Search Results
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Splendor is Gone
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - The Splendor is Gone
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Splendor is Gone 1 Samuel 4: 1b- 22 In his sermon yesterday, our rector (slightly apologetically) told us he had been watching a TV series about a psychopathic boy whom a police officer had adopted. The boy’s stepfather gave him a “code”: Don’t kill innocent people; make sure…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - The Test
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - The Test
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Test Genesis 21: 33- 22: 2 I am writing at the beginning of Lent, and I have been thinking about the story of Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness, when he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Every time I get to the end of that sentence, I hav…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - The Universal and the Local
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - The Universal and the Local
by SPCK - John Goldingay
The Universal and the Local JOSHUA 22:1- 34 Like a number of denominations, the Anglican/Episcopal church to which I belong is in a mess because different parts of the world and different groups in the same parts of the world hold conflicting views about the real nature of Christ…
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - There are Times When You Have to Choose
1 and 2 Kings for Everyone - There are Times When You Have to Choose
by SPCK - John Goldingay
There Are Times When You Have to Choose 1 Kings 18:19-46 The soccer World Cup is about to start in South Africa, and I have just had a letter about it from a friend in Lebanon. Lebanon doesn’t have a team playing in the World Cup, so people in that country choose a foreign team t…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - They All Did What was Right in Their Own Eyes
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - They All Did What was Right in Their Own Eyes
by SPCK - John Goldingay
They All Did What Was Right in Their Own Eyes JUDGES 17:1-13 I am an Episcopalian/Anglican priest, but I don’t really believe in priesthood. One of the first things God pointed out at Sinai was that the whole people of God is a priesthood (see Exodus 19), and the New Testament re…
Psalms for Everyone - Throwing Things onto God
Psalms for Everyone - Throwing Things onto God
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Throwing Things onto God Psalm 55 A therapist friend of mine has described to me the process she goes through after spending a day listening to clients, who unburden themselves of their hurts, sufferings, and sins. It seems that these burdens have to go somewhere, a little like t…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - To Put It Another Way
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - To Put It Another Way
by SPCK - John Goldingay
To Put It Another Way… Genesis 2: 4b-7 There is a children’s story about Pinocchio, a wooden doll carved from a piece of pine who longs to become a real boy. After a series of adventures that come to a climax with his making a great sacrifice, this eventually happens, and everyon…
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Unlikely Saviors
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - Unlikely Saviors
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Unlikely Saviors JUDGES 3:5- 31 My father was a machine minder in a printing works, and my mother was a seamstress. I was the first person in my extended family to stay at school beyond the age of fourteen. I have more than thirty cousins; only one other has been to college. I am…
Job for Everyone - When Life Falls Apart
Job for Everyone - When Life Falls Apart
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Covenant or Contract Job 1: 6-12 Yesterday the air-conditioning/heating maintenance office called. After we had a big problem with the air conditioning last year, I took out a maintenance contract to try to avoid a recurrence of problems of that magnitude, so I now pay a certain …
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - When God Finds It Hard to Be Tough
Joshua, Judges and Ruth for Everyone - When God Finds It Hard to Be Tough
by SPCK - John Goldingay
When God Finds It Hard to Be Tough JUDGES 10:1- 11:29 In my prayers each day (well, most days, to be honest), I pray either for the nation or for the church in our nation. I do so against the background of the fact that nations grow and triumph and then decline and fall, and that…
Isaiah for Everyone - Where to Look for Guidance
Isaiah for Everyone - Where to Look for Guidance
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Where to Look for Guidance? In Mexico, and in Mexican communities in places such as Los Angeles, there’s a lively movement of prayer to Santa Muerte, Saint Death. You pray to her for protection from the dangers of the night, in the conviction that she can protect you from attack,…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Words that Cannot Be Undone
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Words that Cannot Be Undone
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Words That Cannot Be Undone Genesis 27:34- 28:5 In lots of ways, words are powerful things. We can say things and wish we had not said them yet be unable to get out of their implications. A woman I know stood at the front of church and made her marriage vows, then subsequently di…
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Your Name Will Be Abraham
Genesis for Everyone Part 2 - Your Name Will Be Abraham
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Your Name Will Be Abraham Genesis 17: 1-6 Names are important. My middle name is Edgar, which was my father’s first name. When I was being baptized, family legend says my grandmother leaned over to my mother and asked why it was not also to be my first name. My mother allegedly r…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Christ the King Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Christ the King Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
Christ the King Jeremiah 23.1–6 Colossians 1.11–20 Luke 23.33–43 Shepherds, shepherding stories, and shepherding metaphors abound throughout the Bible, as one would expect in that culture. The creative thing in Israel’s traditions, though, was the development of ‘the shepherd’ as…
Isaiah for Everyone - A Sign of Hope
Isaiah for Everyone - A Sign of Hope
by SPCK - John Goldingay
A Sign of Hope My wife’s son-in-law returned yesterday from one of his recurrent trips to meet with Darfuri refugees in Chad to encourage them, show some interest on the part of people from the United States, and look for ways of advocating for them. The focus of activity on this…
Job for Everyone - And They All Lived Happily Ever After
Job for Everyone - And They All Lived Happily Ever After
by SPCK - John Goldingay
And They All Lived Happily Ever After Job 42:1- 17 I have often asked people whether they like the ending of the book of Job. The majority do not because it seems unrealistic, in that they know many people who do not have a happy ending to their story in the way that Job does. My…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - But God Remembered Noah
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - But God Remembered Noah
by SPCK - John Goldingay
But God Remembered Noah Genesis 8: 1-22a There are several restaurants and clubs where I take my wife in her wheelchair and where they invariably both remember us and are mindful of us. When I call to make a reservation, they remember us (it’s partly the odd accent), and when we …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How Our Faithlessness Magnifies God’s Faithfulness