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Intercessions for Years A, B and C Book - Proper 1 – Year B
Intercessions for Years A, B and C Book - Proper 1 – Year B
by SPCK - Ian Black
Proper 1 – Year B (Between 4 and 10 February, if earlier than 2 before Lent) Sing and give thanks to the Lord For all his wonderful works. Lord Jesus, amidst clamour and great demands you searched out a deserted place to pray. Give your Church wisdom to be still before you . . . …
Psalms for Everyone - Keep It Simple
Psalms for Everyone - Keep It Simple
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Keep It Simple Psalm 50 It’s kind of complicated being a church. It was brought home to me yesterday when for the first time I took the bunch of church keys that I recently inherited to go for a meeting with a couple whose baby we are going to baptize. There are fifteen keys. I n…
John for Everyone Part 1 - The Snake and the Love of God
John for Everyone Part 1 - The Snake and the Love of God
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Snake and the Love of God John 3.14-21 ‘And mind you watch out for snakes!’ My wife gave me a final warning before I set off into the hills. The footpaths had been closed for several months because of a widespread and infectious animal disease. Many creatures that normally ke…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Third Sunday of Advent Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Third Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Third Sunday of Advent Isaiah 61.1–4, 8–11 1 Thessalonians 5.16–24 John 1.6–8, 19–28 So at last, after weeks of foreboding, of warnings that the coming of the Lord is not something to take lightly or to meet with unprepared, now at last the excitement begins to mount. First o…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Sunday Next Before Lent Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Sunday Next Before Lent Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Sunday Next Before Lent 2 Kings 2.1–12 2 Corinthians 4.3–6 Mark 9.2–9 Elijah is taking part in his own funeral procession. Everywhere he goes, people come out to watch him, the coffin, go past. The people do not speak to him. It’s almost as though they think that he has alrea…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Fourth Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Fourth Sunday of Advent 2 Samuel 7.1–11, 16 Romans 16.25–27 Luke 1.26–38 How can we honour God? How can we show our gratitude for what he has done and promise our obedience for the future? Perhaps our offerings sometimes resemble the mauled mouse that the cat brings in and la…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Second Sunday of Advent Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Second Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday of Advent Isaiah 40.1–11 2 Peter 3.8–15a Mark 1.1–8 The trouble is that we think we know the end of the story. We think that this time of waiting that we call Advent is all building up to the joyful time of Christmas. In fact, it can hardly be called a ‘time of …
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Second Sunday Before Lent Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Second Sunday Before Lent Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday Before Lent Proverbs 8.1, 22–31 Colossians 1.15–20 John 1.1–14 The Sunday lectionary readings do, on the whole, allow us to focus on the central Christian belief that God does all things out of love towards his creation. Even when the readings focus on the suffe…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Third Sunday of Easter Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Third Sunday of Easter Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Third Sunday of Easter Acts 3.12-19 1 John 3.1-7 Luke 24.36-48 The ancient world knew all about ghosts, visions, apparitions, and spooks. Ancient literature has plenty of people being found alive after being supposed dead, plenty of spirits of the dead returning to haunt, spy…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The First Sunday of Advent Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The First Sunday of Advent Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The First Sunday of Advent Isaiah 64.1–9 1 Corinthians 1.3–9 Mark 13.24–37 A monk comes to his abbot, seeking enlightenment. He questions the abbot eagerly and impatiently, firing questions at him. But the abbot says, ‘Just look.’ The monk is very disappointed, ‘I’m always lookin…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Last Sunday After Trinity Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Last Sunday After Trinity Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Last Sunday After Trinity (proper 25) Job 42.1-6, 10-17 Hebrews 7.23-28 Mark 10.46b-52 Three very different prayers. Whatever we think of the ending of the book of Job (some scholars, inevitably, suppose it a later addition; some in our gloomy culture think it spoils the stor…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 24 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 24 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 24 Job 38.1-7 [34-41] Hebrews 5.1-10 Mark 10.35-45 ‘Were you there,’ asks the old song, ‘when they crucified my Lord?’ ‘Were you there,’ the Lord enquires of Job, ‘when I laid the foundation of the earth?’ Both questions receive the answer ‘No’, but for different reasons; …
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Day of Pentecost Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Day of Pentecost Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Day of Pentecost Acts 2.1-21 Romans 8.22-27 John 15.26-27; 16.4b-15 The Holy Spirit has been in danger in recent years of becoming the soppy one of the Trinity. Think about it for a bit – the Holy Spirit doesn’t go off and do uncomfortable and challenging things like getting cruc…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - The Second Sunday of Christmas Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
The Second Sunday of Christmas Jeremiah 31.7–14 Ephesians 1.3–14 John 1.1–18 At the heart of the Christian proclamation of God is the belief that before time, before creation, before the existence of anything but God, God is already love. God’s very nature is the love that flows …
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Christ the King Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Christ the King Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Christ the King Daniel 7.9-10, 13, 14 Revelation 1.4b-8 John 18.33-37 Philip Pullman’s brilliant His Dark Materials trilogy ends with the words ‘and then we’ll build . . . The republic of heaven.’ This is the vision that Lyra holds out to us after all she has learned and suffered…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Easter Day Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Easter Day Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Easter Day Isaiah 25.6-9 Philippians 15.1–11 Mark 16.1-8 After all the horror, and the crowds and the noise of the day of Jesus’s crucifixion, this chapter of Mark’s Gospel starts quietly. We have already seen these women at the crucifixion scene, but we hardly noticed them there…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Christmas Day Year B