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Hymn: Evil intention, skilful deception
Hymn: Evil intention, skilful deception
by Andrew Pratt
Evil intention, skilful deception, devious plotting, bent on revenge; heart fired by hatred, nothing now sacred, John's words of judgment she would avenge. Then came the moment, see her opponent, vulnerable prisoner, she'd seal his fate. Dancing for Herod opened the scabbard, off…
Lent for Everyone Year A - Easter Wednesday Year A
Lent for Everyone Year A - Easter Wednesday Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
ASTER WEDNESDAY Matthew 2.1–12 We are now going to do something rather different. We have followed the story which Matthew tells, the story of Jesus from before his birth to after his resurrection. But Matthew was of course writing for Christians who already knew more or less ‘wh…
Mark for Everyone - Herod and John the Baptist
Mark for Everyone - Herod and John the Baptist
by SPCK - N T Wright
Mark For Everyone MARK 6.17–29 Herod and John the Baptist... ...What sells newspapers? Three things, and if they’re combined, so much the better. Royalty: almost any story about a member of a royal family will sell, not only in Britain or Norway or wherever it began, but around t…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 4 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 4 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sundays – Year A Ordinary Time Proper 4 Genesis 6.9–22; 7.24; 8.14–19 Romans 1.16–17; 3.22b–28 [29–31] Matthew 7.21–29 ‘These words of mine.’ No wonder they thought Jesus was claiming an authority of his own, superior to that of the scribes. They would never have…
Poem: Oh why are we searching from cradle to manger?
Poem: Oh why are we searching from cradle to manger?
by Andrew Pratt
Poem: Oh why are we searching from cradle to manger? Luke 2: 41-52 Oh why are we searching from cradle to manger? From Christmas to Easter God comes as a stranger. From Bethlehem's stable, a child in a temple, two people in exile, a man with a temper, Beyond all the tinsel the st…
Poem: Evil intention, skilful deception
Poem: Evil intention, skilful deception
by Andrew Pratt
Poem: Evil intention, skilful deception Evil intention, skilful deception, Herodias plotting, bent on revenge; heart fired by hatred, nothing now sacred, John's words of judgment she'd need to avenge… Continues Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 30/6/2012 Stainer & Bell Ltd, Lond…
What better way to spend the night
What better way to spend the night
by Andrew Pratt
What better way to spend the night than walking down a city street? Near shuttered shop fronts bodies sleep. Is Christ among the ones we greet? The stars are bright, the frost is sharp, and home will draw us from the cold. Outside the door, beyond the warmth, young people die bef…
When ever disaster brings death and destruction
When ever disaster brings death and destruction
by Andrew Pratt
When ever disaster brings death and destruction, when people are suff'ring and questions arise, we should not assume some divine retribution condemning the people that we might despise. God's judgement is subtle, each person is counted, each one is significant, folded in grace. G…
The worst time of year, in the cold of the winter
The worst time of year, in the cold of the winter
by Andrew Pratt
The worst time of year, in the cold of the winter, no time to be travelling, setting abroad, yet here in this story the Magi are coming bringing the riches the world can afford. This frankincense speaks of the prayers of the people, while gold represents all the wealth of the ear…
Through the city streets they hurried
Through the city streets they hurried
by Andrew Pratt
Through the city streets they hurried where each shadow, like a shroud, hung across the darkened doorways, sounds of commerce echoed, loud. This had been the scene of bloodshed, Hist’ry heard, a nation sighed, factions fought and people suffered, mothers wept while children cried…
THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD - 30 The Story of Israel
THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD - 30 The Story of Israel
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Story of Israel, 587 bc–ad 70 The story of second-temple Judaism is one of tension and tragedy. The Babylonians had destroyed the first Temple in 587 bc. Ever since then, those who looked to Jerusalem, and its Temple, as the centre of their homeland, and as their very raison-…
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B - Wednesday: Second Week in Lent Year B
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B - Wednesday: Second Week in Lent Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B WEEK 2: WEDNESDAY... ...People sometimes have the idea that the world of the Bible is rather like the world of some old churches: quiet, serious, a bit old-fashioned, with nobody ever doing or saying anything to shock or frighten people. Sometimes, i…
Numbers in the Bible Assembly Collection - Christmas - No Way Assembly
Numbers in the Bible Assembly Collection - Christmas - No Way Assembly
by Christian Assembly Team
Numbers Assembly – No Way Christmas (0) Bible ref: Matthew 1 to 2:1-12 This assembly would usually be used at or close to Christmas... Story NO WAY! said Mary when the angel told her she was going to have a baby. “I can’t be pregnant because I’m not married yet.” But when the ang…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 2 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 2 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 2 2 Kings 5.1–14 1 Corinthians 9.24–27 Mark 1.40–45 Naaman’s wife’s maid knew more about Elisha’s healing powers than the king of Israel. All the king could do was tear his clothes and rage against his Syrian counterpart, suspecting that a request for healing was a disgu…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 10 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 10 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 10 2 Samuel 6.1-5, 12b-19 Ephesians 1.3-14 Mark 6.14-29 Two kings, a thousand years apart, and both in trouble at home. David brings God’s ark into Jerusalem, and is so carried away with dancing and leaping before the Lord that his wife despises him, remembering no doubt t…
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 10 Year B
Gazing on the Gospels Year B - Proper 10 Year B
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
Proper 10 Mark 6: 14-29 Gaze on all the Herods of this world and all the gratuitous violence they unleash. Gaze on all the ethnic cleansing that has gone on down the ages – innocents massacred, women raped and the elderly displaced, staring at us every day from our newspapers, dr…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 22 Year B
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 22 Year B
by SPCK - Jane Williams
Proper 22 Genesis 2. 18-24 Hebrews 1.14; 2.5-12 Mark 10.2-16 It is very tempting to go straight for the second half of the passage from Mark’s Gospel set for today, and just speculate, if possible with some sentimentality, about what Jesus meant by ‘theirs is the Kingdom of Heave…
Lectionary Reflections - Year B - Proper 10 Year B