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Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The First Sunday of Advent Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The First Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The First Sunday of Advent Isaiah 64.1–9 1 Corinthians 1.3–9 Mark 13.24–37 A monk comes to his abbot, seeking enlightenment. He questions the abbot eagerly and impatiently, firing questions at him. But the abbot says, ‘Just look.’ The monk is very disappointed, ‘I’m always lookin…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday of Christmas Jeremiah 31.7–14 Ephesians 1.3–14 John 1.1–18 At the heart of the Christian proclamation of God is the belief that before time, before creation, before the existence of anything but God, God is already love. God’s very nature is the love that flows …
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Christmas Day Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Christmas Day Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Christmas Day Isaiah 62.6–12 Titus 3.4–7 Luke 2.1–20 In these verses from Isaiah there is a great sense of subdued excitement, of restlessness, of purposeful movement a little distance away, as the dawn breaks. Actually, this would probably describe almost any household with chil…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday of Epiphany Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Epiphany - Year A Isaiah 49: 1-7 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9 John 1: 29-42 Our question to Isaiah is always, ‘Who is the Servant?’ Israel, replies the prophet (Isaiah 49.3). But the far harder question is, ‘Who is Israel?’ To this, Isaiah gives three concentric answ…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 1 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 1 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 1 - Year A Isaiah 58.1–12 1 Corinthians 2.1–16 Matthew 5.13–20 Isaiah’s stinging rebuke contains the seeds of the Sermon on the Mount. True piety must be part of the outward movement to share your blessing with the world. Fasting is useless if injustice goes unchecked. L…
Times and Seasons - Full Service - Transfiguration Sunday – Last before Lent - Year A
Times and Seasons - Full Service - Transfiguration Sunday – Last before Lent - Year A
by Andrew Pratt and Marjorie Dobson
Transfiguration Sunday – Last before Lent - Year A Service contains: Opening Hymn: Christ, whose glory fills the skies or Bright morning maker Responsive Prayer: Great God, you bring light Hymn: Have faith in God, my heart or God laughs at foolish schemes and plans Reading: Exodu…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Easter Day Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Easter Day Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Easter Day- Year A Jeremiah 31.1–6 Colossians 3.1–4 John 20.1–18 Again you shall plant vineyards; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. Jeremiah echoes Deuteronomy’s promise of covenant renewal, and points forward to John’s Easter garden. Mary was on the right trac…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Easter Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Fourth Sunday of Easter Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Fourth Sunday of Easter - Year A Acts 2.42–47 1 Peter 2.19–25 John 10.1–10 A student of mine spent a long vacation working with local churches in central Africa. Next term, the College Head asked him, in my presence, what he wanted to do with his degree. ‘Work in third world …
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Third Sunday of Easter Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Third Sunday of Easter Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Third Sunday of Easter - Year A Acts 2.14a, 36–41 1 Peter 1.17–23 Luke 24.13–35 Today’s readings bubble over with the excitement of the new moment that has dawned in Israel’s story, in the world’s story, with the resurrection. It isn’t merely that God is offering a new kind o…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Fifth Sunday of Easter Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Fifth Sunday of Easter Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Fifth Sunday of Easter - Year A Acts 7.55–60 1 Peter 2.2–10 John 14.1–14 What are we Christians supposed to feel about the world we live in? All three of today’s readings suggest that, at the very least, the world is not our home. Stephen dies as though death is irrelevant, w…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 3 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 3 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 3 - Year A Leviticus 19.1–2, 9–18 1 Corinthians 3.10–11, 16–23 Matthew 5.38–48 There are two basic mistakes people make about the command to love your neighbour as yourself. The first is to forget the last two words. We aren’t told to love our neighbour with all our heart,…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Seventh Sunday of Easter Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Seventh Sunday of Easter Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Seventh Sunday of Easter - Year A (Sunday after Ascension Day) Acts 1.6–14 1 Peter 4.12–14; 5.6–11 John 17.1–11 ‘When his glory is revealed.’ The ascension gives us a glimpse in advance of the great truth which will one day be unveiled – or rather, the glorious Person who wil…
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Sixth Sunday of Easter Year A
Lectionary Reflections Year A - The Sixth Sunday of Easter Year A
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Sixth Sunday of Easter - Year A Acts 17.22–31 1 Peter 3.13–22 John 14.15–21 It is hard to tell if Paul’s famous speech at the Areopagus is a triumph or a disaster of evangelism. He has done his preparation well – one of the basic rules of preaching. He has walked around the c…
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…
the historical character of Jesus - 2 “The witnessed one”: Jesus in Acts
the historical character of Jesus - 2 “The witnessed one”: Jesus in Acts
by SPCK - David Allen
“The witnessed one”: Jesus in Acts Whatever one’s reason for so doing, the task of engaging with the book of Acts is fraught with interpretative questions. The discourse has two distinct textual traditions – the so-called Western and Alexandrian versions, with not insignificant v…
the historical character of Jesus - 6b James and the Jesus tradition