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Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham's Faith - and Ours
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham's Faith - and Ours
by SPCK - N T Wright
Abraham’s Faith – and Ours ROMANS 4.18-25 When my family and I emigrated to Canada in the early 1980s, we frequently thought about the early pioneers, arriving in a new and unknown country with no idea what they would find, what the weather would be like, what crops might grow, o…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Apostles on Display
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Apostles on Display
by SPCK - N T Wright
Apostles on Display 1 Corinthians 4.6-13 We walked down the hill in the bright sunshine. This, our guide explained, is where the Roman generals would come when they returned to the city after winning a great victory. They built massive ‘triumphal arches’, some of which are still …
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Announcing the Kingdom
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Announcing the Kingdom
by SPCK - N T Wright
Announcing the Kingdom Matthew 4.12-17 I once knew a small boy (no, it wasn’t me, actually) who used to telephone people at random. When a voice answered the phone, he would say, ‘Are you on the line?’ ‘Yes,’ the unsuspecting victim would reply. ‘Well, get off quick!’ he would sh…
John for Everyone part 2 - Blood and Water
John for Everyone part 2 - Blood and Water
by SPCK - N T Wright
Blood and Water John 19.31-37 He came up at the end of the service and shook me warmly by the hand. ‘I didn’t really know why I was coming here this morning,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t normally have made the effort. I’d have gone somewhere closer to home. But something made me come. A…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Exhortation to Steadfastness
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Exhortation to Steadfastness
by SPCK - N T Wright
Exhortation to Steadfastness 2 Thessalonians 2.13-17 ‘Stand firm and hold on tight.’ When did you last hear those words? On an airport bus, perhaps, taking you from the terminal building to the plane. On a boat ferrying passengers across a busy river. On a narrow mountain ledge w…
The Pastoral Letters - Foolish Words and the Word of Truth
The Pastoral Letters - Foolish Words and the Word of Truth
by SPCK - N T Wright
Foolish Words and the Word of Truth 2Timothy 2.14-19 ‘What we need to know’, said the young lawyer, ‘is what Professor Johnson really means by “reform”. He says he’s proposing a “reform” in the way we admit undergraduates to the College. But the word “reform” really means “the sa…
The Pastoral Letters - God's Kingdom and Generosity - and Ours
The Pastoral Letters - God's Kingdom and Generosity - and Ours
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Kindness and Generosity – and Ours Titus 3.1-8a I went to a spectacular birthday party last weekend. Our host, who was turning 70, had laid on a lavish evening. Nothing had been spared to make his guests comfortable and happy. The food was terrific; the wine of the highest …
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Good News about the New King
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Good News about the New King
by SPCK - N T Wright
Good News about the New King ROMANS 1.1-7 From time to time, scientists have sent space probes to Mars. The object of the exercise is of course to try to find out more about the great planet which, although it’s our nearest neighbour, is still over a hundred million miles away. F…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Beelzebul
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and Beelzebul
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Beelzebul Matthew 12.22-32 ‘How did they do it?’ We stood looking up at the west front of one of France’s great medieval cathedrals. It was massive, majestic and awe-inspiring. At the same time, the overall shaping of the stone was so beautifully worked that it seemed t…
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Calms the Storm
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Calms the Storm
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Calms the Storm Luke 8.16-25 The chairman of the board looked around the room. This was a big decision and everyone knew it. ‘Can we agree on this plan, then?’ he asked. ‘We need to decide.’ Twenty serious faces looked back at him, each with their own portfolio to consider,…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Live Up to Your Calling
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Live Up to Your Calling
by SPCK - N T Wright
Live Up to Your Calling Ephesians 4.1-10 If you buy a new car, what’s the first thing you do? Do you sit down for an hour and read through the manual, to make sure you know every little detail about it before you take to the road? Or do you at once get behind the wheel and go for…
John for Everyone part 2 - My Kingdom Is Not From This World
John for Everyone part 2 - My Kingdom Is Not From This World
by SPCK - N T Wright
My Kingdom Is Not from This World John 18.33-40 The ancient world knew more about kings than we moderns do. Where kings and queens still exist today, they mostly live and work within a carefully constructed framework. They are not ‘absolute’ monarchs, but ‘constitutional’ ones. T…
The Pastoral Letters - Opponents of the Truth
The Pastoral Letters - Opponents of the Truth
by SPCK - N T Wright
Opponents of the Truth 2Timothy 3.1-9 It was a scrappy end to the game, but perhaps it was inevitable. We were winning by what should have been a safe margin; and with a few minutes to go the opposition seemed to realize that their cause was hopeless. Perhaps for that reason, tho…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Opposition in Nazareth
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - Opposition in Nazareth
by SPCK - N T Wright
Opposition in Nazareth Matthew 13.54-58 She came home from school with all the wide-eyed excitement of an eager eight-year-old, clutching the clarinet case to her like a favourite teddy bear. She had had her first music lesson on the new instrument that morning. She couldn’t wait…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Paul's Distress Over the Galatians
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Paul's Distress Over the Galatians
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul’s Distress Over the Galatians Galatians 1.1-9 Imagine you’re in South Africa in the 1970s. Apartheid is at its height. You are embarked on a risky project: to build a community centre where everybody will be equally welcome, no matter what their colour or race. You’ve design…
2 Corinthians - Paul's Plans and God's "Yes"
2 Corinthians - Paul's Plans and God's "Yes"
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul’s Plan and God’s “Yes” 2 CORINTHIANS 1.15-22 One of my students once arrived very late for a tutorial. I was working on an extremely tight schedule, and I wasn’t amused at having the day disrupted. I thought the student needed to know how far out of line his behaviour was. I…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 21 Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Proper 21 Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 21 Jeremiah 32.1–15 1 Timothy 6.6–19 Luke 16.19–end Among the many symbolic actions Jeremiah was commanded to perform, this one stands out as a sign, not of judgement, but of hope: hope for God’s restoration the other side of judgement. Resurrection hope, if you like. He i…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Rivers of Living Water