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Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Fourth Sunday Before Advent Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Fourth Sunday Before Advent Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Fourth Sunday Before Advent Isaiah 1.10–18 2 Thessalonians 1.1–12 Luke 19.1–10 Luke cuts Zacchaeus even more down to size, describing him with affected pomposity (‘he was a chief tax-collector! He was rich!’) and then pointing out that he was also a bit too small for his own …
Hymn: A legal agreement gave God and the people
Hymn: A legal agreement gave God and the people
by Andrew Pratt
A legal agreement gave God and the people a new sense of confidence, comfort and peace. The covenant forged led to new understanding, God's spirit within them had brought them release; Verses 2-3 follow Tune: WAS LEBET, WAS SCHWEBET Metre: 12.11.12.11 Andrew Pratt (born 1948)…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Human Inventions and Divine Instructions
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Human Inventions and Divine Instructions
by SPCK - N T Wright
Human Interventions and Divine Instructions Acts 5.27-42 We stared at the parcel as it lay on the floor inside the front door. Nobody had heard the delivery man. Nobody knew why it had arrived at this time of the day. The parcel was bulky, somewhat misshapen, with various semi-le…
Revelation bible study guide - Locusts and Fiery Riders
Revelation bible study guide - Locusts and Fiery Riders
by SPCK - N T Wright
Locusts and Fiery Riders Revelation 9 It is already dark outside, and the wind is getting stronger. You are getting up to close the curtains when all the lights go out: a power failure. As you stumble your way to the cupboard by the back door in search of candles, you sense a col…
Hebrews for Everyone - No Way Back
Hebrews for Everyone - No Way Back
by SPCK - N T Wright
No Way Back Hebrews 6.1-8 I have a vivid memory of learning my ABC. Actually, I learned to read a bit before I went to school, but during my first weeks there I remember the whole class, all 50 of us, singing through the alphabet to a well-known tune. We liked our young teacher a…
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Third Sunday of Advent Year C
Gazing on the Gospels year c - The Third Sunday of Advent Year C
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Third Sunday of Advent Luke 3.7-18 Gaze on all these people arriving at last by the river where John is busy baptizing the penitents. They run on eagerly, but when they get within earshot, they rock back on their heels, as he explodes ‘You brood of vipers!’ Is it for this tha…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Third Sunday of Lent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Third Sunday of Lent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Third Sunday of Lent - Year A Exodus 17.1–7 Romans 5.1–11 John 4.5–42 John’s great sprawling story (what an excellent move to have some of Jesus’ Johannine encounters in full during Lent) offers food for thought at every level. The antipathy between Jews and Samaritans wa…
Revelation for Everyone - The Song of Triumph
Revelation for Everyone - The Song of Triumph
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Song of Triumph Revelation 11.15-19 Inscribed over the high altar in Westminster Abbey, one of the most famous churches in the world, is the King James Version translation of verse 15, which reads, ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Ch…
Times and Seasons - This is the Baptist, unkempt and yet ready
Times and Seasons - This is the Baptist, unkempt and yet ready
by Andrew Pratt
This is the Baptist, unkempt and yet ready, calling the people to listen and act; calling them down to the water for washing, talking of holiness, Godliness, fact. This is the man who will call to repentance fisherman, Pharisee, zealot and priest; here in the river the sinners wi…
What a scandal, such forgiveness
What a scandal, such forgiveness
by Andrew Pratt
What a scandal, such forgiveness, no repentance, just a show, this anointing seems so wasteful, who is she? And does he know? All conventions disconnected, does he know how this will look? See that Pharisee, affronted, all this seems outside his book. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: BETH…
When all is lost, there seems no turning back
When all is lost, there seems no turning back
by Andrew Pratt
When all is lost, there seems no turning back; when friends are gone, while gain has turned to lack; when life has left us in a crumpled heap, we slip and slide, we agonise and weep. Sometimes our lives are spun, flipped upside down, the royal are poor, the beggar wears a crown. …
52 Reflections on Faith - Ash Wednesday: depending on God
52 Reflections on Faith - Ash Wednesday: depending on God
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
4 Ash Wednesday: Depending on God Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the period of 40 days before Easter. Lent is a season of fasting and repentance in preparation for the joyous celebration of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Day. The 40-day period comes from Jesus’ 40 d…
The Women's Bible Commentary - The History of the People and Their Enemies in the Exodus
The Women's Bible Commentary - The History of the People and Their Enemies in the Exodus
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The History of the People and Their Enemies in the Exodus The third part of the Wisdom of Solomon is marked by the sudden eclipse of Woman Wisdom, as God acts directly on behalf of the people…
embodying mark - 4 Following the Shepherd
embodying mark - 4 Following the Shepherd
by SPCK - meda a a stamper
4 Following the Shepherd As in the last chapter, so also here Mark begins a story, interrupts it with another, and then comes round to the first story again. The passage we are exploring now follows on from Jesus’ sending of the disciples two by two in 6.7–13 to participate in hi…
The Act of Prayer Year C - Second Sunday of Advent - Year C
The Act of Prayer Year C - Second Sunday of Advent - Year C
by BRF - John Birch
Second Sunday of Advent Year C Opening prayer This is Advent, the season of preparation. The shops are full of gifts that we might give or receive. Streets are decorated, and choirs begin the rounds of community centres and retirement homes with their seasonal offerings of carols…
Great Christian Thinkers - 15 St. John Chrysostom
Great Christian Thinkers - 15 St. John Chrysostom
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. John Chrysostom The Years in Antioch Recently we observed the sixteenth centenary of St. John Chrysostom’s death (407–2007). It can be said that John of Antioch, nicknamed “Chrysostom,” that is, “golden-mouthed,” because of his eloquence, is also still alive today because of …
Great Christian Thinkers - 8 St. Cyprian