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See the husks fly through the air
See the husks fly through the air
by Andrew Pratt
See the husks fly through the air, feel the all consuming fire, see the day of God is near, see the flames are licking higher. That's the image John conveys, bringing people to their knees. Is it penitence or fear, stimulates their present pleas? And within this time and place, a…
Mere Apologetics - 3b Apologetics and a Theological Vision of Reality
Mere Apologetics - 3b Apologetics and a Theological Vision of Reality
by SPCK - Alister McGrath
Apologetics and a Theological Vision of Reality Apologetics is grounded in a deep appreciation of the intellectual capaciousness and spiritual richness of the Christian faith. The task of the apologist is not to make the Christian faith attractive or relevant to the world. Rather…
CHRISTIANITY AND THE RENEWAL OF NATURE - 1d Creative engagement with nature
CHRISTIANITY AND THE RENEWAL OF NATURE - 1d Creative engagement with nature
by SPCK - Sebastian C.H. Kim and Jonathan Draper
Creative engagement with nature Renewing the face of the earth, then, is an enterprise not of imposing some private human vision on a passive nature but of living in such a way as to bring more clearly to light the interconnectedness of all things and their dependence on what we …
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 6 The Gospel according to John
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 6 The Gospel according to John
by SPCK - Edward Adams
The Gospel according to John The Fourth Gospel shares features of the genre of ancient biography with the Synoptic Gospels (size, structure, narrative focus on one individual). Like the Synoptics, John’s Gospel constitutes an ancient “life” of Jesus. It also has in common with th…
journeying with John - 8 Ordinary Time
journeying with John - 8 Ordinary Time
by SPCK - Woodward, Gooder and Pryce
8 Ordinary Time I am the bread of life Chapter 1 began with an exploration of the great Prologue of John’s Gospel. It seems right, therefore, to end the book with an exploration of the other iconic feature of John’s Gospel – the ‘I am’ sayings. Jesus’ various ‘I am’ sayings occur…
The King of the Trees
The King of the Trees
by Kate Abbott
Easter based Reading - Suitable for other points in the year the King of the trees is a reflecton based on Judges 9:8-14 and carries on the stories of the fig, olive, vine and thorn as they come to play their part in the story of Jesus. Extract: Then one day a man, with a red swa…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 4 Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 4 Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Proper 4 Deuteronomy 5: 12-15 2 Corinthians 4: 5-12 Mark 2: 23- 3:6 Today’s passages send out an alarmingly confusing set of messages. On the one hand, Deuteronomy tells us how vital it is to keep the Sabbath, while Jesus seems to suggest that we can sit a bit more lightly to tha…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 24 Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 24 Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Proper 24 Isaiah 53.4-12 Hebrews 5.1-10 Mark 10.35-45 There is an extraordinary consistency in what the New Testament tells us about the mission of Jesus Christ. At the heart of all the great biblical accounts of why the Son comes and how he saves us is the cross. No New Testamen…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday of Easter Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Second Sunday of Easter Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Easter Acts 4.32-35 1 John 1.1-2.2 John 20.19-31 ‘Peace be with you’, said Jesus. And again, two verses later, ‘Peace be with you.’ Like a great bell, a single note with multiple overtones, the promise of peace tolls out across the world. Not just an inner pe…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Third Sunday of Easter Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - The Third Sunday of Easter Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
The Third Sunday of Easter Luke 24.36b-48 Gaze on the reverence with which the scrolls of the Torah are handled in a Jewish synagogue. They are given pride of place, all eyes turned towards them as the doors of the Ark open and there they are, clothed in fine cloth with tinkling …
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Easter Day Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Easter Day Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Easter Day Mark 16.1-8 or John 20.1-18 Gaze at the women, determined to do women’s work, and to honour the body of their friend. They come to anoint him with spices, not thinking ‘This is useless, why bother?’ They do not look for miracles, only the performance of a tradition. Bu…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - An Explanation is called for
Acts for Everyone part 1 - An Explanation is called for
by SPCK - N T Wright
An Explanation is Called for Acts 3.11-16 ‘How did you do that?’ I stood beside the car as it spluttered into life. I had fiddled and jiggled with everything I could, and hadn’t been able to make it start. (This, I should say, was a long time ago, in the days when you could poke …
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ascension!
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ascension!
by SPCK - N T Wright
Ascension! Acts 1.9-14 We were having supper with some friends who had recently moved to western Canada. ‘So,’ my wife began, ‘does Vancouver feel like home?’ ‘It’s not home,’ replied the wife energetically. ‘It’s heaven!’ ‘Well, my dear,’ commented her husband, a theologian, rep…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Restoration and Refreshment
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Restoration and Refreshment
by SPCK - N T Wright
Restoration and Refreshment Acts 3.17-26 I remember a hot, hot walk in the Scottish highlands. (It’s true: there are times, even at altitudes of 4,000 feet, when you can be just as hot in Scotland as anywhere in Europe.) We climbed Braeriach and Cairn Toul, the third and fourth h…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Look Upon Their Threats
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Look Upon Their Threats
by SPCK - N T Wright
Look upon Their Threats Acts 4. 23-31 In the early summer of 1989, I went to Jerusalem to teach, and to work on a couple of books, one of which was about Jesus himself. One day, sitting in my borrowed room at St George’s Cathedral, I was struggling with a few pages I was trying t…
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…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Christ the King Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Christ the King Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christ the King Daniel 7.9-10, 13-14 Revelation 1.4b-8 John 18.33b-37 The ‘Feast of Christ the King’ was invented by Pius XI in 1925. Only in 1970 was it moved from October to the last Sunday before Advent. It slid into Anglicanism very recently, introducing three muddles. First,…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - God's Rescue Plan