
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Creation as a Reason for Hope Psalm 147 Six centuries before Christ, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed, and many of its people were taken off into exile in Babylon. Not surprisingly, over time they became demoralized and found it hard to believe that God was ever going to be in…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Wishing and Hoping
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Wishing and Hoping
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Wishing and Hoping Psalm 130-131 It’s the beginning of Advent, when we start thinking about the first coming of Jesus but also about his second coming. The sermon on Sunday related to why the second coming matters and the reason for believing it will happen. It matters because Je…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The God of Redress
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - The God of Redress
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The God of Redress Psalm 94 As I write, hundreds of people are encamped in a park near Wall Street, their base for protesting the fact that the 1 percent of the U.S. population, of whom Wall Street is a symbol, have a greater net worth than the entire bottom 90 percent, with many…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - What Sabbath Worship Looks Like?
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - What Sabbath Worship Looks Like?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
What Sabbath Worship Looks Like? Psalm 92 If I am preaching on Sunday, instead of giving a ten- to fifteen-minute sermon after the Scripture readings (Episcopalians are not used to long sermons), I have gotten into the habit of talking for a few minutes after each of the three re…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Is the Earth Vulnerable?
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Is the Earth Vulnerable?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Is the Earth Vulnerable? Psalm 93 I just saw a fabulous picture of the earth taken from above the North Pole. I know in theory that Canada, Greenland, Russia, Norway, and Alaska almost meet in the Arctic, but I am so used to the regular Mercator Projection world map that I don’t …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - God’s Time and Our Time
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - God’s Time and Our Time
by SPCK - John Goldingay
God’s Time and Our Time Psalm 90 My first mother-in-law used to say that time went faster the older you got, and I used to tell myself that really she was simply afraid of the approach of death. As I have gotten older, I have realized that she was right, and I see that my realiza…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - A Cry from the Grave
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - A Cry from the Grave
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Cry from the Grave Psalm 88 Last night we watched a movie called Incendies about a family caught in an intracommunity conflict in Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s. It was a fictional movie, but much of the story could be replicated in factual accounts of what happened to people d…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Has God Changed?
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Has God Changed?
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Has God Changed? Psalm 77 One of our students came to see me to ask me to meet with another student whose life seemed to be falling apart and who was talking about suicide. The woman had been married for twenty years; her first husband had been “the love of her life.” Then he bec…
Psalms for Everyone - The God of Atonement and the God of the Harvest
Psalms for Everyone - The God of Atonement and the God of the Harvest
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The God of Atonement and the God of the Harvest Psalm 65 A lively but respectable-looking student was telling me her life story. She had reacted against a Christian upbringing while she was at college and (among other things) had become involved with drugs and with a guy who was …
Psalms for Everyone - There Is No God Here
Psalms for Everyone - There Is No God Here
by SPCK - John Goldingay
There Is No God Here Psalm 53 Yesterday, my wife and I walked through crowds of people whose faces seemed to say, “There is no God here.” They were crowds walking up and down the pier at Santa Monica among the stands selling ice cream and sunhats and hotdogs. They should have bee…
Psalms for Everyone - You Are Not Alone
Psalms for Everyone - You Are Not Alone
by SPCK - John Goldingay
You Are Not Alone Psalm 3 When I watch a thriller such as one from The Bourne Identity trilogy, I wonder what it would be like to have everyone against me and not be able to trust anyone. Then I come out of the story at the end and realize that it’s just a story. But last night w…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Don’t Trust in Leaders
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Don’t Trust in Leaders
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Don’t Trust in Leaders Psalm 146 I remember the winter’s day when I announced to the students at the theological college in England where I used to be the principal that I would be leaving the coming summer. To my surprise, it aroused a feeling of anxiety among a number of studen…
Psalms for Everyone - The Way Prayer Makes a Difference
Psalms for Everyone - The Way Prayer Makes a Difference
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Way Prayer Makes a Difference Psalm 6 Two of my friends are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary, and I have been asked to contribute to the greetings book that will be presented to them at the celebratory party. So I wrote that my first wife, Ann, sat up in her cot i…
Psalms for Everyone - How to Deal with Unfulfilled Promises