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Psalms for Everyone - There Is No God Here

by SPCK - John Goldingay

There Is No God Here Psalm 53 Yesterday, my wife and I walked through crowds of people whose faces seemed to say, “There is no God here.” They were crowds walking up and down the pier at Santa Monica among the stands selling ice cream and sunhats and hotdogs. They should have bee…

Psalms for Everyone - Wake Up, God!

by SPCK - John Goldingay

Wake Up, God! Psalm 44 In connection with Psalm 20 I’ve mentioned that our church has just had to accept that we could no longer afford to pay the salary of a pastor. I mentioned this to one of my sons in England, who expressed surprise that such a thing could happen, surmising t…

Psalms for Everyone - When Suffering Links to Sin

by SPCK - John Goldingay

When Suffering Links to Sin Psalm 38 A friend of mine recently gave me a moving description of the Alcoholics Anonymous group to which he belongs. People go to meetings because they are desperate. They know they cannot kick their habit on their own. It’s more like a disease. They…

Psalms for Everyone - I Am Going to Die

by SPCK - John Goldingay

I Am Going to Die Psalm 39 I didn’t think much about dying until my grandson was born, and then the thought came to me that I could die now; I had done my job for the human race’s future by fathering a son who had himself fathered a son. I thought about it again three or four yea…

Psalms for Everyone - Where Is Your God?

by SPCK - John Goldingay

Where Is Your God? Psalm 42 There is a poignant movie called James’ Journey to Jerusalem about a young Zulu who has been designated to be his village’s next pastor. If it were the West he would be sent to seminary, but the village decides that the best way to prepare him for his …

Psalms for Everyone - When Life Continues to Be Darkness

by SPCK - John Goldingay

When Life Continues to Be Darkness Psalm 43 I’ve just been reading a Darfuri refugee’s account of how he came to be in a camp in Chad. As a farmer in Sudan he was tortured by the application of a clothes iron to his back, his legs, his hands, and his head because the members of o…

PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Philemon and the Study of Paul

by SPCK - N T Wright

Part 1: PAUL AND HIS WORLD Chapter One RETURN OF THE RUNAWAY? 2 Philemon and the Study of Paul (i) Introduction This brief study of the small masterpiece we call the letter to Philemon has introduced us, in an actual example, to most of the topics we face as we move towards a ful…

PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Philemon as Allegory: Theology, History and Reconciliation

by SPCK - N T Wright

Part 1: PAUL AND HIS WORLD Chapter One RETURN OF THE RUNAWAY? 3. Philemon as Allegory: Theology, History and Reconciliation What follows now is a jeu d’esprit, a bit of Pauline foolishness for which the reader’s indulgence and pardon is requested. It bears no weight of argument, …

PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Worldview, Theology and History

by SPCK - N T Wright

Part 1: PAUL AND HIS WORLD Chapter One RETURN OF THE RUNAWAY? 2 Philemon and the Study of Paul (iii) From Worldview to Theology and History We have, then, a set of questions about Paul (history, theology, exegesis and ‘application’, each with considerable subdivisions), and a set…

Psalms for Everyone - You Are Not Alone

by SPCK - John Goldingay

You Are Not Alone Psalm 3 When I watch a thriller such as one from The Bourne Identity trilogy, I wonder what it would be like to have everyone against me and not be able to trust anyone. Then I come out of the story at the end and realize that it’s just a story. But last night w…

Prayers for Advent 1 - Year A

by John Birch

Prayers of adoration, confession and thanksgiving for Advent: ADORATION The Advent story of hope and mystery, anticipation, preparation. A kingdom of this world and the next and a king appearing when we least expect. Heaven touching earth... CONFESSION Forgive your people who slu…

Prayers for Advent 3 - Year A

by John Birch

Prayers of Adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving for Advent 3 ADORATION We are blessed if, knowing you as Lord we are obedient to your Word. We are blessed if in our journeying we respond to your call to follow... CONFESSION God of wholeness, healing and power, f orgive our relu…

Prayers for Sunday after Christmas Year A

by John Birch

Prayers for Advent 4 - Year A

by John Birch

Prayers of Adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving for Advent ADORATION We are called, set apart, servants of our heavenly King. We are loved as we are, by grace, a love so amazing... CONFESSION Restore us, O Lord, we pray, bring us back to that place where we first met, as shephe…

Prayers for Advent 2 - Year A

by John Birch

Prayers of Adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving for Advent 2 ADORATION Spirit of wisdom rest upon us, grant us understanding and an increase in our faith. Spirit of knowledge rest upon us, grant us discernment in decisions we must make... CONFESSION Advent God, we journey with …

Prayers for Christmas Day - Year A

by John Birch

Prayers of Adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving for Christmas Day ADORATION From the very beginning was Your Word which spoke this world into being, Your Word which thunders from the skies, Your Word... CONFESSION You gave your all to the world in the bleakness of that stable. …

Prayers for Stir up Sunday

by Christine Dutton

Prayers for Stir up Sunday as we begin our advent preparations. Loving Jesus, Thank you for the coming of advent, for the time to prepare, for the time to receive others as the host or be the guest in the home of family or friends. As we stir our Christmas puddings, as we mix our…

Journeying with Matthew Lectionary Year A - Further reading and resources

by SPCK - Woodward, Gooder and Pryce

Further reading and resources There are many good commentaries on Matthew’s Gospel. The one you choose will be down to your own personal taste. The list below is not exhaustive but gives you a sense of some of the most important works...