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Luke for Everyone - David's Son and the Widow's Mite
Luke for Everyone - David's Son and the Widow's Mite
by SPCK - N T Wright
David’s Son and the Widow’s Mite Luke 20.41-21.4 ‘Can you get this balloon into that box?’ I asked the little children at the party. The balloon was big, and the box was small. They tried squeezing it in but it wouldn’t fit. It kept oozing out through their fingers. One little bo…
Hebrews for Everyone - Faith and the Future: The Great Crowd
Hebrews for Everyone - Faith and the Future: The Great Crowd
by SPCK - N T Wright
Faith and the Future: The Great Crowd Hebrews 11.32-40 It is said that on one occasion the sixteenth-century Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila confronted God about her own suffering, and received the response: ‘This is how I deal with my friends.’ ‘Well,’ she replied sharply, ‘in th…
Hebrews for Everyone - Faith and the Future: Moses and the Exodus
Hebrews for Everyone - Faith and the Future: Moses and the Exodus
by SPCK - N T Wright
Faith and the Future: Moses and the Exodus Hebrews 11.23-32 ‘The young man came from a wealthy family. His father was a well-respected figure in the community. Everyone expected the son to follow him in his profession and, like him, attain wealth and noble standing. But the young…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Genuine Faith and Sure Hope
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Genuine Faith and Sure Hope
by SPCK - N T Wright
Genuine Faith and Sure Hope 1 Peter 1.1-9 I am sitting in a newly built room. It was, before, simply a garage, without even a door: almost an open shed. But we needed to transform it into a place where I could work. So, for the first time in my life, I had to deal with architects…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - God's Folly
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - God's Folly
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Folly 1 Corinthians 1.18-25 On 15 March 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated in Rome, a mile or so away from where I am writing these words. His killers were a group of conservative Republicans who thought, with good reason, that Caesar was planning to make himself king of…
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - God's Farm, God's Building
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - God's Farm, God's Building
by SPCK - N T Wright
God’s Farm, God’s Building 1 Corinthians 3.5-11 Was Paul ‘the founder of Christianity’? I found myself embroiled in a debate on that subject a few years ago. From time to time people try to establish a familiar viewpoint: Jesus didn’t really begin Christianity, since he was just …
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Herod's vanity and Death
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Herod's vanity and Death
by SPCK - N T Wright
Herod’s Vanity and Death Acts 12.20-25 Whether or not Luke was aware of the comic value of the previous interlude, he was certainly aware of the powerful impact of the story with which he now closes the first half of his book. The official king of the Jews plays at being a pagan …
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Herod Kills James
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Herod Kills James
by SPCK - N T Wright
Herod Kills James Acts 12.1-5 What makes a monarch act violently towards his subjects? That question presses upon us at this point in Acts, because up to now we have heard nothing of Herod in this book. Parallels from other places, and other periods of history, may or may not be …
The Pastoral Letters - Human Families and God's Family
The Pastoral Letters - Human Families and God's Family
by SPCK - N T Wright
Human Families and God’s Family 1Timothy 5.1-8 I know a wonderful couple who have 11 children. Mind you, they didn’t have 11 together. His first wife died; her first husband died; they then met and married; and when they put his six and her five together, lo and behold, they had …
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - How Salvation is Worked Out
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - How Salvation is Worked Out
by SPCK - N T Wright
How Salvation is Worked Out Philippians 2.12-18 It was an ugly city. The fine old buildings had been pulled down over the years, and they had been replaced by huge square concrete monstrosities. They were designed for function, not good looks – though by the time I went there the…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Is Jesus from God?
John for Everyone Part 1 - Is Jesus from God?
by SPCK - N T Wright
Is Jesus from God? John 9.24-34 One of the most depressing things about war is the way in which both sides routinely invoke God on their side. People now joke about the First World War, in which British army chaplains were praying to God for victory while a few hundred yards away…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Jesus Before Caiaphas
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - Jesus Before Caiaphas
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Before Caiaphas Matthew 26.57-68 Have you ever watched two people speaking to each other in different languages, neither understanding the other? Sometimes it’s funny, and effective. I remember watching with surprise and delight as my daughter, aged about five, played on ho…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and the Woman
John for Everyone Part 1 - Jesus and the Woman
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and the Woman John 4.16-26 A friend of mine described the reaction when he went home, as a young teenager, and announced to his mother that he’d become a Christian. Alarmed, she thought he’d joined some kind of cult. ‘They’ve brainwashed you!’ she said. He was ready with th…
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus and Thomas
John for Everyone part 2 - Jesus and Thomas
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus and Thomas John 20.24-31 Out of my window I can see a clock. A large and famous clock, on a great public building. It’s lit up at night, and you can see it from many parts of the city. As I write this, it has just struck the hour. Consider the journey that the clock makes f…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Marriage and Its Challenges
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Marriage and Its Challenges
by SPCK - N T Wright
Marriage and Its Challenges 1 Peter 3.1-7 I remember a wise preacher pointing out that even when people are free to make up their own minds and form their own decisions, most of them quickly find a framework to fit into. They adopt a stereotype; they fit into a pattern; they beha…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Newborn Babies
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Newborn Babies
by SPCK - N T Wright
Newborn Babies 1 Peter 1.22-2.3 I was in the car the other day when a programme came on the radio which won my admiration – for sheer daring. An interviewer had gone to a farm where they were raising different kinds of deer, whose meat they were selling as venison to smart restau…
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Among the Philosophers (I)
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - Paul Among the Philosophers (I)
by SPCK - N T Wright
Paul Among the Philosophers (I) Acts 17.22-34 One of the signs of being really good at chess is that you can play more than one opponent at the same time. Sometimes grand masters will put on a display where they play several different people all at once, walking from one chessboa…
Early Christian Letters for Everyone - Patience and Trust