Search Results
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 13 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 13 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 13 Isaiah 55.1–5 Romans 9.1–5 Matthew 14.13–21 The pain in Paul’s words is tangible, and made even more poignant by the victorious assurance of the end of chapter 8. Paul has just been asserting that nothing can ‘separate us fr…
Occasions for Alleluia - Introduction
Occasions for Alleluia - Introduction
by SPCK - David Adam
Introduction One Easter on Holy Island, a few things suddenly came together. During Lent I had been reading A. N. Wilson’s novel, A Bottle in the Smoke, and I came across this passage describing the main character, Julian Ramsey, falling in love for the first time:..
Imagining the Lectionary: Held firm and strong (Epiphany 3B)
Imagining the Lectionary: Held firm and strong (Epiphany 3B)
by David Perry
Imagining the Lectionary: Held firm and strong (Epiphany 3B) Reflection accompanying images “Held firm and strong 1”, “Held firm and strong 2” and “Held firm and strong 3” The cross-shaped mooring bollards in the photographs convey such a real sense of hefty, unbreakable streng…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Trinity Sunday Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Trinity Sunday Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Trinity Sunday Isaiah 6:1-8 Romans 8.12-17 John 3:1-17 John Donne, the great seventeenth-century Anglican poet, said in his Litanie that the doctrine of the Trinity is ‘Bones to Philosophy, but milk to faith’.1 Bones and milk are both provided by today’s readings. The belief that…
Revelation bible study guide - New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem
Revelation bible study guide - New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem
by SPCK - N T Wright
New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem Revelation 21:1-21 There are some moments in life when we say to ourselves, “Everything is going to be different now. This is entirely new. This is a whole new world opening up.”...
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Main Point
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Main Point
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Main Point Hebrews 04: 14-10: 39 The central section consists in large part a series of technically sophisticated allegorical arguments from Scripture arguing that Jesus is a suitable and effective high priest, indeed, the great high priest of “the true tent that the Lord, an…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 17 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 17 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 17 Song of Solomon 2.8-13 James 1.17-27 Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23 The main bit missing from Mark 7 is about nullifying God’s word through human tradition. Hmmm. Granted, there are two different issues at stake here: cleanness and uncleanness (with a further subdivision: cle…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Stephen Tells the Story
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Stephen Tells the Story
by SPCK - N T Wright
Stephen Tells the Story Acts 7.1-16 One of the most obvious differences between cricket and baseball is the way the ball is projected towards the person who is trying to hit it. As most people will know, the person who ‘pitches’ in baseball stands on a single spot, where he (or s…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 8 Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - Proper 8 Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time Proper 8 Jeremiah 28.5–9 Romans 6.12–23 Matthew 10.40–42 Ours is an age with a great deal of interest in ‘spirituality’. We have rediscovered that ‘spirituality’ is good for us and, like exercise and a low-fat diet, we pursue it, but …
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Last Sunday after Trinity Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Last Sunday after Trinity Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Lectionary reflections - Year A Ordinary Time The Last Sunday After Trinity Leviticus 19.1–2, 15–18 1 Thessalonians 2.1–8 Matthew 22.34–46 1 Thessalonians is almost certainly the oldest document in the New Testament. As in so many other things, Paul is a pioneer. It is hard for u…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Fifth Sunday of Easter Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Fifth Sunday of Easter Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 8.26-40 1John 4.7-21 John 15.1-8 The writings of John, both in the Gospel and the epistles, are bafflingly determined not to come down on one side or the other of the ‘chicken or egg’ question. Which comes first, love of God or love of our neighbou…
Transforming Preaching - A step-by-step guide to sermon preparation
Transforming Preaching - A step-by-step guide to sermon preparation
by SPCK - David Heywood
3 A step-by-step guide to sermon preparation If you want to bake a cake, you need to include certain basic ingredients. You can vary the amounts and there is a huge variety of other things you can add to make cakes of many different kinds. But without the basics, you don’t have a…
Intercessions - I want to serve
Intercessions - I want to serve
by Jane Bingham
Intercessions for use alongside “I want to serve the purpose of God” Lord we pray for our world broken by war and conflict. Conscious of people living without homes, water and food whilst we have all we need. Conscious of people facing war just along the road from their village r…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Look Upon Their Threats