Search Results
Seek Ye First (The sermon on the mount)
Seek Ye First (The sermon on the mount)
by Colin Smith
Traditional stained glass window in St Johns Methodist Church Hayfield depicting Jesus delivering the sermon on the mount. Image suitable for use in a PowerPoint slide (see below) PowerPoint Slide Size- This image is full size which is 2936 x 2396 pixels and 2.2MB The ideal way t…
THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD - 8 On Reading
THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD - 8 On Reading
by SPCK - N T Wright
On Reading With these examples in mind, we turn to the question: what happens when we read? The remarks in chapter 2 about the nature of knowledge must now be applied to this specific area. What kind of ‘knowledge’ do we gain as we read?…
Letters to London - 4 Bonhoeffer’s “classes” with Ernst
Letters to London - 4 Bonhoeffer’s “classes” with Ernst
by SPCK - Stephen J.Plant and Toni Burrowes-Cromwell
Bonhoeffer’s “classes” with Ernst Among the most striking features of the way Bonhoeffer tackled preparing Ernst for confirmation is the extent to which it looks forward to his future interests more than it looks back to his former interests…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Second Sunday Before Lent Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Second Sunday Before Lent Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday Before Lent - Year A Genesis 1.1–23 Romans 8.18–25 Matthew 6.25–34 Today’s Gospel reading reminds us how important it is not simply to take all passages of Scripture and apply them directly to ourselves, as though they had no original context and no intervening …
How God Became King - 3 The Inadequate Answers
How God Became King - 3 The Inadequate Answers
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Inadequate Answers So what have the churches normally done with the ‘middle bits’, with the ‘body’ inside the ‘cloak’? I have on occasion challenged groups of clergy and laity to tell me what they or their congregations might say if asked what ‘all that stuff in the middle’ w…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Condemnation of Scribes and Pharisees (2)
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Condemnation of Scribes and Pharisees (2)
by SPCK - N T Wright
Condemnation of Scribes and Pharisees (1) Matthew 23.13-22 I once preached a sermon in a church in America. I spoke particularly of the way in which the ancient pagan gods and goddesses were starting to infiltrate our culture once more, and how as Christians we should learn to re…
52 Reflections on Faith - Love your enemies: Israelis and Palestinians
52 Reflections on Faith - Love your enemies: Israelis and Palestinians
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
Love your enemies: Israelis and Palestinians It’s well known that Christianity tells us to love our neighbours. The expression ‘love thy neighbour’ has a special place in the English language and there was once a British TV sitcom with exactly that title…
Journeying with Matthew Lectionary Year A - The Sundays before Lent
Journeying with Matthew Lectionary Year A - The Sundays before Lent
by SPCK - Woodward, Gooder and Pryce
4 The Sundays before Lent Exploring the text The readings for the Sundays before Lent are, with one exception, taken from the first of Matthew’s five narratives and discourses, which we noted in the Introduction to this book (see pp. 7–8). In fact, they are taken from the most fa…
A Bit Like Jesus - Religious hypocrisy
A Bit Like Jesus - Religious hypocrisy
by SPCK - Robin Gill
WEEK 2 Hypocrisy Religious hypocrisy This accusation against religious people is especially strong in the first three Gospels. Within the New Testament the term ‘hypocrite’ is found only in these Gospels. It is always found on the lips of Jesus himself. And it is typically direct…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 2 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 2 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 2 - Year A Deuteronomy 30.15–20 1 Corinthians 3.1–9 Matthew 5.21–37 A real choice with real consequences. The great temptation today is not so much to cast off all moral restraint – few would actually advocate that, though many act from time to time as though that were the…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Infancy Narrative
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Infancy Narrative
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Book II (Psalms 42-72) Book II of the Psalter, like Book I, contains many lament psalms. But unlike Book I, not all of the psalms are attributed to David. The Korahites, who were, according to the book of Chronicles, temple singers during the reigns of David and Solomon, mix thei…
Lent for Everyone Year A - Monday: Week 1 in Lent Year A
Lent for Everyone Year A - Monday: Week 1 in Lent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
WEEK 1: MONDAY Matthew 5; focused on 5.1–12 The worst mistake we can make about this famous and stunning passage is to see it as a list of rules (you’ve got to try hard to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, and so on). It isn’t. It’s a royal announcement that God is turning…
New Testament Prayer for Everyone - Prayer in Secret
New Testament Prayer for Everyone - Prayer in Secret
by SPCK - N T Wright
PART 1 NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING ON PRAYER THE TEACHING OF JESUS PRAYER IN SECRET Matthew 6: 5-6 Once, when living in the Middle East, I went out for a walk in the afternoon. On my way home, feeling slightly hungry, I bought a bar of chocolate at a wayside stall. I got back home, we…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 4 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 4 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sundays – Year A Ordinary Time Proper 4 Genesis 6.9–22; 7.24; 8.14–19 Romans 1.16–17; 3.22b–28 [29–31] Matthew 7.21–29 ‘These words of mine.’ No wonder they thought Jesus was claiming an authority of his own, superior to that of the scribes. They would never have…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The new teaching