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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 - 35 John Climacus
Great Christian Thinkers - 35 John Climacus
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
John Climacus In presenting the great writers of the Church of the East and West in the Middle Age, I include the figure of John, known as Climacus. His name is a Latin transliteration of the Greek term klimakos, which means “of the ladder” (klimax). This is the title of his most…
Great Christian Thinkers - 43 Sts. Cyril and Methodius
Great Christian Thinkers - 43 Sts. Cyril and Methodius
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Sts. Cyril and Methodius Saints Cyril and Methodius were brothers by blood and in the faith, the so-called Apostles to the Slavs. Cyril was born in Thessalonica to Leo, an imperial magistrate, in 826 or 827. He was the youngest of seven. As a child, he learned the Slavonic langua…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 6 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 6 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 6 Exodus 19.2–8a Romans 5.1–8 Matthew 9.35—10.8 Christians know that, through the work of God in Christ, made real to them by the Holy Spirit, the world is a different place. We are, to use Paul’s characteristic phrase, ‘justif…
The Post Evangelical - 1 A symbol of hope
The Post Evangelical - 1 A symbol of hope
by SPCK - Dave Tomlinson
1 A symbol of hope It may seem strange to be talking about ‘post-evangelical’ just as others are talking about an evangelical renaissance, yet the subject is of vital concern to an increasing number of people who, for various reasons, feel the urge to explore new possibilities wi…
Mark The People's Commentary - Not Dead but Sleeping
Mark The People's Commentary - Not Dead but Sleeping
by BRF - Dick France
“Not Dead, but Sleeping” After the unhappy confrontation the last time we heard of Jesus in the synagogue in Capernaum (3:1–6), it is a relief to find that at least one leading member of that institution still holds him in high regard, even if it is under the pressure of urgent p…
Many will fall at the sign of the child
Many will fall at the sign of the child
by Michael Docker
Many will fall at the sign of the child, Just as many will rise with him too: The words of the prophecy speak to our world Lord, inspire us with what we must do When the sign is opposed many thoughts will be known As the actions of some make them plain; The Saviour who died holds…
Prayer: This earth, full of your glory
Prayer: This earth, full of your glory
by John Birch
Prayers of Adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving by John Birch ADORATION This earth, full of your glory, praises your name through unspoken words of beauty and peace, reveals your love through hand of stranger and gift of grace. Continues... CONFESSION When we have failed to rec…
Hymn: Lift our hearts, Lord
Hymn: Lift our hearts, Lord
by Michael Docker
Lift our hearts, Lord, with their story - Those who lived by faith before; How they trusted in your glory, How they heard and what they saw. God in Christ was their foundation; You were theirs as You are ours, Faith in every generation Sings its songs and prays its prayers. Once …
Luke for Everyone - The Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus
Luke for Everyone - The Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus Luke 1.26-38 Ask a newspaper editor what sort of stories will sell the most copies, and three categories come swiftly to mind: sex, royalty and religion. If they can be combined, so much the better.’ POP STAR’S LOVE CHILD’ is good; ‘PRINCESS…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Canaanite Woman
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Canaanite Woman
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Canaanite Woman Matthew 15.21-28 One of the great moral and cultural issues of the last hundred years has been racial identity. The world was horrified to learn that the German Nazis had killed six million people whose only crime was to be Jews. The world was then increasingl…
Forgetting the faith that has brought us salvation
Forgetting the faith that has brought us salvation
by Andrew Pratt
Forgetting the faith that has brought us salvation, we lose track of honesty, twist what is true; we grasp at each fortune that fate will present us, calling corruption constructive and new. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: ST CATHERINE’S COURT Metre: 12.11.12.11 Andrew Pratt (born 1948…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - The Fulfilment of the Covenant
Paul for Everyone Romans part 2 - The Fulfilment of the Covenant
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Fulfilment of the Covenant ROMANS 10.5-13 Edward Elgar was the greatest English composer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Among his many works, perhaps the best known is the Enigma Variations. As the second word of its name implies, it is a set of variation…
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Fruitless Fig Tree
Mark The People's Bible Commentary - The Fruitless Fig Tree
by BRF - Dick France
The FRUITLESS FIG TREE A pointless display of power? Interwoven with Jesus’ attack on the traders in the temple is the story of his cursing and destruction of a fig tree because it had no fruit. Jesus’ other miracles save life and restore health, but this one seems quite out of c…
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Central Argument
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Central Argument
by SPCK - N T Wright
Part 1: PAUL AND HIS WORLD Chapter One RETURN OF THE RUNAWAY? 1. A World of Difference (iv) The Central Argument These discussions about the actual situation and the request Paul made have tended, as I said, to make exegetes overlook the point which is just as important in its wa…
Questions whirling wind around us
Questions whirling wind around us
by Andrew Pratt
Questions, whirling wind around us, probe, disturb, unsettle thought; undermine secure perception that our simple faith has caught. Verses 2-3 follow © Andrew Pratt 18/9/2012 Tune: COME REJOICE (Noel Tredinnick, Jubilate Hymns); LAUS DEO (Redhead) Metre: 8.7.8.7 Please include on…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The Teacher's vindication