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Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday of Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4–13 Matthew 3:1–12 ‘His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord’ (Isaiah 11.3).Yes, no doubt, but the Hebrew word for ‘delight’ actually means ‘smell’. This may be just a metaphor, borrowed perhaps from the cultic co…
Revelation for Everyone - Babylon's Judgement
Revelation for Everyone - Babylon's Judgement
by SPCK - N T Wright
Babylon’s Judgement Revelation 18.9-24 We smelt it before we saw it: a sour, bitter stench which seemed to cling to the nostrils. We looked at one another and ran outside. There, about a mile away, but with a gentle wind carrying it in our direction, was a cloud of thick, grey-bl…
Revelation for Everyone - Babylon's Plagues
Revelation for Everyone - Babylon's Plagues
by SPCK - N T Wright
Babylon’s Plagues Revelation 18.1-8 One of the constant problems in a small country like mine is the challenge of where everyone is going to live. Despite government regulations which, in theory, protect what is called ‘green belt’, one hears almost every day of this developer, t…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Back to Peter
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Back to Peter
by SPCK - N T Wright
Back to Peter Acts 9.32-42 ‘When I look out of the window from where I am sitting, I have two quite different types of view. If I stretch my eyes and look through the trees (it is still spring, and the leaves have not yet blocked the view) I can see the ruined castle, standing on…
Hebrews for Everyone - Better Ministry, Better Covenant
Hebrews for Everyone - Better Ministry, Better Covenant
by SPCK - N T Wright
Better Ministry, Better Covenant Hebrews 8.1-6 When my sons were little, we gave them a game they could play at home. It was a type of football; except that you played it on a table top, with plastic figures an inch or two high. You had to flick them with your finger, so that the…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Bearing One Another's Burdens
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Bearing One Another's Burdens
by SPCK - N T Wright
Bearing One Another’s Burdens Galatians 6.1-5 I was reading the autobiography of a world-famous cricketer. He described how for his first ten years in the game the team he played for never succeeded in winning a major trophy. They had star players, many of them of much better qua…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - A Huge Row
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - A Huge Row
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Huge Row Acts 15.36-41 There is no point beating about the bush with this one. There are times in church work when leaders, including bishops, really want to knock two people’s heads together and tell them not to be so pig-brained (though actually most pigs wouldn’t dream of be…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - A Life of Love
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - A Life of Love
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Life of Love Thessalonians 4.9-12 ‘I don’t care too much for money,’ sang the Beatles (ironically, just as they were earning millions); ‘Money can’t buy me love.’ Now that is of course true. But ‘love’ is a strange word in most languages, and there are connections between love …
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - A Year in Corinth
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - A Year in Corinth
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Year in Corinth Acts 18.1-11 This morning, knowing I was going to be thinking about Corinth, I helped myself to a big bowl of Greek yoghurt and honey for breakfast. It still takes me straight back to the little streetside cafe where, in the early 1990s, I first tasted that simp…
Revelation for Everyone - A Second Monster
Revelation for Everyone - A Second Monster
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Second Monster Revelation 13.11-18 I sat in the room, surrounded by shelf after shelf of old books. It felt good. When we took a break from the seminar (it was in a hotel in a large American city), I got up and walked over to the nearest bookcase to inspect what treats it might…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham is the Father of All Believers
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham is the Father of All Believers
by SPCK - N T Wright
Abraham Is the Father of All Believers ROMANS 4.13-17 I had an angry email today from a Jewish Christian who objected strongly to something I had said, very cautiously, about the current problems in the Middle East. (I lived and worked in Jerusalem some years ago, and I still hav…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham the Father of Both Uncircumcised and Circumcised
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Abraham the Father of Both Uncircumcised and Circumcised
by SPCK - N T Wright
Abraham the Father of Both Uncircumcised and Circumcised ROMANS 4.9-12 One of the most solemn moments of a wedding ceremony comes when the bride and groom give or exchange rings. I have taken many weddings in my time. I have also stood there as a proud father for the weddings of …
Revelation for Everyone - A Little Scroll
Revelation for Everyone - A Little Scroll
by SPCK - N T Wright
A Little Scroll Revelation 10.1-11 One of the most famous baseball umpires of all time, Bill Klem, earned his reputation by insisting that the umpire’s word was not only final, but in a sense creative. On one celebrated occasion, he waited a long time to call a particular pitch. …
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Address in Antioch
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Address in Antioch
by SPCK - N T Wright
Address in Antioch Acts 13.13-25 I sat in the small meeting room, intrigued at what I was hearing. I had been invited to a presentation organized by local councillors and businessmen in a particular area. They had a project, and they wanted support for it. There was an old factor…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Adultery and Hypocrisy
John for Everyone Part 1 - Adultery and Hypocrisy
by SPCK - N T Wright
Adultery and Hypocrisy John 7.53-8.11 Two women were brought before the young king. They were prostitutes, and shared a house. Both had given birth, but the son of one of them had died. Now both were claiming the living son as their own. How could anyone tell (in the days before …
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Abraham's Two Sons
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Abraham's Two Sons
by SPCK - N T Wright
Abraham’s Two Sons Galatians 4.21-31 Not long ago, there was an international rugby match played in pouring rain. The pitch became muddier and muddier, and the players got dirtier and dirtier. The spectators couldn’t tell which side was which. Then the referee discovered that eve…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ananias and Saul
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Ananias and Saul
by SPCK - N T Wright
Ananias and Saul Acts 9.11-19a As the concert progressed, I watched the different players in the orchestra. There at the back sat a man who looked very, very bored. In fact, he disappeared for about half an hour at one point. (There are stories of musicians turning up in bars nea…
John for Everyone part 2 - Another Helper