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Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16.19-31 We have all seen him. He lies on a pile of newspapers outside a shop doorway, covered with a rough blanket. Perhaps he has a dog with him for safety. People walk past him, or even step over him. He occasionally rattles a few c…
Luke for Everyone - Forgiveness, Faith and Obedience
Luke for Everyone - Forgiveness, Faith and Obedience
by SPCK - N T Wright
Forgiveness, Faith and Obedience Luke 17.1-10 There is a famous story about a man who wrote a book with the title, Humility and How I Achieved It. The title is almost as self-contradictory as, in Jesus’ world, the phrase ‘the good Samaritan’ would have been. One of the paradoxes …
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Sends Out the Seventy
Luke for Everyone - Jesus Sends Out the Seventy
by SPCK - N T Wright
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy Luke 10.1-16 I had lunch with a friend who told me how, earlier in the year, his teenage son had been taken seriously ill. For weeks he had been going to doctors and specialists, all of whom had been puzzled by his symptoms. Finally he went to a senior…
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Fig Tree
Luke for Everyone - The Parable of the Fig Tree
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Parable of the Fig Tree Luke 13.1-9 If the New Testament had never been written, we would still know that Pontius Pilate was an unpleasant and unpopular Governor of Judaea. The Jewish historian Josephus lists several things he did which upset and irritated the local Jewish po…
Imagining the Lectionary: Going Underground (Easter 2B)
Imagining the Lectionary: Going Underground (Easter 2B)
by David Perry
Imagining the Lectionary: Going Underground (Easter 2B) Reflection accompanying images “Going underground” and “Peace be with you atomic bomb” The Jam's great 1980 hit "Going Underground" is an edgy, powerful and raw indictment both of a society which fails to challenge and stan…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Wise and Wicked Slaves
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Wise and Wicked Slaves
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Wise and Wicked Slaves Matthew 24.45-51 The managing director was returning from a meeting out of town, when he saw a familiar but unexpected sight. There, turning out of a street ahead of him, was one of his own company’s vans. What was it doing here? The company didn’t do b…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Workers in the Vineyard
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Workers in the Vineyard
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Workers in the Vineyard Matthew 20.1-16 One of the great inventions of modern Western society is the trade union. For far too long those with money, land and privilege shamelessly exploited those who had none. When, after a long struggle, workers with no power except their ow…
Luke for Everyone - Signs of the End
Luke for Everyone - Signs of the End
by SPCK - N T Wright
Signs of the End Luke 21.5-19 A news reader announces that an asteroid passed close to the earth. When they say ‘close’, they mean about half a million miles; but in terms of the solar system, that’s quite near at hand. It shows, as one commentator said, that the planet Earth is …
Luke for Everyone - The Lord's Prayer
Luke for Everyone - The Lord's Prayer
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Lord’s Prayer Luke 11.1-13 The telephone rang. It was a message that my younger son, a singer, was about to get on an aeroplane to go with his choir to the other side of the world. If I was quick, I might just be able to catch him with a call to wish him well. I phoned, caugh…
John for Everyone Part 1 - The Shepherd and the Sheep
John for Everyone Part 1 - The Shepherd and the Sheep
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Shepherd and the Sheep John 10.11-18 I was talking to a friend who had been in business most of his life. ‘The trouble with so many business leaders today’, he said, ‘is that they’re only in it for their own quick profit. Once people were really concerned about making somethi…
Open with God Book - December - International Day of Disabled Persons
Open with God Book - December - International Day of Disabled Persons
by Christine Odell
December – International Day of Disabled Persons (3 December) Calendar of Prayers Reading 2 Corinthians 12.7b-12 Understanding God, you know how it is to be unable to do all you would like because you have chosen not to force us to love and obey you. You know because you are disa…
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Challenge of Forgiveness
Matthew for Everyone Part 2 - The Challenge of Forgiveness
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Challenge of Forgiveness Matthew 18.21-35 Many years ago I was working in a student community. I sometimes assisted in leading worship or preaching for one particular group of students. They were theological students, training for ministry, but shared their accommodation with…
Answered prayer
Answered prayer
by Marjorie Dobson
Reflection - Answered prayer Proper 18 Year A Matthew 18: 15 – 20 The room was quiet. We had gathered to talk about the future of our church – its building and its fellowship. Only a handful of people had bothered to turn up. Perhaps most of the others were beginning to think of …
Poem: The time has come
Poem: The time has come
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem: The time has come As John had said, ‘the time has come.’ So Jesus, bowing to the Jordan’s waves and rising to the words ‘beloved Son’ and ‘well pleased,’ was willing to be made ready, by desert trial, to take his place in the unfolding story of God’s love. Continues... ©Mar…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday of Advent Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - The Second Sunday of Advent Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Advent - Year A Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4–13 Matthew 3:1–12 ‘His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord’ (Isaiah 11.3).Yes, no doubt, but the Hebrew word for ‘delight’ actually means ‘smell’. This may be just a metaphor, borrowed perhaps from the cultic co…
Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Bearing One Another's Burdens