SPCK

Warnings Against Compromise Galatians 5.7-12 One of the few times I watch television is when I’m travelling, and find myself in a strange place, with my body-clock telling me I should be awake when it’s the middle of the night. Sitting in a hotel room, and wishing I could go to s…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Freedom in Christ

by SPCK - N T Wright

Freedom in Christ Galatians 5.1-6 The lake freezes over for four months in the winter, to a depth of at least ten feet. People drive not only snowmobiles across it, but even cars and vans. It’s exciting – and also quite convenient – to be able to drive across the water to the vil…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Abraham's Two Sons

by SPCK - N T Wright

Abraham’s Two Sons Galatians 4.21-31 Not long ago, there was an international rugby match played in pouring rain. The pitch became muddier and muddier, and the players got dirtier and dirtier. The spectators couldn’t tell which side was which. Then the referee discovered that eve…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Paul's Appeal to His Children

by SPCK - N T Wright

Paul’s Appeal to His Children Galatians 4.12-20 The French teacher was a strict disciplinarian. We weren’t allowed to speak a word of English during the classes, and neither did he. Everything, even trivial comments or requests, had to be made in French. He was determined that we…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - The True God and the False Gods

by SPCK - N T Wright

The True God and the False Gods Galatians 4.8-11 The whale is one of the greatest sights in the animal kingdom. To go out on a small boat, to wait perhaps for hours, and then to see one of these magnificent creatures come to the surface, or even leap from the water – few can resi…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - The Son and the Spirit

by SPCK - N T Wright

The Son and the Spirit Galatians 4.1-7 If you’ve ever tried to write a story, you have probably discovered that your characters get themselves into muddles from which it’s quite hard to get them out. Several nineteenth-century novelists faced this problem, often with heroes and h…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - The Coming of Faith

by SPCK - N T Wright

The Coming of Faith Galatians 3.23-29 One of the worst evenings of my daughter’s young life was when she was asked to be a babysitter for some friends – a job she had often done before, happily and successfully. Unknown to them or us, the two young children were in a very cross m…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Paul Confronts Peter in Antioch

by SPCK - N T Wright

Paul Confronts Peter in Antioch Galatians 2.11-14 When my brother was at school, he took part in a performance of ‘Noye’s Fludde’ by Benjamin Britten. Actually, he took the part of Noah himself. His costume and make-up were superb. Though he was only 17, he looked like a really o…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Christ the Seed, Christ the Mediator

by SPCK - N T Wright

Christ the Seed, Christ the Mediator Galatians 3.15-22 ‘It’s what he would have wanted.’ How often has that phrase been used to settle an argument, when someone has died and the family are trying to organize the funeral, or the disposal of property, or the appropriate way to brin…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Redeemed from the Law's Curse

by SPCK - N T Wright

Redeemed from the Law’s Curse Galatians 3.10-14 I sat in the traffic jam for two hours. The road signs told me I was pointing in the right direction. From what I knew of the road it looked as though I was in the right place. But nothing was moving. The clock ticked slowly on; I w…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - God's Promise and Abraham's faith

by SPCK - N T Wright

God’s Promise and Abraham’s Faith Galatians 3.1-9 A famous story tells of the tight-rope walker Charles Blondin (1824–97), who set up a rope across Niagara Falls and walked across several times. So confident did he become that he made the journey backwards as well as forwards, an…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Justified by Faith, Not Works of Law

by SPCK - N T Wright

Justified by Faith, Not Works of Law Galatians 2.15-21 A well-known story is told of Margaret Thatcher during the time she was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She was visiting an old people’s home, going from room to room and meeting senior citizens who had lived there a lo…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Paul's Agreement with Peter and James

by SPCK - N T Wright

Paul’s Agreement with Peter and James Galatians 2.6-10 One of the most famous walks in England is along a high ridge in the Lake District called Striding Edge. It runs to the east of the mountain called Helvellyn, one of the highest mountains in England, and, particularly in bad …

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Standing Firm Against Opposition

by SPCK - N T Wright

Standing Firm Against Opposition Galatians 2.1-5 The anthropologist Nigel Barley wrote two famous (and often very funny) books, The Innocent Anthropologist and A Plague of Caterpillars, about the Dowayo tribe, with whom he lived for a while in a remote part of the African republi…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Paul's First Visit to Peter

by SPCK - N T Wright

Paul’s First Visit to Peter Galatians 1.18-24 A few years ago in England a strange advertisement appeared on large billboards. Without explanation, it simply said, ‘IT IS. ARE YOU?’ It was, of course, designed to tease, so that when the answer was revealed a few weeks later every…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Paul's Conversion and Call

by SPCK - N T Wright

Paul’s Conversion and Call Galatians 1.10-17 John Henry Newman was one of the great figures of nineteenth-century England. A brilliant thinker and writer, a spellbinding preacher and a deeply sensitive soul, he left the Anglican Church and became a Roman Catholic in 1845. After a…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Paul's Distress Over the Galatians

by SPCK - N T Wright

Paul’s Distress Over the Galatians Galatians 1.1-9 Imagine you’re in South Africa in the 1970s. Apartheid is at its height. You are embarked on a risky project: to build a community centre where everybody will be equally welcome, no matter what their colour or race. You’ve design…

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Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians - Introduction

by SPCK - N T Wright

INTRODUCTION On the very first occasion when someone stood up in public to tell people about Jesus, he made it very clear: this message is for everyone. It was a great day – sometimes called the birthday of the church. The great wind of God’s spirit had swept through Jesus’ follo…

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