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The Pastoral Letters - Appointing Elders
The Pastoral Letters - Appointing Elders
by SPCK - N T Wright
Appointing Elders Titus 1.5-9 The worst moment was when we realized the pilot had no idea what to do next. We were travelling in a light aircraft, going north from Pretoria in South Africa into Zimbabwe, or Rhodesia as it was then called. There were five of us in the plane: the p…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany - Year A 1 Kings 17: 8-16 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 John 2: 1-11 The third day; it would be. John does nothing by accident. New creation bursts in upon a village wedding, itself a sign of hope. Wine is to water as the new world is to the old; bubbling u…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Light and Darkness
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Light and Darkness
by SPCK - N T Wright
Light and Darkness Ephesians 5.11-20 When I was studying for my undergraduate degree, which was in Classics, I had an idea for a special project. Keen as I was on music, I wanted to find out what sort of music people played and sang in the first century. I became quite excited ab…
The Pastoral Letters - The Battle of Faith
The Pastoral Letters - The Battle of Faith
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Battle of Faith 1Timothy 1.18-20 In the days before ships could navigate by satellite, the compass was the most crucial item on board. Whether it was sunny or snowing, whether it was day or night, whether the ship was on course or off course, the compass was the vital sign th…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - The Messianic Challenge
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - The Messianic Challenge
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Messianic Challenge Acts 13.26-43 At the time I am writing this there is a massive global debate taking place. Led by senior figures in science and government, people everywhere are asking whether the world and its atmosphere are really warming up at the alarming rate that th…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Wisdom for the Rulers
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Wisdom for the Rulers
by SPCK - N T Wright
Wisdom for the Rulers Ephesians 3.8-13 There was once a young prince whose distant uncle was king of a great empire. The prince was carefree and happy, neither very rich nor very poor. One day, a great disaster struck. The king, his uncle, was killed in an earthquake, and all the…
LWPT Meditations - Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B
LWPT Meditations - Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B
by Susan Thorne
Meditation - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr B 1 Samuel 15: 34-16: 13 Psalm 20 2 Corinthians 5: 6-10, 14-17 Mark 4: 26-34 Just as when a man plants seed and does not understand how it grows (Mark 4 v 27), and just as a tiny mustard seed grows to a plant almost like a tree (Mark 4…
LWPT Meditations - Fifth Sunday of Easter - Year C
LWPT Meditations - Fifth Sunday of Easter - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation –5th Sunday of Easter Year C Acts 11:1-18 Psalm 148 Revelation 21:1-6 John 13:31-35 Life in the early Church was not always easy and straightforward. When Jesus died, all his disciples were Jews. In his resurrection he appeared only to Jews, and the first converts were…
How can we live at one with God
How can we live at one with God
by Andrew Pratt
Seventh Sunday after Epiphany Year A Education Sunday Hymn: How can we live at one with God How can we live at one with God, inspired by Christ the living Word, infused with all the Spirit’s power when life is twisted and absurd... Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © Stainer & Bel…
Hymn: Look: gnawed and bleached, dismembered bones
Hymn: Look: gnawed and bleached, dismembered bones
by Andrew Pratt
Look: gnawed and bleached, dismembered bones, a desert valley strewn with stones, a metaphor of hopelessness, for people worn with weariness. It took a poet's way with thought, an image that his mind had caught: imagine flesh and new found life, a counter to historic strife. Vers…
Once born as the Christ-child, and living among us
Once born as the Christ-child, and living among us
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Once born as the Christ-child, and living among us Third Sunday of Easter 1 Peter 17 - 23 Once born as the Christ-child, and living among us, at one with humanity, sharing our pain. betrayed in self-giving, poured out for our living, in thought word and action, God making l…
2 Corinthians - The Messiah's Love Makes Us Press On
2 Corinthians - The Messiah's Love Makes Us Press On
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Messiah’s Love Makes Us Press On 2 CORINTHIANS 5.11-15 ‘What on earth made you do that?’ The newspaper reporter was incredulous. A young woman had just won a competition. The first prize was a three-week trip around the world. The chance of a lifetime. And she had given it up…
LWPT Meditations - Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
LWPT Meditations - Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr C Hebrews 12:18-29 Luke 13:10-17 The author of the letter to the Hebrews is one of the most impassioned writers in the Bible. He is so insistent about his message that one can envisage him as a lapel-grabber, and this week’s passage in…
God shakes and rattles hopes and dreams
God shakes and rattles hopes and dreams
by Andrew Pratt
God shakes and rattles hopes and dreams Fifth Sunday in Lent Ezekiel 37: 1-14 God shakes and rattles hopes and dreams, confounds our plans, destroys our schemes; the bones of faith seem dry and bare, and is God found? And is God there? The desert scene is hot and still, our deser…
Hymn: Upon this groaning, quaking earth
Hymn: Upon this groaning, quaking earth
by Andrew Pratt
Upon this groaning, quaking earth we find the evidence of grace, for here, our God, you nurtured love, brought faith and hope within this place. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: ABENDS Metre: LM Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 5/5/2012 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.c…
The Pastoral Letters - Don't Be Ashamed
The Pastoral Letters - Don't Be Ashamed
by SPCK - N T Wright
Don’t Be Ashamed! 2Timothy 1.8-14 My grandfather was a clergyman, and like many of us who have to stand up and do things in front of other people he had a recurring nightmare. In his dream, he would find himself standing in the pulpit getting ready to preach a sermon, and look do…
Hebrews for Everyone - Faith and the Future: Moses and the Exodus
Hebrews for Everyone - Faith and the Future: Moses and the Exodus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Faith and the Future: Moses and the Exodus Hebrews 11.23-32 ‘The young man came from a wealthy family. His father was a well-respected figure in the community. Everyone expected the son to follow him in his profession and, like him, attain wealth and noble standing. But the young…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - What is the Body For?