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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Timothy's Report
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Timothy's Report
by SPCK - N T Wright
Timothy’s Report Thessalonians 3.6-10 Learning to read Paul is a bit like learning to enjoy great music. It’s quite easy to whistle a tune that you’ve heard on the radio or sung in church. The tune probably only lasts for ten seconds or so, and you can recognize and remember it. …
2 Corinthians - Unbearably Crushed
2 Corinthians - Unbearably Crushed
by SPCK - N T Wright
Unbearably Crushed 2 CORINTHIANS 1.8-14 You watch from a distance as a friend walks down the street. You see him turn and go into a house. He strides in cheerfully and purposefully. You wait for a few minutes. Then you see him come out again – only now you see, to your horror, th…
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Unclean Desires, Dishonoured Bodies
Paul for Everyone Romans part 1 - Unclean Desires, Dishonoured Bodies
by SPCK - N T Wright
Unclean Desires, Dishonoured Bodies ROMANS 1.24-27 Imagine someone who knows nothing of music coming across a violin bow. It would be very puzzling. It has obviously been carefully made, they might think; but what is it for? It’s too narrow to be a kind of polishing implement; it…
Revelation for Everyone - Two Witnesses
Revelation for Everyone - Two Witnesses
by SPCK - N T Wright
Two Witnesses Revelation 11.1-14 People find many books puzzling, but the Bible is often the most puzzling of all. People find many parts of the Bible puzzling, but Revelation is often seen as the most puzzling book of all. And people find Revelation puzzling, but the first half …
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Unity in Everything
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Unity in Everything
by SPCK - N T Wright
Unity in Everything Philippians 2.1-4 We sat and watched spellbound as the actors moved at what seemed like the speed of light. It was a complex and intricate play, with many layers and double or treble meanings. At times things were happening so fast, all around the stage, that …
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - We Have Ways of Keeping You Safe
Acts for Everyone Part 2 - We Have Ways of Keeping You Safe
by SPCK - N T Wright
We Have Ways of Keeping You Safe Acts 23.23-35 Richard Adams’ celebrated novel Watership Down draws the reader into the dramatic and complicated world of a group of rabbits. We follow with increasing sympathy and fascination as Hazel and his companions go on their journey. (Adams…
Luke for Everyone - Watching for the Son of Man
Luke for Everyone - Watching for the Son of Man
by SPCK - N T Wright
Watching for the Son of Man Luke 21.34-38 Travel with me, back in time, to Jerusalem. The year is AD 58, nearly thirty years after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Many people in the holy city came to believe in Jesus in the heady days nearly a generation ago, and many of the…
John for Everyone Part 1 - Bread from Heaven
John for Everyone Part 1 - Bread from Heaven
by SPCK - N T Wright
Bread From Heaven John 6.26-35 The historian was in a hurry to finish his Ph.D. There was one chapter to go, which concerned the painting that had been so important during his period, and the influence the artists had had on the wider thought and culture of the time. He went hast…
Hebrews for Everyone - Warning of Judgement
Hebrews for Everyone - Warning of Judgement
by SPCK - N T Wright
Warning of Judgment Hebrews 10.26-31 It was said of the Roman emperor Gaius Caligula, who went mad and did all sorts of bizarre things, that he took to inventing new laws, and having them carved in small letters on tablets and then placed high up on walls, too high for people to …
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Magi visit Jesus
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Magi visit Jesus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Magi Visit Jesus Matthew 2.1-12 I was convinced it was a helicopter. It was a dark night, and a bright light was shining just above the nearby town. Surely, I thought, the police must be out looking for a criminal; or perhaps there had been an accident. We had just come from …
Luke for Everyone - John the Baptist Confronts the Crowds
Luke for Everyone - John the Baptist Confronts the Crowds
by SPCK - N T Wright
John the Baptist Confronts the Crowds Luke 3.10-20 A cartoon shows a sceptic shouting up to the heavens, ‘God! If you’re up there, tell us what we should do!’ Back comes a voice: ‘Feed the hungry, house the homeless, establish justice.’ The sceptic looks alarmed. ‘Just testing,’ …
Luke for Everyone - Opposition to Jesus in Nazareth
Luke for Everyone - Opposition to Jesus in Nazareth
by SPCK - N T Wright
Opposition to Jesus in Nazareth Luke 4.14-30 The commentators were ecstatic after the game. ‘He played like a man inspired,’ they said. What images does that conjure up for you? A sports star, perhaps, running rings round the opposition and scoring a brilliant goal. Or, from a di…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - On Murder and Reconciliation
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - On Murder and Reconciliation
by SPCK - N T Wright
On Murder and Reconciliation Matthew 5.21-26 It happened again the other day. It is sadly common. A leading politician makes a gesture of contempt towards the opposition. Someone on the other side reacts angrily. Soon dozens of people are on their feet, shouting. Insults fly to a…
Revelation for Everyone - Look! He is Coming
Revelation for Everyone - Look! He is Coming
by SPCK - N T Wright
Look! He Is Coming Revelation 1.1-8 The house lights went down, and the excited buzz of audience chatter quickly subsided as well. Soon it was quite dark in the theatre. Then music began, softly and mysteriously at first, but soon building up, swelling and rising. Just as it reac…
Luke for Everyone - The Distress of Jerusalem Predicted
Luke for Everyone - The Distress of Jerusalem Predicted
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Distress of Jerusalem Predicted Luke 21.20-33 At school we were sometimes made to write stories which included several very different characters and objects. ‘Write a story,’ the teacher might say, ‘including a rabbit, a telescope, a cathedral and a man with a wooden leg.’ Of…
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Celebrate in the Lord!
Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters - Celebrate in the Lord!
by SPCK - N T Wright
Celebrate in the Lord! Philippians 4.2-9 You never know when it’s going to happen. Two people who one day are good friends, working alongside each other in the church or community, can suddenly get across each other. A sharp word from one, half-heard by the other; a bitter respon…
John for Everyone part 2 - Mary and her Ointment
John for Everyone part 2 - Mary and her Ointment
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mary and her Ointment John 12.1-8 I always hate it when, in a movie or a novel, a social event suddenly becomes tense and fraught. People who write novels and screenplays seem to like them: anger and bitterness bubbling to the surface, family members losing their tempers with eac…
Hebrews for Everyone - Outside the Old City, Seeking the New